Yes but... what you need to understand is..

Yes but... thats not possible in my business.

Yes but... I dont have time.

Yes but... Yes but...

How many times have you come across people who are masters of the Yes But excuse? Maybe you are you one of them? Is it easier, more convenient to find a reason not to do something that to think through how it could be done?

What would it be like if for you challenged yourself and/or your Yes But colleagues to eliminate those words from your vocabulary and replace them with.

Thats an interesting option, what would we have to do to make that work?

Or

I think thats exactly what needs to happen and I need to reprioritise so that I can make that work

Or

I have tried that before yet I didnt evaluate why it didnt work so perhaps a rethink would be useful (or phrases to that effect.)

If you take a different mindset you may get a different outcome.

Is your Yes but mentality at the heart of poor time control?

Top 5 Tips for Changing Your Yes But Mentality

1. Get clear about where you want to focus your time

Know first of all what you want what you really want to achieve, so you have a solid frame of reference to make decisions

2. Be open to options

Sometimes prejudice, assumption and past experiences get in the way of new thinking and objectivity. Be honest with yourself about whether you are limiting your range of solutions to how you can achieve something.

3. Create space to think

Build in thinking time so that you can analyse different options. Ask yourself who what, how questions to support your new found create approach to finding solutions that have stumped you in the past. Time wont change so you have to.

4. Take Ownership for the Outcome

The buck stops with you! Only you can manage your time and only you can therefore choose on what and how you spend your time. Your boss, your colleagues, your family or friends can only influence you. You can ultimately choose what you do and when you do it. Yes there may be consequences and again only you can decide the impact of those consequences.

5. Ask for Help

You dont always have to do everything yourself. You dont always have to do IT at all. Again make choices about the reality of your to do list. Is what is on your list actually or necessarily up to you to do? Ask for help, share the load, delegate or- just dont do it Yes, again there may be consequences and if you think rather than just assume and do, at least you have an increased chance of taking more control.

Beverley Hamilton 2005

Beverley Hamilton

Beverley Hamilton, business coach and MD of One Step Further, works with escapees from the corporate world who have or want to establish their own consultancy in their specialist field of marketing, sales, HR or IT. Her focus is on helping consultants gain more control, more clarity and more ideal clients so that their business achieves the goals that they dreamt of on breaking out of the corporate environment.

As an executive coach and facilitator, Beverley also works with newly appointed senior executives to accelerate their transition into a new role so that they achieve their objectives and their company’s expectations more quickly and more effectively.

Beverley is the author of Take Control of Your Time: 7 Straight Shooter Strategies for Success and has been published in a number of professional and business publications. She also writes a free, weekly newsletter called Quickstart, which provides, tips, tools techniques and insights into how to lead a successful consultancy and improve your personal effectiveness.

With experience as a teacher, RAF Air Traffic Control Officer and Learning and Development specialist combined with her passion for helping people excel, Beverley has enabled individuals and teams, in the public and private sectors both in the UK and overseas, to achieve improvements in personal and team effectiveness.