In the course of a busy day, a person can find themselves distracted by various things that can pop up. Most of the time they are little things that are even sometimes annoying. The problem seems to arise that when this happens most of us tend to deal with the distraction which breaks a train of thought or course of action that is necessary to complete a task much more important.
Saying no to these distractions can be even more difficult since it may come from a family member, if you work at home or coworker, should you still have a job you leave home for. But on the other hand you can probably account for several occassions when someone said "No" to you for one reason or another. And you dealt with it. Well guess what....they will deal with it too when you learn how to hold on your own priorities. When you do not people loose respect for your time and tend to take advantage.
How do I know this...I have a room renter from out of this country that would ask for a "lift" or to join them when they went out and would somewhat compensate me for my time and efforts. This would happen at all hours and would at times disrupt my internet work or my leasure time at home. I found it became more and more frequent till suddenly the compensation was dropped and the expectation remained. After accompanying this person out recently I fund myself footing the bill as well. This is when I realized that having a big heart can be a determent and not an asset. I had spent alot of precious time away form my business and my life accomodating someone who lost the appreciation.
Your time is valuable. Make sure that you honor that value by holding to your priorties and determining if the distraction is hindering or helping you. I am not saying to be selfish. But I am saying to evaluate before you change directions in the middle of a stream. If you are at a point where you can pause, this is great but if not....learn how to say "No".
Comments