In our recent YES! Your Human Resources Solution blog 4 Ways to Improve Your Work-Life Balance, we talked about the importance of declining work to stay within your ideal work-life balance. You can also say no to more work if the assignment will pull you away from your regular duties—or if you’re just tired of being the office dumping ground.

Saying no at work can be empowering—and good leaders have the strength to set boundaries—but it can also be scary. Here’s how to decline work with a grace that won’t impact your performance review:

• Give a firm but sympathetic delivery. A snippy, flippant, or entitled “no” is not going to do favors for your professional image. (Remember, there’s a reason the task-giver came to you!) When you decline work, follow up with an explanation why, and offer some kind words about the project and the task-giver. If the project is super important but you’re just too busy, your boss may rearrange your priorities to accommodate the work—how else will your boss know what to do if you don’t say no first?
• Make it about you. Own your decision to decline work! The decision is about you and your priorities, so try a statement like, “Thanks for coming to me with this project, but I’m just too busy to take this on right now.” Stay away from finger-pointing statements like, “You always give me last-minute projects”; if someone has a track-record of rejectable assignments, have a separate conversation about why you’ve had to turn down their requests.
• Be honest and decisive. If you’re clear that you need to say no and why you need to say it, deliver the message quickly and decisively—delaying or vacillating will only confuse the issue and make you look wishy-washy. Thinking first about what you want to say might make things easier. And finally, be sure to give valid reasons for saying no. Saying no might not hurt your career, but being caught in a lie sure will!