Dan Miller, author of 48 Days to the Work You Love and No More Dreaded Mondays, says “Be extremely intentional about the use of your time; decide in advance what’s important.”

I think it’s as important to decide what you are not going to do as it is to decide what you are going to do.  I find that I get suckered in to too many groups and activities that don’t match my personality or interests.  This usually happens for one of two reasons.

First, sometimes I feel like I’m the only option they have.  There’s a small pool of talent in some of these groups, so the work has to fall onto someone’s shoulders — it might as well be mine.  The problem with this is that I’m not going to do as well as someone who is actually gifted in that area and I’m probably not going to give it enough time or effort because I’d rather be doing something else.

The second way is that I haven’t planned what I would be doing at the time instead of this opportunity.  I get asked something like “Are you busy on Tuesday night?” and my answer would be “No, not really.”  At this point, I feel like I don’t have an alternative to saying yes.

This is the wrong mindset.  There is always an alternative.  If I have decided ahead of time that I’m not going to participate in anything relating to Project ABC, then it is easier to say (honestly) “I’m not interested in working on this project.”  There doesn’t have to be any guilt or second-guessing.  Just complete honesty.

Be proactive and decide what you are not going to do today to free up your time to truly live within what you ARE going to do today.  I think you’ll find yourself more satisfied and more productive.