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by SEJeff 4664 days ago
1.) Grow a spine.

2.) Learn to politely say no. When I say politely, I mean to give a valid excuse why you can't spend 100% of your time on said request.

3.) Offer alternatives ie: I know person X who could help you with Y, but I likely won't be able to get to this for a few months and it would be a better use of your time to talk to person X.

In my career, I've never ever had a problem with saying no so long as I am able to offer a viable alternative for the user. Just thickening up and growing a spine will make you a lot less frustrated, try it sometime. Saying no is empowering :)

2 comments

> Saying no is empowering.

I just want to second this. Saying no was my 2012 goal and it did me a ton of good. Embrace it.

I get the sense that this post is OP's attempt to accomplish #1.
Yup, just wanted to re-enforce. You have to say no.