Kill Busywork: The One Skill to Focus On What Matters | Zen Habits

Saying Yes More Slowly

Here’s how it goes.

Someone asks you to do something.

And, while nodding your head, you say “Sure – and let me just ask you a few questions first.”

And then you pick and chose from some of these questions. (Your goal is to ask at least three of these.)

* Why are you asking me?
* Who else have you asked?
* When you say this is urgent, what do you mean?
* If I could only do part of this, what part would it be?
* What part of this is something that only I could do?
* What standard do you expect this to be done to?
* Is this more urgent than X, Y and Z that are currently on my list?
* Have you checked with [name] about me taking this on?
* How does this contribute to [Great Work Project]?
(Link: Kill Busywork: The One Skill to Focus On What Matters | Zen Habits)