Why You Can’t Have 5 Minutes of My Time

Okay, that’s not the nicest headline, is it?

But you’ve felt like saying it, haven’t you?

And don’t you wish you could say it sometimes?

Now, you would never say it that way. And neither would I.

But how many times have you set out to accomplish your to-do list in the morning only to have a series of  ‘I just need five minutes’ (which is never five minutes) or “I really need to meet with you” consume most of your day?

How many times have you got ‘nothing on the calendar’ (which you were going to use to knock that project out of the park) only to have someone ask you if you’re free and next thing you know half your day has vapourized?

So you

end up working at night

put in time on the weekend

fall further behind; and

never complete your most important priorities.

Or all of the above.

The truth is that five minutes (or 15 minutes, or lunch or a meeting) with someone you didn’t need to meet with is time:

Your kids need

Your spouse has been waiting for

Your direct reports deserve

That special project requires

Your true priorities demand

So what you do with those requests without being a jerk, or feeling guilty or losing all your friends?

How many times have you got 'nothing on the calendar only to have someone ask you if you're free and next thing you know half your day has vaporized? Click To Tweet

1. Be kind

Show some empathy. (They probably want to meet with you for what to them is a great reason).

Even begin by saying “I would love do that, however…” and then tell them why you can’t (I’ve got a project I have to follow through on etc).

In fact, here’s a six-step strategy on how to say no nicely.

2. Redirect

I amazed at how many times people think I can help them when in fact others are in a much better place to assist them than I would be.

So spend 1 minute referring or directing them to someone who truly can help them.

If you decide to meet with them anyway (because you can’t say no), just remember, you not only wasted your time. You wasted theirs.

I amazed at how many times people think I can help them when in fact others are in a much better place to assist them than I would be. Click To Tweet

3. Defer

If you think you should meet with someone, say “I can’t now, but how about later? Can you email me and we’ll set up a time?”

It’s amazing how many times people just don’t follow through.

Or when they do, they say “Don’t need to…the problem is solved.”

I guess it wasn’t that important after all.

4. Be clear on your priorities

If you haven’t thought through what’s important, everything will seem important.

Most of the time you probably don’t say no because you don’t know why you should say no.

Change that. Set priorities. Decide which tasks and people will require your time and schedule standing appointments with them.

I blogged about how to do that here.

If you haven't thought through what's important, everything will seem important. Click To Tweet

5. Change Expectations

This one is huge. I’m a pastor, and stereotypically, everyone expects a pastor to visit them and be there for them.

We just happen to have 1500 people who call our church home.

So that doesn’t work out too well. We’ve trained our people to look to each other for care (in small groups) and every week, we refer people whose needs are a bit deeper to outside counselors we trust.

That frees me up to teach, lead our team, advance our mission and work with key leaders. You can retrain peoples’ expectations.

That also frees me up to care for our elders, staff team and senior leaders. It allows me to do for a few what I wish I could do for everyone.

6. Schedule Appointments with Yourself

Schedule space in your calendar to work on it, not in it.

If you need time to write a talk, start a project, think through an issue, solve a problem or set goals, write it in your calendar.

I rarely book appointments on Mondays and Wednesdays. Then when someone asks you whether you are free, you can truthfully say “I’m sorry, I’m not free…I have a commitment”.

And by the way, the commitment on your day off is to your family. You aren’t free then either.

Schedule space in your calendar to work on it, not in it. Click To Tweet

7. Leave a few open spots in your calendar

Sometimes you do need to just meet with random people. I keep a few spots open in my calendar every month for that.

Just because you can’t be accessible to everyone doesn’t mean you need to be accessible to no one.

I usually keep them short (30-60 minutes max, sometimes shorter), but I go in with an open mind trying to learn.

I also vet those meetings ahead of time to make sure I’m not wasting their time when they actually should have met with someone else.

Just because you can't be accessible to everyone doesn't mean you need to be accessible to no one. Click To Tweet

What About You?

It’s amazing what can happen when you begin to protect those “five-minute” segments in your calendar.

What are you learning about saying no to people who ask for your time?