Life is Full of Choices – Make Conscious Ones That Are Right For You

Every second of our day is about making choices. The choices we make are integrally related to our decision making. How aware are we, when we say yes, to the consequences of that decision?

I have a client who told me that she believed that she only had to say yes to the things she wanted in life and then she would find a way to fit it all in. This was a mother of 3 who was also working and had decided to take a course she really wanted to study. 

When she came to me to work on her time management skills she told me that she was living on such little sleep as the only time she had to do her study assignments was late at night and into the early hours of the morning. 

We started setting more realistic goals by looking ahead, planning her time. She later reported to me how much more relaxed she is and that she is enjoying life more without the continuous pressure that she had as a result of taking too much upon herself.

I have noticed with many of my clients that the saying yes comes from a desire to please others, a wanting to give. Only this backfires as others suffer in the end starting with you. In the work environment, an efficient employee is always sought out to do more. 

If you are that employee you have a responsibility to your own wellbeing to learn the art of saying no, or more gently like – let me first check my calendar and get back to you, or more directly – I would really like to commit to that or help out only right now my schedule doesn’t allow me to take on any more tasks.

To sum up, some tips:

· Consideration – Take your time before answering someone that has requested something from you. This allows you to check your calendar, check-in with yourself – do I really want to say yes? Ask yourself what are the consequences of my saying yes?

· Calendar – manage your time. I recommend having one calendar for both personal and work-related activities. Only write in the calendar something that is date specific. Refer to your calendar and task list before committing to new projects and plan ahead.

· Task management – manage a list of activities. I recommend according to category or subject. For example Chores, At home, To Call, At Computer. These are tasks that are dependent on where you are.