Four Ways To Make Better Decisions

Perhaps you’re a people pleaser who says yes to most requests.  Or maybe you’re so busy that you feel like you need to say yes to every opportunity that presents itself to you.

Each time you say yes to one thing means you’re saying no to something else.  It’s a trade off.

If you say to a breakfast meeting that means saying no to your morning workout.  If you say yes to a company dinner that means no to date night with your spouse.

We all have 168 hours in a week.  It’s how you use that time that is different.

1. Make Better Use Of Your Time

Time is fixed.  You will not get more hours in the day.  But you can better manage the time you do have.

That doesn’t mean cutting back on sleeping and hustling through your day.  It means making better decisions about what you choose to say yes to and what you say no to.

When you realize you’re in control of your time and prioritize what’s important, then you will have all the time you need to accomplish what matters most.

2. Know Your Priorities

Think about your priorities in life and make decisions based off what is important to you.  Use your priorities as a tool of measure for when you need to make a decision.  Ask yourself, if you were to say yes to this task, what are you saying no to?

If you’re saying yes just to please someone else, you need to rethink your response.  Don’t give into the pressure of feeling guilty that you need to make someone else happy by saying yes.  This is especially true if it doesn’t align with your priorities.

3. Respect Your Time

Your time is valuable. If you have something planned in your schedule, even if that’s just down time for yourself, say sorry I’ve already got something planned.  No more explanation is needed.  The decision is made that you have a prior commitment.

When you respect your time you can easily say without a doubt that this is time is already planned. It’s non-negotiable and can’t be changed.

Make decision making easy for yourself by respecting your time and boundaries that you have already scheduled.

4. Learn To Say No

It may be easy to respond to someone’s request with a quick yes but you’ll be kicking yourself later when you realize it doesn’t align with your priorities.  If you’re having a hard time saying no, and your automatic response is yes, then you need some language to use in these situations.  Simply say “thank you for thinking of me.  Let me check my schedule and I’ll get back to you.”

Have a go to phrase when you’re faced with a yes or no decision.  This phrase is a great start for when you’re struggling to get on the no train.  You’re not avoiding the situation.  Rather, you’re responding that you need to check your schedule.  You may decide it’s something you want to do or you may say you have prior commitments already scheduled at this time.  Either way, it keeps you from automatically saying yes to everything and gives you time to make sure that by saying yes you’re also saying yes to your priorities.

It’s also important that when you do respond, it’s not an attack with a very blunt no.  Be polite in your response but also don’t give in to accommodate them.  Be confident in saying no when things don’t align with your priorities.

Making better decisions comes down to four things.  First, learn to make better use of the time you have.  Realize that you are in control of how you use your time. Second, know your priorities. Knowing what’s most important to you will help making decisions easier.  Thirdly, respect the time you already have scheduled.  Fourth, and lastly, be confident in saying no to the things that take away your time from doing the things that matter most to you.