Learning To Say No

from livewriterepeat.com

One of the hardest thing to do as a Filipino is say NO.  Let's face it.  We have been groomed since we were young to be kind and accommodating.  To a fault.  As much as possible we want to please everyone.  We don't want people to nurse feelings of 'sama ng loob' (hurt feelings?).

Maybe it's a cultural thing.  Unfortunately if left unabated, it could get us into trouble as we grow up.  More so as we mature and turn into professionals.

As a work at home professional, I work US hours.  Actually it's a compromised US hour.  I start my day at 3pm Manila time and finish my shift at 12midnight.  Translated to Eastern Standard Time (EST), I work from 3am to 12noon.  However, some of my colleagues would set up meetings way past this hour, or afternoon their time.  This leaves me feeling very conflicted.  Since I am already at that stage where I don't receive overtime pay, there really isn't any benefit for me should I decide to extend my working hours.  In which case I always have a couple of standing questions I ask to help me decide whether to accept a meeting invite or decline;

The first question is:

Are we racing against a very tight deadline?  If yes, I then ask myself, do I play a part in meeting that deadline?  If again I get a yes, then there's no escaping it, I have to attend that meeting.