Why a Single No Might Be the Answer to Your Problems

To protect your time is to protect your freedom

Jan Vajda
4 min readMar 1, 2023
A hand stamps letter with the word no.
Photo cottonbro studio on Pexels

You know time is your most valuable commodity.

You heard it countless times and at least once, you experienced it personally. A painful feeling of regret was probably involved.

But if you need a reminder, listen to this guy. He was pretty wise.

“Lost time is never found again.” — Benjamin Franklin

What if NO is the correct answer?

Deep in our hearts, we understand the fickle nature of time.

If our career fails and we go broke, there will always be more opportunities to make money. Even a broken relationship can be repaired. It hurts, but it isn't irreversible.

But time is ruthless.

Yet we don't act like it. We treat time as an infinite source—the same way how humanity treats non-renewable sources of energy.

For you and me, time is like a gas to our species. We will exploit it until we run out of time.

To master your time management is to master your life.

The biggest leak is when we surrender time to others: family, friends, and colleagues.

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Jan Vajda

Freelance writer, editor, translator. I strive to turn my life lessons into intriguing stories. Favourite tags: Inspiration | Culture | Wellness | Freelancing