I was talking with a friend the other day who was deliberating about what to have for lunch. He could go out to eat, have leftovers, or make a new meal. I said how about just don’t eat. Skip a meal and see how you feel. He looked at me dumbfounded as if I had suggested he leap off a tall building.

We all face many decisions every day, but many of these decisions represent a false choice. A choice between this or that or between these or those. And we feel like we have to choose something from the available options. No choice is also an acceptable option.

Are you stressed out about going to too many meetings at work? Start declining meetings and simply stop going to meetings that aren’t critical for you to attend. You might think, “What will happen if I’m not in that meeting?” The answer is who cares, and you’ll know what happened because you should receive the minutes from the meeting that provide all the information you need. No minutes? It was a bad meeting anyway and you avoided wasting your time. 

Are you stressed out about too many emails? Start deleting them and you do not have to read or respond to every email. Don’t suffer what I call the “PTO” Penalty where you take time off and come back to a nightmare in your inbox. I’ll have more specifics about this particular one in another post.

Whether it is your work life or personal life, the decisions you make throughout the day impact the kind of day you will have. Think about the assumptions you make about your choices and realize that no is an acceptable choice.