How to set higher priority for Yes

I see how many bloggers write about how important it is to say "No" and then often see comments such as "Excellent", "It is very important to set priorities correctly." An interesting point for me is that when someone writes that he learns to say no, this means that he already knows how to say yes.

You do not need to learn how to do something, if you already know how to do it.

I would like to note that there are situations when we just have to say “Yes!”. I want to talk about the types of people and the priority that we say “Yes”. I hope this tells you about the values ​​that make me live my life. I began to think about this post, because now I am in Moscow, while I should be in Kazan for almost 5 days, because my esteemed colleague asked me to speak instead of him at the conference. I wanted to do it and I needed it.

Let me clarify, however, that the priority to say “yes” to these people does not exclude the possibility of saying “no” from time to time if you are too overwhelmed. In the first place is your health and mental well-being, because if you do not have this, you will become useless for everyone.

Family

Our family is the first to whom we tend to say yes. Our family is our closest connection, whether we like it or not, and to say “yes” to them is a priority for me, as they are of great importance in my life.

I cannot replace the bonds of my family with anything. When mom is simple for me to go to my grandmother's birthday, I drop everything and go. When I need to take a relative to the hospital, I will go, even though I had planned to attend the conference. And that means I have to take a day off.

But this is normal, because I know that my conscience will be clear, I will do my job later, and no apocalypse will happen in one day.

Colleagues.

Next come my colleagues. At the moment, most of my life revolves around work and one of the best ways to lose your teammates or the whole team is to be busy for them. Recently, I read an interesting post about “Awkward Leader”, in which the author says that one of the most difficult tasks of leadership is to be accessible to colleagues.

My teammates are in the first place, ahead of even colleagues in the industry. Sorry, colleagues, but without my team I am nothing. We go this hard way together and we fall together. I think that people with whom you spend the whole day should always be in the first place (after family and other close relatives). The happiness of my team is the most important thing for me.

Friends

Next come my friends, including friends in the industry. My friends in my hometown, in Kazan, and a small group of colleagues in the industry are those with whom I am ready to help at any moment. These are those who were with me in grief and joy and who support me and not helping them would be wrong. If they raise money for something, I must give it to them first. If they need content for the site, I must first contribute to this project (assuming that I am not overloaded with work and I can handle it). If they need a little help on the site or someone who will test their hypothesis, I will put them in the first place.

Other

Then come the rest. Sorry, but it should be so. I try to respond to every email that I receive, but the answer to any request may be “no” if I have already assigned certain priorities to family, colleagues, and friends.

I try to say “Yes” often, but a few days, weeks or months is too much. I don't have time to beta test every new SEO tool (although I like to give feedback). I don’t have time to write SEO articles for each site (although it’s interesting from time to time). I do not always have time to contribute to crowdsourcing posts (although I try).

I do not like that I can not put them on the priority above, but they should be where they are.

I think it would be good to say yes, but sometimes it hurts. I would prefer not to be in Moscow right now, but I am pleased to talk with colleagues and I do a friend a favor. It means more to me than a party in Kazan. But if a relative had a birthday, I would say no. First, family, colleagues, then friends, then everything else.