{"id":753,"date":"2018-11-24T11:21:46","date_gmt":"2018-11-24T11:21:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/react\/?p=753"},"modified":"2018-11-24T11:21:46","modified_gmt":"2018-11-24T11:21:46","slug":"say-no-and-work-better","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/react\/say-no-and-work-better\/","title":{"rendered":"Say \u2018no\u2019 and work better"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>by Cassie Bakshani<\/em><\/p>\n<p>As early-career researchers, and as young people in general, the pressure to say \u2018yes\u2019 can become a little overwhelming. \u2018Yes\u2019 to work requests, \u2018yes\u2019 to exciting collaborations, \u2018yes\u2019 to having at least some semblance of a social life.<\/p>\n<p>Whilst no doubt there are plenty of useful opportunities that can enrich your life and career, it\u2019s important to recognise that an opportunity, even one that is perceived to be life-changing and unmissable, is only <em>actually<\/em> life-changing and unmissable if you have the capacity to fully commit yourself to it. If you aren\u2019t able to input sufficient time and resources, the experience won\u2019t be productive for you, or anyone else involved. Really, what I\u2019m trying to say, is there is also great value in politely declining, or in other words, saying \u2018no\u2019.<\/p>\n<p>Saying no, contrary to the voice in your head, does not represent failure or inadequacy. It\u2019s about knowing your worth and the extent of your capabilities, whilst acknowledging that by taking on anything further, you could jeopardise the success of existing commitments. Spreading yourself too thinly can have serious implications, not only for your professional integrity, but more importantly, for your mental and physical wellbeing.<\/p>\n<p>Practise and embrace saying no. Some of the most accomplished scientists in history are renowned for their dedication to pondering specific problems, not on the length of their \u2018to-do\u2019 list. Slow the pace, reduce the complexity and fulfil the obligations you already have, to the very best of your ability. In doing so, you\u2019ll give yourself more time to appreciate the quiet moments of contemplation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>by Cassie Bakshani As early-career researchers, and as young people in general, the pressure to say \u2018yes\u2019 can become a little overwhelming. \u2018Yes\u2019 to work requests, \u2018yes\u2019 to exciting collaborations, \u2018yes\u2019 to having at least some semblance of a social life. Whilst no doubt there are plenty of useful opportunities that can enrich your life [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1372,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-753","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cassie"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/react\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/753","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/react\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/react\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/react\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1372"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/react\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=753"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/react\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/753\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":760,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/react\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/753\/revisions\/760"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/react\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=753"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/react\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=753"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/react\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=753"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}