In this article from The Blog of the Huffington Post, Jennifer Maffett writes about saying “no” and its relation to focus. Here is a preview of the July 2013 article:

Eight Guiding Principles

The “Art of No” is about focus. What you decide to not do leaves more room for doing what you need and want to do.

1. Prioritize
Can you articulate and even rank what is important to you? At work? At home? If you can put what is important into words, then you can make better decisions about what not to do. It will help you to not be reactive to every opportunity or request that comes along. Priorities can and will shift. So be open to new possibilities, but be clear to yourself why something new can become a priority. You can use the Urgent/Important Matrix to help you articulate your priorities. Nobody says this is easy! But give it a try.

 

To read the rest go to the Huffington Post website.