7 Questions to Ask Yourself Before Committing to Anything
Because you don’t get a medal for overcommitting
If you, like me, are a person alive in the world with an email address, you probably get asked to do things fairly often: Moderate panels, help with fundraisers, attend parties for people you know and people you don’t. Early in your career, it can feel flattering just to be asked for anything, like a shy kid at a school dance. But soon enough, you realize that the math isn’t in your favor. For every useful networking event or friend’s thing you want to be supportive of, you’ve been invited to 14 pointless “opportunities” you end up going to and regretting.
I know I’m not the only one who feels this way because I recently tweeted the secret weapon I use to protect myself from overcommitting, and the internet went bonkers over it.
My partner and I are both writers. I run a boutique speaking agency for poets. We both travel for speaking engagements ourselves. So while we often attend events and conferences we enjoy, we also frequently find ourselves in the car ride home from the airport, repeating a lot of the same things: That three-day trip could have been one day. I wish I’d known what was actually being asked of me. It wasn’t worth it. Only this part was worth it. I should have stayed home.
