How the Art of Saying "No" Allows Leaders Like You To Regain Control of Your Time and Priorities
Learn How To Say "No" Without Damaging Your Relationships and Get Our Free Whitespace Guide To Protect Your Newfound Hours Every Week.
Mindmaven has over 15 years of experience working with and coaching hundreds of leaders, from top-tier venture capital firms to unicorn startups, to become less reactive, free up 12+ hours every week, and focus on what matters most.
Now, you can learn the same pragmatic strategies to experience these Superpowered results for yourself.
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The True Art of Saying "No" Is Knowing How To Say It
Our reactive nature and innate desire to not upset people means we often say "Yes" more than we may want to.
But what if there was a healthy strategy that allowed you to say "No," all while building a network that is positively inclined toward you?
You already know when to say "No," but the real art lies in how you say it.
We've distilled this art into three strategies that soften the blow of saying "No" so you can free up hours of your time – without damaging your relationships:
- Offer Positivity
- Provide Rationale
- Shift Their Focus
3 Tactics To Say "No" and Still Win in Relationship-Building
Here are our favorite tactics for saying "No" while still being perceived as positive and valuable.
Scenario: Someone you don't want to offend offers an unwanted introduction
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VC: "Hey! Would you be willing to grab coffee with my nephew? He's thinking of launching his first company, and I know he'd love the opportunity to learn from you."
You: "I really appreciate you thinking of me. It means a lot that you think I'd be able to help out, but I'm not sure I'll have much to offer. If this is really important to you, I'm of course happy to do you a favor. But otherwise, I'm really heads down on recruiting right now and telling everyone I'm not taking outside meetings."
Scenario: Someone high-quality asks to "pick your brain" over coffee
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Incoming Message |
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Hello, We haven’t met yet, but my name’s Carl. I’ve followed your story since I first read about it on Product Hunt a few years back and it’s been a big inspiration. I’m actually pretty close with one of your board members. They have nothing but great things to say about you. Speaking of which: I wanted to reach out to see if I could pick your brain. I’m working on find product/market fit for a marketplace startup. Given your breakout success, I was hoping to learn about your experience over a cup of coffee. Is that something you’d be open to? Thanks in advance, Carl |
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Outgoing Response |
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Hi Carl, I really appreciate you reaching out and I’m so glad my story’s inspired you. That said, I’m really heads down on recruiting this quarter and trying not to take outside meetings. Even so, I want to help if I can. First, I recommend you read this blog post I wrote answering the most common questions I’ve gotten over the years. If you still have questions after, send me your top 3. But please also include what you think the answers are based on your perspective and research. It’ll give me context of where your head’s at so I can address them better. Would you be willing to do that? Looking forward to hearing back, [Your Name] |
Scenario: You have a call on your calendar you don't want to take
Reschedule the Meeting 2 Weeks Out
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Outgoing Message |
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Hi [name], I’m sorry to do this last minute, but I need to reschedule our upcoming call due to some recent recruiting developments. I estimate I’ll be pretty slammed with that for the next two weeks, but I’ve CC’d [Executive Assistant] to help us find a time once things slow down. Thanks so much for your understanding and patience. If there’s anything I can do in the meantime, don’t hesitate to let me know. Cheers, [Your Name] |
Wait One Week
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Outgoing Message |
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Hi [Name], I hope you’re having a great day. I wanted to reach out proactively about our meeting next week. That recruiting project I mentioned is still going strong and likely will be for awhile yet. I want to be respectful of your time, and rescheduling something I probably still won’t be able to make doesn’t feel fair. I think it’s best we cancel for now – I hope that’s okay. Maybe we can circle back in a few months. I know you wanted to ask me a few questions. Rather than make you wait, would you be able to send them via email so I can get back to you quickly? Cheers, [Your Name] |
Use the Freed Time for Whitespace
Now You Have Time, What Do You Do With It? Introducing Whitespace Time …
Sure, practicing the Art of "No" frees up massive hours – but what do you do with all this newfound space in your schedule?
Protect it with Whitespace Time.
Whitespace Time is a practice that builds weekly recurring blocks into your calendar to be intentionally proactive, engage in deep thinking, and focus on your most important endeavors.
Whether you want to strengthen your relationships, plan next year's marketing strategy, or make room in your busy schedule for some much-needed mindfulness.
Failed with calendar blocking before?
Whitespace builds immovable retaining walls around those hours, creating and protecting time for whatever you and your business need extra space for.
Whitespace Time: Your Guide To Proactive Time Management
It is very easy to get to the point where you agree that you want to have Whitespace, but building it into your everyday life is an entirely different challenge.
Whitespace Time: Your Guide to Proactive Time Management delivers a 'to-a-fault' detailed guide and list of best practices to achieve a sustainable Whitespace practice and secure success in your career.
Our guide takes a 3-pronged approach:
Schedule: You can't find time for proactivity. You have to make time. And this book will show you how.
Utilize: Learn how to leverage your newly created time best to generate maximum results.
Prioritize: Learn the strategies to turn proactive time management into an effortless habit.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Whitespace Time, and why do I need it?
Whitespace Time is a practice that creates (and protects) space in your schedule to engage in deep thinking, complete proactive work, and focus on your most important endeavors.
Whether you want to strengthen your relationships, plan next year's marketing strategy, or make room in your busy schedule for some much-needed mindfulness.
Whatever you and your business need extra space for – Whitespace Time is the practice that will help you free up hours every week and regain control of your priorities.
How will the Whitespace guide benefit me?
Our guide to Whitespace Time provides extremely pragmatic steps detailing how you can create the space, utilize it well, and, most importantly, learn to protect it.
Each step will help you seamlessly integrate Whitespace Time into your routine and ensure those around you help protect it so you can lead a more intentional, proactive, and fulfilling life.
Can Whitespace Time improve work-life balance?
Yes. Whitespace Time empowers you to establish boundaries and make intentional choices about how you spend your time.
This, in turn, contributes to a healthier work-life balance, reducing mental load and stress to enhance overall well-being.
I've heard of Whitespace Time before. What makes this guide so different?
Many of the high-level concepts around Whitespace are already available across a plethora of blog posts and short online pieces, but very few have laid out a path to actually get there.
This guide is detailed 'to-a-fault,' listing the best practices you need to build this practice into your everyday life and secure success in your career.
What if I'm already busy? Can Whitespace Time still help?
Absolutely. Whitespace Time is designed to help busy business leaders be more productive by increasing the intentionality behind their proactivity.
It's not about adding more to your plate but about optimizing the time you already have. The guide offers practical tips to seamlessly integrate proactive time management into your existing routine.
Can I share the Whitespace Guide with my Executive Assistant?
Yes! You are welcome to share the guide with your Executive Assistant (EA) or Engagement Manager (EM). We recommend your team understands how important Whitespace Time is, not only for your own success but for all of theirs as well.
By leveraging your EA/EM, they can help carve out and protect Whitespace in your calendar every week – freeing up the time and mental space you need to focus on what truly moves the needle.
About Mindmaven
At Mindmaven, we believe that relationships are essential for success but, more importantly, are a vital ingredient for living a happy, fulfilling life. As a result of our work, we hope to combat one of the most significant epidemics of our time: the epidemic of loneliness.
But there was a challenge: we realized early on that while relationships are always important, the things we must do to take care of them are rarely urgent. In our clients’ urgency-driven world, it wasn’t enough to simply give them world-class relationship management strategies.
First, we had to help them free up the time to implement those tactics ... and not just five minutes here and there. We had to become the best of the best when it came to freeing up massive amounts of time so we could help people invest in what matters most: Relationships.