Saying
"no" can feel awful. It's often seen as rude, uncooperative,
unfriendly, unhelpful, and so on. But for makers and creators, "no" is
"the button that keeps us on," writes Kevin Ashton on Medium.
In his
essay titled "Creative People Say No," Ashton eloquently points out all
the reasons saying "no" is essential if you want to be productive:
Saying “no” has more creative power than ideas, insights and talent
combined. No guards time, the thread from which we weave our creations.
The math of time is simple: you have less than you think and need more
than you know. We are not taught to say “no.” We are taught not
to say “no.” “No” is rude. “No” is a rebuff, a rebuttal, a minor act of
verbal violence. “No” is for drugs and strangers with candy.Creators do not ask how much time something takes but how much creation it costs. This interview, this letter, this trip to the movies, this dinner with friends, this party, this last day of summer. How much less will I create unless I say “no?” A sketch? A stanza? A paragraph? An experiment? Twenty lines of code? The answer is always the same: “yes” makes less
