Keen business managers and analysts alike notice a strange but ultimately unsurprising trend—80 percent of useful output in business comes from about 20 percent of effort input. This rule, which is called the 80-20 Rule or, even more descriptively, the Law of the Vital Few, means that the average employee wastes almost 80 percent of […]

ork smarter, not harder—a concept as simple and elegant as e = mc2. Einstein’s equation changed the world; our foolproof Womenomics formula will change your universe. What they have in common is a new understanding of energy. If you’re going to work less and still achieve, you need to understand where to direct your precious […]

Lots of women, ourselves included, dread saying “no” because of the tangle of emotions that we discussed above. For many women, there is an added barrier to the self-affirming no: it’s the social, or maybe we should say sociological, obligation. Melissa James understands the emotion of sociological obli­gation as well as anyone. Melissa is a […]

Part of the beauty of saying “no” ’is that you’re doing much more than staving off an unwanted assignment or a new responsibil­ity or obligation. The rush of confidence and even the slightly otherworldly sense of well-being that arrives after a decisive no moment comes in part from the knowledge that you won’t have to […]

The key to this kind of no is the delivery, since you’re trying to communicate a very clear message in an inoffensive way. It’s a difficult task, but it’s doable. The things to remember, which will always serve you well: Mind your manners: Make good eye contact, smile, be friendly. Remember, you are saying no. […]

• Think about all of the recent nos you’ve received. Can you even remember them? Were you really devas­tated? Are you still thinking about them? Probably not. Remember, anticipation is always worse than reality. • Keep a list handy of all of your commitments. That’s what Robin Ehlers does. "It’s the easiest way to be […]

In time, the detective work that will lead to a decision about saying yes or no will become much easier. And obviously, there’s no standard formula to use to reach that decision. We can’t tell you that if you respond a certain way to five out of those six ques­tions, for example, you should shout […]

You probably already have a very good internal radar as to what constitutes a reasonable request and what does not; what is part of your job, and what is inappropriate. It’s funny how we all know immediately after we say yes that we made the wrong move. How many times have we said: “Why did […]

Once you’ve tamed your inner-guilt monster, you are ready to welcome that most wonderful of words into your vocabulary. We’re certain you barely use it. But it’s a potent combination of two letters that could routinely save our sanity. Go ahead. Say it. You know the word we mean. NO. Are we simply allergic to […]

Think of bosses as crying, whining children who need a bit of discipline. Forgive the analogy, but it is really quite similar to training little ones. The first time a tantrum or refusal to go to bed crops up, or, let’s say, an unreasonable work request is made, you will feel horrible and guilt-ridden at […]