How not to overcommit
Parent Post
How often have you
How often have you felt overwhelmed with your tasks? Neck deep in chores?
But the truth is we often do it to ourselves. It’s a choice. Most often your choice. Doing everything is easy. No one loves saying “no.” But being discerning is the skill to develop if you hope to have any sense of balance in your life.
Here are five powerful questions to pause and ask yourself before you say Yes to any new commitment.
What’s really involved here?We’ll
What’s really involved here?
We’ll often kid ourselves about the real scope of something we agree to. It’s critical to get clear on the real scope of what you’re about to take on. How much work will it really take? How much time will that work really take?
And keep in mind Hofstadter’s Law that says things always take longer than you expect.
The accumulation of ‘one more thing’ adds up and quietly becomes overwhelming. Then you’re trapped.
Don’t trigger this trap, trigger the truth of what’s involved before taking it on.
Can I give a
Can I give a different ‘yes’?
It’s human nature to say “yes” just because it’s so much easier than saying “no.”
Capitalize on that tendency by asking yourself if there’s a different “yes” you can give to maintain the affirmative spirit.
For example, have empathy for the request and present an alternative solution or an alternative doer. The point is to show support in another way that doesn’t require you to take on substantially more work.
What’s the cost of
What’s the cost of saying ‘yes’?
There will be a cost to everything additional thing you say “yes” to.
What do you have to give to say “yes” to the new thing? What new skills, resources, or assistance will you have to acquire? How much attention and energy gets diverted from something else, and is that something else more important? When you ask yourself this question, the answer might be that the cost is too high. If so, then your answer is a “no”, not “no problem.”
So the next time someone asks you for more, ask more of yourself.
Will taking this on
Will taking this on serve my mission?
While not everything you take on must flow into your mission, the vast majority of your work portfolio should all support that cause.
It’s easy to say “yes” to urgent because the point of the work gets lost in the fervor to do the work. But asking “What’s the point?” brings you back to what completing that work serves. If it doesn’t matter enough, or at all, you know what to do.
Is this on my
Is this on my ‘To-don’t’ list?
Even worse than taking on work that might not fit with your mission is work that you pointedly told yourself you wouldn’t get sucked into but find yourself getting sucked into. Be cognizant of what work simply must not end up on your plate and why.
Remembering the why is the key here — recall the emotions, pain, and price associated with taking on the kind of thing you said you wouldn’t.