I love this article by Erin Bury on how to say no. 

It gives you some good ways to evaluate if you should say yes or no to a request for a meeting or taking a call and ways to manage the requests you do want to take.

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Most entrepreneurs and professional women know that you have to network like crazy to get the right opportunities but that means that you also need to protect your calendar like a ninja. So I came across these awesome scripts that you can use from Dan Martell:

Invest in a startup

Unfortunately, it’s not an opportunity that I feel I could add a lot of value to, so I’m going to pass.

Schedule a call

Appreciate the opportunity but unfortunately, I’m already committed, can we start with email? How can I help?

Take a meeting

Thanks for reaching out. Unfortunately, scheduling a meeting is tough, let’s start with an email. How can I help?

Attend an event

Thanks for the opportunity, but I’m already committed that day. Appreciate the invite.

Read a long email

Thanks for reaching out, but unfortunately I won’t be able to process your full email. How can I help?

Build a new feature

Thanks for sharing, it’s really appreciated. I’ll be sure to share with the team.

Investors asking to meet

Thanks for reaching out but I’m heads down with Clarity right now. I’ll circle back once the dust settles.

Involvement in a new project

Thanks for thinking of me, but unfortunately I’m over committed with Clarity + a growing family. I’m going to have to pass this time.

Blanket NO

“Thanks for reaching out. While I appreciate the request, things have really taken off at my agency and I’m taking a vacation from 1:1 meetings because I’m focusing on growing the team and supporting them the best I can. I do appreciate you reaching out though, and if you reach back out in a few months I’ll try to accommodate your request then.”

You might also want to look for tools that help you to schedule your appointments automatically. I use Book.me to manage my apt requests.