Say No Unless Certain Yes

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If overwhelmed, say no unless you are certain yes.

I happen to be slightly overwhelmed with the amount of studying I push myself to do, the number of assignments I have, the number of side projects and work/volunteering roles I took up, and with maintaining my relationships. I am borderline overcommitting.

I've now found my true limit in how many responsibilities I can take up at the same time. I'm at a point in time where I have to say no to new commitments as a default, rather than yes.

I find that many people around me, myself included, say yes to tasks and responsibilities as a default. There's nothing wrong with that per se as we can view everything as a learning experience; something to enrich our lives and gain experience from. This can even increase our 'luck'.

However, there comes a time when we become overburdened. Finding our limit to how many responsibilities we can take up is essential to prevent unnecessary stress and strain on our body and mental state.

At such a point, we should say no as the default to new events and responsibilities, even if they open up new opportunities. In fact, even before reaching this limit, this should our standard attitude: saying no unless we are certain yes.

This allows us to consider whether the opportunity is worth our time, increase our tendancy towards intentional living, and reduce stress for ourselves.

I snoozed 3 emails containing events and opportunities yesterday for future consideration.

I opened them today with a clear mind. I declined all but one of them because that one was effectively mandatory.