Kevin Ashton:
Saying “no” has more creative power than ideas, insights and talent combined. No guards time, the thread from which we weave our creations. The math of time is simple: you have less than you think and need more than you know. We are not taught to say “no.” We are taught not to say “no.” “No” is rude. “No” is a rebuff, a rebuttal, a minor act of verbal violence. “No” is for drugs and strangers with candy.
I love and agree with everything about this post.
Hey, it’s pretty good framing. It’s like the old programmer saw about how much interruption actually take - 2-3x the time spent in the interruption because you have to get back into “flow.”
I spent a lot of time saying “no” the past week (mostly the email and my own desires to distract myself with meta-work), and ended up writing 5 or so reports. It worked out well.
There’s a whole concept of that “meta-work” that needs to be explored: it’s “meetings,” analyzing team performance in spreadsheets and KPIs, dreaming up marketing support, etc. Stuff that isn’t core production. Once you master avoiding goofing off and get yourself some sort of GTD system in place, that meta-work is the next friendly assassin to watch out for.