Learning to say no

And not to my kids.
It's my professional life that is a mindless tangle of meetings and committees and well...work because of some inability I have to say no to things. Take my current commitments for example:

1. Chair of the department
2. Chair of search committee for new librarian
3. Secretary of regional organization
4. Member of campus technology committee
5. Member of campus self study committee and chair of subcommittee 2
6. Member of a conference planning committee and head of local arrangements

I've received several calls for volunteers recently and I've thus far avoided volunteering for anything else. I've also started to ask for help which, I think, really shows just how overwhelmed I am.

So here is to learning to say no and hopefully a reduction to the stress levels in my life. My you all learn from my near nervous breakdown.