How to Say No to Requests (Without Damaging Your Relationships) - Deepstash
Daring To Be Vulnerable

Learn more about communication with this collection

How to overcome fear of rejection

How to embrace vulnerability

Why vulnerability is important for personal growth

Daring To Be Vulnerable

Discover 38 similar ideas in

It takes just

5 mins to read

Saying No At The Workplace

Saying No At The Workplace

Office workers, working in real offices or doing Work From Home, face requests from fellow workers all the time which can range from unnecessary to downright avoidable. In our quest to appease others, we are struggling to reach our fullest potential.

Time, as many of us have now realized, is the most valuable and prized asset we have, and saying no to certain activities at work can enable us to do something worthy.

115

970 reads

Saying Yes Is Easy

Agreeing on every activity is easy and can also become our default reaction. It fills our calendars with so many tasks and we are playing a losing game thereafter, making more commitments than we can keep, and leading to unfulfilled obligations. When we are overcommitting, it is leading to us getting burned out and hurting our network in the process.

When we are asked for something, we end up reacting, rashly and impulsive, as it subtly awakens our fight-or-flight mode.

106

538 reads

Ignoring Is Common

Social media has made unwanted requests and their ignoring easier, training us to quietly ignore anything we don’t like, or cannot commit to, but with the security of the other person not getting any kind of rejection.

The best way to say no apparently is to say nothing at all, at least on the virtual front.

102

553 reads

Say No And Offer An Option

A straightforward NO can seem rude, and that’s probably why we avoid it. A better way is to provide a polite no, with an option or an alternative, to help them reach their goals.

Example: While emailed by a colleague to meet up for a project over a cup of coffee, one can say “Hey Thanks for reaching out! I like the idea but am not able to take out the time right now. I can email you the project notes I made, and you can ping me back with any questions you may have?”

123

545 reads

Postponing A Request

Many of the workplace commitment requests require immediate action, and one may not have the bandwidth to give to others. A polite way is to say yes, but do not commit to the time, saying that you are definitely interested, but would like to do that some other time.

Most situations solve themselves when given enough time.

111

448 reads

Deflecting A Request To Someone Else

If you want to help out, but for some reason are unable to, you can become a mediator and help the person in need reach out to a different person, whom you think can be a good fit for providing the solution.

Introducing someone else clears you and can be a value-adding action.

106

412 reads

Just Say No

Sometimes a clear No is actually a stronger option than a weak Yes. A well-focused rejection makes you a powerful person.

One can look for engagements and clean out one’s calendar, making sure that the time is only spent on valuable, productive activities that help towards your own business interests.

114

517 reads

CURATED BY

addison_ii

Thinker. Hipster-friendly coffee advocate. Infuriatingly humble organizer.

stash-superman-illustration

Explore the World’s

Best Ideas

200,000+ ideas on pretty much any topic. Created by the smartest people around & well-organized so you can explore at will.

An Idea for Everything

Explore the biggest library of insights. And we've infused it with powerful filtering tools so you can easily find what you need.

Knowledge Library

Powerful Saving & Organizational Tools

Save ideas for later reading, for personalized stashes, or for remembering it later.

# Personal Growth

Take Your Ideas

Anywhere

Organize your ideas & listen on the go. And with Pro, there are no limits.

Listen on the go

Just press play and we take care of the words.

Never worry about spotty connections

No Internet access? No problem. Within the mobile app, all your ideas are available, even when offline.

Get Organized with Stashes

Ideas for your next work project? Quotes that inspire you? Put them in the right place so you never lose them.

Join

2 Million Stashers

4.8

5,740 Reviews

App Store

4.7

72,690 Reviews

Google Play

Sean Green

Great interesting short snippets of informative articles. Highly recommended to anyone who loves information and lacks patience.

Ashley Anthony

This app is LOADED with RELEVANT, HELPFUL, AND EDUCATIONAL material. It is creatively intellectual, yet minimal enough to not overstimulate and create a learning block. I am exceptionally impressed with this app!

Shankul Varada

Best app ever! You heard it right. This app has helped me get back on my quest to get things done while equipping myself with knowledge everyday.

samz905

Don’t look further if you love learning new things. A refreshing concept that provides quick ideas for busy thought leaders.

Giovanna Scalzone

Brilliant. It feels fresh and encouraging. So many interesting pieces of information that are just enough to absorb and apply. So happy I found this.

Jamyson Haug

Great for quick bits of information and interesting ideas around whatever topics you are interested in. Visually, it looks great as well.

Ghazala Begum

Even five minutes a day will improve your thinking. I've come across new ideas and learnt to improve existing ways to become more motivated, confident and happier.

Laetitia Berton

I have only been using it for a few days now, but I have found answers to questions I had never consciously formulated, or to problems I face everyday at work or at home. I wish I had found this earlier, highly recommended!

Read & Learn

20x Faster

without
deepstash

with
deepstash

with

deepstash

Access to 200,000+ ideas

Access to the mobile app

Unlimited idea saving & library

Unlimited history

Unlimited listening to ideas

Downloading & offline access

Personalized recommendations

Supercharge your mind with one idea per day

Enter your email and spend 1 minute every day to learn something new.

Email

I agree to receive email updates