The Art of Saying No: Your Most Powerful Productivity Tool
Warren Buffett says the difference between successful people and very successful people is that very successful people say no to almost everything. Here's how.
The most productive people in the world aren't those who do the most things—they're the ones who do the fewest right things exceptionally well. In "Essentialism" by Greg McKeown, McKeown argues that the way of the Essentialist means pursuing only the right activities in the right way at the right time.
The Paradox of Success
Success creates new opportunities, but it also creates new obligations. You get promoted, so now you're invited to more meetings. Your business grows, so more people want your time.
This is why disciplined people who achieve initial success often struggle to maintain it. They become victims of their own achievement, saying yes to everything because everything seems important.
Every "yes" is a "no" to something else. Before agreeing to any new commitment, ask: "What am I saying no to by saying yes to this?"
The 90 Percent Rule
McKeown suggests using the 90 Percent Rule for decisions: If something isn't a "hell yes," it's a "no."
"If you don't deeply care about something, don't do it." — Greg McKeown
Maria's Ruthless Prioritization
Maria was drowning in opportunities. Every week brought new meeting requests, project invitations, and "quick favors."
She implemented the 90 Percent Rule using KeyResults:
- Listed her three active objectives for the quarter
- For every new request, asked: "Does this directly advance one of my objectives?"
- If not a clear yes, the answer was no
The first week felt uncomfortable. By the fourth week, she'd reclaimed 12 hours of her time and made more progress on her actual goals than in the previous month.
KeyResults helps you apply this rule systematically. Your active goals and key results represent your "hell yes" list—the things you've decided truly matter. When a new request arrives, check it against your objectives. If it doesn't align, you have a clear reason to decline.
The Graceful No
Saying no doesn't require explanation or apology. A simple "I'm not able to make that work" is complete.
Practice these phrases: "Thanks for thinking of me, but I can't take this on." "That's not something I can commit to right now." "I'm focused on other priorities this quarter."
When you track your time and progress in KeyResults, you have objective data to support your decisions. "I'm at capacity this week" isn't an excuse—it's a fact you can demonstrate.
Eliminating the Nonessential
Look at your task list right now. How many of those tasks directly contribute to your most important goals? McKeown suggests that often less than 20% of our activities produce 80% of our results.
Use KeyResults' health score and velocity metrics to identify which activities are actually moving the needle. Tasks tied to active key results that show progress are essential. Tasks that have lingered for weeks without meaningful impact? Those might be candidates for elimination.
Do a quarterly "task audit." Go through your entire task list and ask of each item: "If I weren't already doing this, would I start?" Delete ruthlessly.
The Power of Trade-Offs
Essentialists embrace trade-offs. You can't have it all—and trying to leads to mediocrity in everything.
KeyResults' backlog buckets make trade-offs visible. When you move something to "Someday," you're acknowledging it's not a priority now. That's not defeat—that's clarity.
By being clear about what you won't do, you free up capacity for what you will do. The power of no is really the power of focus.
Link Tasks to OKRs
Connect your daily work to meaningful goals with OKR tracking