Saying No and Quitting Stuff

Women in the Channel is sharing an article about under-scheduling. My CMO friend in the Great Northwest has been overwhelmed with work, wedding, family and life. Being pulled in too many directions is a common problem.

Over-scheduling is a common problem. A client this morning asked me what she could take off her to-do list. That is a GREAT question! What can you get rid? What can you outsource? What can you stop doing? (I need to give some credit to Keith Rosen for this idea.)

I used to be an active organizer of the Tampa Bay tech community. I quit it all over 2 years ago (after an 8 year run). It was scary and refreshing at the same time. I was recently asked to help out with Startup Week — and realized that I was not going to be able to be impactful. By impactful I mean: given my available time and participation, I wouldn’t provide enough to make an impact and the group wouldn’t get enough of me to be effective. I bowed out. It was not easy to say No. In fact, I struggle with it. As a consultant, I have to learn to say No to giving free consulting. You do too.

Seth Godin wrote a 92 page book on quitting called The Dip. A good read.

We live in a very cluttered, always on time. Either you manage your time – or it manages you to a result that you will not like.

All the success stories have one thing in common: time management.

Tom Peters says, “Show me your schedule and I will show you your priorities.” He’s right.

All the talk of habits is really about structure. Schedules are just putting structure around your day. And those appointments don’t have to 30 minutes or even specific. It could be 3 hours for reading. Time for the gym. Time to leave the office. A 15 minute reminder to get up, stretch and drink a glass of water.

New year. Good time to get that schedule (calendar) off to a good start. See you at ITEXPO later this month. (And get on my calendar for coffee!)

Tags: seth, time management
Related tags: common problem, common