this interview was conducted by pro-blogger Gina Blitstein

In the busy lives we all lead, we are barraged with a continuous stream of opportunities to take on more projects, more responsibilities and more tasks. If you’re like most women, between family and work obligations you squeeze in a plethora of other activities until - and despite the fact - you are feeling completely swamped and overwhelmed. Is this really the way to live your best life?

Ideally you want to have time among the many things you must and should do for some ‘want to’ time. You need time to spend on things that define your life as your own. We often unquestioningly accept every task asked of us - no matter how busy we already are. This stretches us too thin, depriving us of the ability to focus on our own priorities, like ourselves, our relationships and our passions, personal and professional.

Is it possible to claim more control over how you live your life? According to author Elizabeth Cogswell Baskin, the answer is not only, “Yes,” but “Hell, Yes!” In her new book, Hell Yes! Two Little Words for a Simpler, Happier Life, Elizabeth provides a strategy for taking control of the overwhelming demands on our time, attention and energy. Do you do too much? Then Elizabeth has some straightforward advice for you. She says that for those decisions over which we do have control, we should ask ourselves, “Is this a Hell, Yes! for me? In other words, is this something I have the desire, ability and time to take on? If not, Elizabeth advises that the answer is as simple as, “Hell, No!”

The Hell Yes! principle is meant to help us cut through the ambiguity that often clouds our decision making. Often we only say “Yes” because it is our conditioned response. We don’t take into consideration the ramifications of that “Yes” upon the rest of our life. It is simply easier to say “Yes” than it is to figure out how to say “No” without feeling we’re letting someone down.

It requires a clear sense of what we want out life to look like. When we have that vision defined, the things that don’t fit within it become - unmistakably - the “Hell Nos.” Elizabeth helps us see that we don’t have to do everything and be everything to be our authentic self. In fact, the things we are doing ‘just because’ are distracting us from our true path. To quote Elizabeth, the Hell Yes! principle provides, “a quick and easy way to access your intuitive knowing.” After all, Elizabeth reminds us, our “Hell No!” may be someone else’s “Hell Yes!”

Hell Yes! sounds deceptively simple - and at first glance perhaps simplistic. But that is far from the truth! Hell Yes! is not an excuse for avoiding doing the distasteful. Behind every unchanged diaper or parent-teacher conference there lies a bigger Hell Yes! - that of being a good parent. A good deal of introspection and prioritizing is necessary in order to identify and separate your Hell Yeses! from your Hell Nos! From there it’s merely a matter of implementation.

Hell Yes! serves us best in situations where the task in play is a ‘free agent.’ We can pick it up, but how will it serve the team as a whole? Is it worth the cost? Elizabeth says, “Hell Yes! is not about making your life easy. It’s about making your life the life that only you can live. It’s about cutting away the clutter so you have the time and energy for what’s really important to you.”

In a nutshell, Hell Yes! is about taking the responsibility for the amount of “clutter” on your calendar. Elizabeth says, “Most weeks, or at least some of them, saying, “No” to the things that aren’t so important leaves me the flexibility and resilience to deal with the things that are.” Time is a precious commodity…why waste it doing things that don’t ultimately bring us satisfaction? Exercise your right to say, “Hell Yes!” with conviction and “Hell No!” without apology.

When do you find yourself saying “Yes” when you really should be saying “Hell No!”