Why: Improve your focus
How: Understand consequences of your commitments by asking simple questions before saying Yes
What: Saying Yes too easily can often be due to our company culture or our personal drivers (like “Please Others”).
But saying Yes to something means saying to No to few other things.
Here are couple of questions that can help you with being curious about a new request. Customize them with your own.
- Why are you asking me?
- Whom else have you asked?
- When you say this is urgent, what do you mean?
- According to what standard does this need to be completed? By when?
- If I couldn’t do all of this, but could do just a part, what part would you have me do?
- What do you want me to take off my plate so I can do this?
Why not trying it?