The Guidelines

• Say “No” if it’s going to tie you down.

I don’t know about you, but for me, freedom is the most important thing, so if it prevents me from being in control of my own time, then it’s a “no”.

• Say “No” if it’s not new.

If it doesn’t help me grow personally or professionally then it doesn’t serve my highest interests.

• Say “No” when you know you’re only following the money.

If you have everything you want and need would you still want to do this thing?

• Say “No” if you’re saying yes just because you’re afraid nothing else will come along.

There will always be something else. Don’t panic and don’t rush into something out of fear.

• Say “No” if you have no idea why you would say yes.

Unless I have a clear reason for doing something I lose interest very quickly, and it shows up on my CV in the amount of different jobs I’ve done. They didn’t stick because I didn’t know why I wanted to be there.

• Say “No” when you don’t immediately want to say yes.

And if you’re not sure, defer making a decision until you are. No one minds as long as you’re honest.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- IS IT IMPORTANT?

But then I ask them 4 questions about a task and very, very rarely can they honestly answer “yes” to each one:

Does this thing really need to be done at all? Do you absolutely have to be the one to do it? Does it need to be done perfectly or will “pretty good” actually be enough? Does it need to be done right now? Like I said, very few tasks get a “yes” for all four. And that means you can either ignore it, delegate it, do it quickly or make it one of tomorrow’s top five.

You can do less. And less means less stress and more time for fun.