Saying no to a bad idea takes no effort. Saying no to a good one is where prioritising gets hard. 

Too much to do, everything feeling urgent, and no clear idea of what to let go of: this is the problem I hear about more than any other, and it comes up constantly with our clients at Inventium. It has also been my own problem more than once. 

So I went back through the How I Work archive and pulled together the most useful advice I’ve collected on prioritising and saying no.  

By the end, you’ll have a handful of strategies, weekly rituals and actual sentences you can borrow to protect your time for the work that counts. 

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You’ll hear from: 

• Laura Mae Martin, Google’s executive productivity advisor and author of Uptime, on why she tells executives to cut really good things, and the difference between having the time and having the energy 

• Adam Grant, organisational psychologist, Wharton professor and author of Give and Take, Think Again, Hidden Potential and Vibe, on the planning fallacy and the question that helps you pick one number one priority each week 

• Sahil Bloom, author of The Five Types of Wealth, on the third-party observer question he uses to find the gap between your stated priorities and your real ones 

• Sahil’s “twice as long, half as rewarding” test for new opportunities, plus his monthly think day 

• Adam Alter, professor at NYU’s Stern School of Business and author of Irresistible and Anatomy of a Breakthrough, on his 20-minute weekly audit of where your energy is actually going 

• Laura Vanderkam, author of 168 Hours, Off the Clock and Tranquility by Tuesday, on why she plans her week on Thursday mornings and how it can make your weekend better 

• Oliver Burkeman, author of Four Thousand Weeks and Meditations for Mortals, on his open list and closed list system for when you have 50 things on your plate 

• Why treating your to-do list as a menu makes it feel lighter 
• The exact words Laura Mae Martin uses to decline requests, including her “no, but” approach 

More from How I Work 

Laura Mae Martin: https://www.amantha.com/podcasts/ruthless-prioritization-with-googles-executive-productivity-advisor-laura-mae-martin 

Adam Grant: https://www.amantha.com/podcasts/adam-grant%E2%80%99s-advice-for-me-on-overcoming-burnout-%E2%80%93-and-how-he-made-it-through-his-own-burnout-experience 

Sahil Bloom: https://www.amantha.com/podcasts/sahil-bloom-on-building-a-scoreboard-that-reflects-what-matters 

Adam Alter: https://omny.fm/shows/how-i-work/why-adam-alter-s-to-do-list-system-is-so-simple 

Laura Vanderkam: https://www.amantha.com/podcasts/why-you-feel-busy-all-the-time-(even-when-you%E2%80%99re-not) 

Oliver Burkeman: https://www.amantha.com/podcasts/want-to-make-time-for-the-things-that-count 

Want more on this topic? I’ve put together a Spotify playlist of my favourite How I Work episodes on exactly prioritisation and saying no. Listen here. 

My latest book The Energy Game is out now. You can order a copy here: https://amzn.to/48ID29M 

Connect with me on the socials: Linkedin (https://www.linkedin.com/in/amanthaimber) 

Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/amanthai) 

If you are looking for more tips to improve the way you work and live, I write a weekly newsletter where I share practical and simple to apply tips to improve your life. You can sign up for that at https://amantha.substack.com/ 

Visit https://www.amantha.com/podcast for full show notes from all episodes. 

Get in touch at amantha@inventium.com.au 

Credits: 
Host: Amantha Imber 
Sound Engineer: Martin Imber