Decide with Intention: Time Boundaries

Ready for some magic math with a side of sanity?
It’s a way to bring your time boundaries to life
through addition-by-subtraction, aka:

Saying YES
by saying NO.

When you honor your time boundaries
by saying no to something that
doesn’t check your boxes,
you’re creating space for
something that does.

Adding, by subtracting.

You’re not saying ‘no’ to your YESes here.
These are not your non-negotiables,
they’re the default yeses,
the “I guess I’ll go”s…

👎 The recurring meetings you sit in on and wonder why you’re there.
👎 The “commitments” that someone else dropped on you.
👎 The hangouts that you’re not genuinely excited about.
👎 The things you do because you feel like you should.

You’re ADDING VALUE
by SUBTRACTING OBLIGATIONS.

Nervous about saying no?
It gets easier every time.

𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐢𝐩𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐝:

𝙂𝙤 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙜𝙪𝙩.
Start with the things you’re most excited to say No to.
Keep it simple.

Remember, no is a complete sentence.
“No” or “I can’t” is all you really need.

𝘽𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙛𝙪𝙡.
If you need to say more than a simple No,
show kindness without opening the door to negotiation.

“I need to focus on…”
“I’ve taken on as much as I can.”

𝘽𝙚 𝙝𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙩.
Honesty mitigates guilt.

By giving the real reason (kindly!),
you’ll set yourself up to feel good about the No.

𝘽𝙚 𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙞𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙚.
Acknowledging the request with gratitude
keeps the door open for a future invite
and helps you hold your ground.

“Thank you for thinking of me, but I can’t make it.”

𝙍𝙚𝙥𝙚𝙖𝙩 𝙖𝙨 𝙣𝙚𝙚𝙙𝙚𝙙.
Don’t let push back pull you in.

Hold the line by repeating your simple decline
Once you start making excuses you start ceding ground.

And when in doubt,
Remind yourself that
saying no to them
is saying yes
to you.