Setting boundaries is all about the ability to...

Setting boundaries is all about the ability to say “no”. It’s not always easy to say “no,” though, for a variety of reasons. Whether it’s because you don’t want to seem like you can’t do something, or you don’t want to miss out on an interesting conversation in a newly scheduled meeting, saying “no” to requests for your time at work is invariably delicate to balance. " "" "That said, it is imperative to be able to say “no.” First off, you’ll otherwise not be able to get your work done while saying yes to everyone else’s requests. Furthermore, this inability to say “no” will affect your work/life balance through an unnecessarily extended workday. " "" "The key is to be consistent with your boundaries while being flexible for unique scenarios. For example, you might end work at 4 pm daily, after starting at 8 am, but you receive a meeting invite for 6 pm — what do you do?" "" "Well, what is this meeting about? Is it a meeting that could easily have been scheduled during your working hours? Is it with someone new or who it’s hard to get meeting time with, like a company executive? Is this a recurring meeting or a one-time chat? " "" "Depending on the answers to these questions, the answer will typically be “no” for me, receiving a 6 pm meeting. However, a one-time review of the team’s work by a VP at 6 pm, for only 30min? That sounds like an exceptional circumstance worth stretching a bit for. " "" "Having boundaries and sticking to them helps maintain the work/life balance I want. In addition, being consistent with my boundaries makes it easy for those I work with to have rough expectations of what will work for me and what won’t (and I learn the same about them over time). " "" "" "Next time you’re upset by a meeting invite at a time you don’t want to be working, just say “no”! #bendevtip

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Original post on LinkedIn