Skills 360 – Time Management 2: Learning to Say No

Discussion Questions

1. Do you find it easy or difficult to say “no” to new work?

2. How do you feel when other people say “no” when you ask them to do things?
3. What are your strategies for avoiding taking on too much work?

Vocabulary

Odd: strange or unusual; “The way Dave speaks is very odd… what part of the
country do you think he’s from?”

Critical: very important; “If we want to implement this plan, it’s critical that we plan
the budget appropriately.”

To take on: to accept a new responsibility or piece of work; “I’m sorry but I’m too
busy to take on any new clients at this time.”

Worth a look: useful to refer to; “Jay’s recent sales update is worth a look if you’re
wondering how to write an amazing report.”

Internal initiatives: special projects or activities within a company’s operations; “Our

new operational plan outlines several important internal initiatives, like workforce
planning, over the next year.”

To delegate: to give work or responsibilities to someone else, especially someone

junior to you; “Why are you booking meeting rooms? That’s work you should be
delegating to your assistant!”

To come up: to happen or arise; “A few problems came up in the meeting that we’re
going to have to deal with over the next few weeks.”

Infinite: having no limit; “You might feel like you have infinite energy when you’re
young, but when you’re older you won’t be able to work so much.”

Mindful: careful or conscious of something; “Our HR Manager keeps reminding us to

be mindful of our mental health during the busy season.”

Capacity: ability to do something; “Henry, I know you volunteered to lead the big
product launch, but with so much going on I’m worried you don’t have the capacity
to do that right now.”

Ó 2021 Business English Pod Ltd. All rights reserved: www.businessenglishpod.com 1

To tend to: to usually do something; “Research has shown that people tend to value
the opinions of friends and family more than experts.”

To turn down: to reject or say no to something or someone; “I’ve decided to turn

down the job offer from Bell so I can take the offer from Google.”

Rejection: refusal to accept or support something; “If you don’t have time to call
every job applicant that you don’t choose, then consider sending a nice rejection
letter.”

Method: way of doing something; “I like the idea of asking customers what they
think, but I think online surveys aren’t the best method.”

Slack: time or resources that are not yet used; “Do you think there might be enough
slack in the budget for us to host a big Christmas party for the staff?”

Stellar: amazing; “Everything about your work is stellar Kara, and that’s why we’d
like to promote you to regional manager.”

Side hustle: a second job that you do besides your main job; “Besides my job in
software sales, I have a side hustle as a freelance writer.”

To pack into: to completely fill; “The agenda is much too long. There’s no way we
can pack all those topics into a one-hour meeting.”

Committed to: promised or loyal to something and willing to work for it; “Brad
always seems to leave early, so I’m not 100% sure he’s committed to his job or our
team.”

To enhance outcomes: to improve the results of an activity; “If taking six more
months with this research project will enhance the outcomes, then please take six
more months. Quality is important to us.”

Overcommitted: if you are “overcommitted,” you have promised to do more than

you are capable of or have time for; “After three months of being totally
overcommitted on project work, I feel like I need a month off.”

On the go: in progress; “I’ve got four really interesting projects on the go right now
and one more that might start soon.”

To execute: to complete something you’ve promised or planned to; “Olivia promises

to do a lot of different things, but she’s not really good at executing on those
things.”

Irresponsible: not wise or not able to be trusted; “I don’t think it’s a big deal when
people are late to work in the morning, but Dan is traditional and really thinks it’s
irresponsible.”

Ó 2021 Business English Pod Ltd. All rights reserved. www.businessenglishpod.com 2

Fulfilled: satisfied because you’re doing something important or meaningful; “I didn’t
feel very fulfilled as the admin coordinator, but now that I’m working directly with
clients I feel super happy.”

Inadequate: not good enough; “If you feel inadequate in your work on the design
team, then why don’t you consider taking some courses?”

Burnout: a condition where you have no energy left after a period of hard work;
“With such high expectations and so much pressure to perform, CEO burnout is a
real problem.”

Empowering: giving confidence and a sense of control; “Participants in our

motivational workshops consistently report that the experience is empowering and
completely changes their attitude to their work.”

Adept: skilled; “Our communications manager is a great talker and presenter, but
she’s not the most adept writer.”

The kicker: something surprising; “Yup, I was finally promoted to a management

position. And here’s the kicker: they’re paying me $30,000 more a year!”

Ó 2021 Business English Pod Ltd. All rights reserved. www.businessenglishpod.com 3

Transcript

Hello and welcome back to the Skills 360 podcast. I’m your host, Tim Simmons, and
today I want to talk about time management and the importance of saying “no.”

“No” is one of the most powerful words in the English language, and it’s one of the
keys to good time management. It might be odd to think that saying “no” is a skill,
since it sounds so simple. But it is a skill. Some people seem to have been born with
it. Other people learn it. Either way, it’s a critical ability when it comes to managing
a business and managing yourself.

Just to be clear, when I talk about saying “no,” I’m talking generally about not
taking on something new. When we do this, we don’t simply say “no” to someone. In
fact, we’ve done a two-part series just on how to say “no” the right way! And if you
want some tips on how to say “no” effectively, those lessons are worth a look.
Today, however, I want to focus on why we need to say “no.”

So, what kinds of things am I suggesting you say “no” to? Well, this could be
internal initiatives. It could be personal requests from colleagues for help or when
they want to delegate something. It could also be paid projects and client work.
Pretty much anything new that comes up that will require your time, skills, energy,
and other resources.

Now wait a second, you might be thinking, doesn’t being a good employee,
colleague, or businessperson mean saying “yes” in these types of situations? Well, it
means saying “yes” to many of these things. Just not all of them. Are your time,
skills, energy, and resources infinite? Of course not. So when I suggest learning to
say “no,” I’m simply talking about being mindful of capacity. As we say, you can
have anything you want, but you can’t have everything you want.

If you tend to feel badly when you turn someone down, then this can be a real
challenge. But don’t think of saying “no” as a complete rejection. It doesn’t mean
“what you are asking is a bad idea.” Instead, think of saying “no” as saying “not
now” or “not me” or “not in this way.” In other words, you’re saying the time,
person, or method isn’t right. And this creates space to say “yes” when the time,
person, and method are right.

Let’s bring this back to time management for a second. Think about your schedule
for the next couple of weeks. How much slack in the system do you have? How
much more could you take on?

Now imagine you agree to help out with a new internal initiative – like writing up a
job description. Then imagine you also say “yes” to helping a colleague with less
than stellar writing skills finish a big proposal. And you say “yes” to an outside
project, whether that’s a new client at work or a side hustle. You’ve just said “yes”
to three new things. And now you have to pack these into your already busy
schedule.

Ó 2021 Business English Pod Ltd. All rights reserved. www.businessenglishpod.com 4

Here’s my first question about this situation: what happens to the quality of work on
all the things you’re currently committed to? Clearly, it’s not going to enhance
outcomes on anything you’re working on, because you’re now overcommitted. So all
your work suffers. Including the things that you already said you’d do.

For this reason, try thinking about saying “no” to the new things as a way of saying
“yes” to the things you already have on the go! Saying “yes” and failing to execute is
irresponsible. Saying “no” so you can fulfill existing responsibilities is wise.

My second question is this: how do you feel when you get overcommitted? Chances
are you don’t feel happy and fulfilled, but rather frustrated and inadequate. Staying
in an overcommitted state for a long time can lead to an even worse condition:
burnout. And that’s the ultimate negative outcome when you don’t take self-
management seriously.

The ability to say “no” is like a muscle: it gets stronger the more you use it. It can
feel very empowering, especially if you’re not naturally adept at it. Here’s the kicker:
you’ll likely find that people respect you more when you say “no.” If you value your
time, then they will too.

That’s all for today. If you’d like to test yourself on what we’ve just covered, have a
look at the BusinessEnglishPod.com website. There you’ll find a quiz about today’s
show as well as a PDF transcript.

So long. And see you again soon!

Ó 2021 Business English Pod Ltd. All rights reserved. www.businessenglishpod.com 5

Review

1. “Saying no” refers to the ability to…

A … reject bad ideas.
B … refuse to take on something new.
C … disagree.
D … manage a business.

2. What types of things might you have to learn to say no to?

A New work with clients.
B Time management.
C Personal requests from colleagues.
D Setting clear boundaries.
E Internal projects.
F Personal development.

3. You should learn to say “no” when…

A … people don’t ask in a kind manner.
B … you don’t like the type of work.
C … you don’t have the right skills, time, or energy.
D … other people won’t feel badly if you do.

4. Instead of thinking about saying “no” as a complete rejection, you should

think of it as saying which of the following?
A “Not a chance.”
B “Not now.”
C “Not at that price.”
D “Not me.”

5. What are the possible consequences saying YES all the time?
A You will not be promoted.
B You will burn out.
C The quality of your work will suffer.
D You will be considered passionate.
E You will be frustrated.
F People will value your time.

6. Which of the following is true about saying “no?”

A It gets easier the more you do it.
B It should always be stated very directly.
C It is impossible for junior staff.
D It leads to disrespectful workplaces.

Ó 2021 Business English Pod Ltd. All rights reserved. www.businessenglishpod.com 6

Review Answers

1. “Saying no” refers to the ability to…

B … refuse to take on something new.

2. What types of things might you have to learn to say no to?

A New work with clients
C Personal requests from colleagues
E Internal projects

3. You should learn to say “no” when…

C … you don’t have the right skills, time, or energy.

4. Instead of thinking about saying “no” as a complete rejection, you should

think of it as saying which of the following?
B “Not now.”
D “Not me.”

5. What are the possible consequences saying YES all the time?
B You will burn out.
C The quality of your work will suffer.
E You will be frustrated.

6. Which of the following is true about saying “no?”

A It gets easier the more you do it.

Ó 2021 Business English Pod Ltd. All rights reserved. www.businessenglishpod.com 7