How to Say No as A Creative Professional
- Adilla
- May 16
- 4 min read
Updated: Jun 5
Table of Contents
Why Creatives Struggle with Saying No
Rejection isn’t easy – experiencing it or saying it. As creatives who oversee their workload (especially our remote and freelance creatives!), saying ‘yes’ to every opportunity is tempting to fill up your portfolio and pay the bills. Hoping to further expand your career in the creative field is great until it eats you alive.
For creatives in a team, the need to show you are capable and have the skills to prove your ability is a good feeling to have. However, it’s often best to take a step back and check in with yourself. You wouldn’t want to experience an overabundance of work that you are capable of doing but don’t have the time and energy to do, causing disappointment to clients and your team.
Saying yes to every creative opportunity is a good habit, but don’t do it at your own expense. Take the time to assess yourself whether you are ready to add more to your load and learn how to say no politely.
When Should You Start Saying ‘No’ in Your Next Creative Work
If you need some help with when to say no, here are a few things you can look into before saying ‘yes’ to your next creative work:
Aligning Work with Your Goals and Your Current Workload
Check if this coming work is aligned with your long-term career goals, your professional growth, or affects any of your current tasks. If they don’t match and are affecting your current work schedule, then it’s best to say no to it.
Always take into consideration your current commitments. Adding more and overworking could potentially lead to a decrease in productivity. So, to ensure your work quality isn’t affected, identify your limits and say no when it reaches that threshold.
Assessing The Urgency and Importance of the Request
If this newly given creative work is urgent and important, check with yourself if you can take on the workload. However, if it doesn’t require your specific expertise, you may suggest someone else take the task instead to show that you care about the progress of the work.
How Setting Boundaries Can Build Confidence
Learning how to say no and set boundaries at your work might take some time, but it's not impossible.
Be Polite, Direct and Quick
If you are scared of coming out as mean, how to politely say no is possible. When you realise that you must reject a task, be sure to thank them for thinking of you. You don’t have to over-explain why you are rejecting the work. Be direct about your current capacity and commitments.
Establish Boundaries and Communicate Assertively
When letting them know of your current workload and priorities, set boundaries and be clear about your limits. If your client or boss pushes through, you can show them your work schedule and be firm in your decision. Being assertive and polite exudes confidence and prevents misunderstandings (and being taken advantage of).
It would be even more helpful if you had a visual overview of your work. So, your manager can assess if they can add one more task for you without needing to ask you. Our TESSR project management software can provide this for you and your team. With the TESSR Woohoo feature, project managers can take a look at your progress and workload, so your project manager will be able to make informed decisions before assigning you a new task.
Get Familiar with Saying No
Practice with a trusted colleague or a friend to try out scenarios where you can practise saying no. Get comfortable saying it so you can protect your energy and time in your working life.
Conclusion
It might be hard to say no at first, but with a bit of practice, it gets easier. Your long-term career goals will benefit from having more control over the creative work you undertake once you learn how to say no at work.
FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)
Why is it such a struggle to say no?
Some people struggle to say ‘no’ for different reasons. Others might have a fear of conflict or tend to ‘people please’. Whatever it is you are struggling with, do reach out to an expert about this! Especially if it's affecting your livelihood.
Is there a better way than saying no?
Yes, there are other ways to say no. If you want to know how to say no nicely, you can derive it like this: “I’m sorry I won’t be able to do it.” Or “I appreciate you thinking of me, but I have to decline.”
What if I don’t want to say no but would like to do the task at a later time?
Check in with your client or boss if the task you are given is time-sensitive. If it is, then it would be for you to say no to it, but if it isn’t, feel free to adjust it in your work schedule.
Author Bio
With a background in Arts English, Adilla has been a casual writer for various hobbies, including parodies of animated shows and plots for board games like Dungeons & Dragons. She loves to read anything and everything from fantasy stories to articles on tips and tricks. Currently, Adilla resides in Malaysia and is a creative writer at TESSR. One day, she is eager to publish her book. To know more about her, check out her LinkedIn.
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