Stress Management Tip - Learn to Say No
Saying "No" to requests you actually don't want to do is a good
way to reduce stress. Sometimes you are asked to do something
that you simply don't want to do or is beyond your capacity. It
might be a favour for a colleague at work, a close friend or
even your partner. In many cases your boss might be asking you
to take on more work than you can actually handle. In such cases
you may feel obliged to say yes but in doing so you take on the
burden of their request. If the request is really something you
just didn't want to do, feelings of resentment will inevitably
creep in. If the work load becomes too great, then you run the
risk of feeling overwhelmed. In either case you will become
stressed.
The best way to deal with such situations is to simply say "No".
If your friends are constantly asking you to do something which
you don't want to do, it is better to say no than say yes and
then become resentful. Feelings of resentment will only strain
your relationship. If they are your true friends they will
understand. The worst case scenario is that these so called
friends do not understand which begs the question of whether
they are the kind of friends you should have.
If your boss asks you to take on far more than you know you are
able to deal with there are a number of ways you can say no.
Firstly if the time frame is too tight, you can ask for more
time. If extra time is not an option you can ask for assistance,
that is, strongly recommend that more resources are used to
achieve the task at hand in the desired time frame. In any case,
you need to be able to demonstrate to your boss the amount of
work you currently have on your plate so that he/she sees that
you are not just being lazy. It is important to remember that
sometimes there are unavoidable deadlines and things just have
to get done. However if the task is simply not achievable try to
negotiate the amount time or resources needed to complete the
task.