Being a "people pleaser" sucks sometimes.

I often find that I set myself up for failure. Not because I want to, but because I haven't mastered the art of saying no. And sometimes, it's not the person I'm making a commitment to, but the people around me that seem to be let down. Today I was able to see that.

A woman came into my store early this evening, but it was just a couple of hours before closing time. She asked about getting some flyers printed, but she wanted four on a page and she wanted them cut down to size. I told her it would be fine and that I could get them done before closing time. But when I told her that, I was already working on another project, AND trying to help a couple other people in the store.

I was able to manipulate her file so that I could get four on a page, but when they printed, the edges were getting cut off, so she asked that I fit the image to the page size, which I did, and in turn ended up getting larger and odd sized margins from one side to the other. My co-worker said to me that this type of project should be proofed by the customer before printing. I had in fact shown the customer a proof beforehand. It wasn't cut down, and maybe that's why she couldn't really tell there would be a problem.

When she returned to the store, she wasn't too thrilled with the odd margins, but I explained to her that I had in fact shown her two different samples on two different paper stocks. I also added that because she asked me to fit the image to the page size, it was going to change everything. I feel like I'm rambling on and on about this particular incident.

The point is, I didn't want to let her down, which is why I promised to have her project before closing time. It pretty much turned into a disaster. My co-worker was disappointed that I did it and was not able to get to other projects that needed to be worked on. And this isn't even the first time I've done something like this.

Just the other day, one of the guys at another store asked me to work for him, just for a couple of hours since I told him I was working 11-7 that day. I didn't realize until the day of, that I actually closed at my store. I felt really bad because I had already promised my friend Kevin that it would be no problem. It sucked because I let him down, something that could have been avoided had I checked my schedule earlier.

I have friends who have asked me to go out at times that coincided with plans I already had with other friends, but I didn't realize it until I checked my schedule of plans. I've actually done this on numerous occasions. And rather than say, "oh, I can't. I forgot I already had plans," I will try and keep both, and end up being very late to one because I couldn't say no. It usually ends up with one party being upset because I'm late.

I keep telling myself I'm going to stop doing this, but I don't know how. I think I want to make everyone happy, and I feel like saying "no," will only upset them. I'm really going to try and make this a goal for the new year. If anyone has any suggestions, let me know. I've realized for a very long time (and have also been told straight up) that my time management just sucks.