Making yourself scarce is making yourself appear more valuable

One of the fundamental concepts in economics is scarcity. It is scarcity (of time, money, or other resources) that forces people (or firms, or government) to make choices. Scarcity is also one of the key factors that underlies the value of goods and services. Holding all else constant, goods that are scarcer will command a higher price. And businesses use this to good effect (the best example at that link: Starbucks' unicorn frappucino, which sold out in a few days).

Interestingly, Cindy Lamothe wrote in the New York Times earlier this month about scarcity value, but in relation to your worth as an employee (or potential employee):

And while conventional wisdom tells us we should eagerly embrace every opportunity that comes our way, playing a little hard to get has its advantages.

Study after study has shown that opportunities are seen to be more valuable as they become less available, meaning that people want more of what they can’t have, according to Robert Cialdini, a leading expert on influence and the author of “Pre-Suasion: A Revolutionary Way to Influence and Persuade.”

“What the scarcity principle says is that people are more attracted to those options or opportunities that are rare, unique or dwindling in availability,” Dr. Cialdini said. The reason behind this idea has to do with the psychology of “reactance”: Essentially, when we think something is limited to us, we tend to want it more.

Lamothe's advice is to make yourself less available (i.e. more scarce). You can do this by: being less eager (keeping your enthusiasm in check, or playing a little hard-to-get); not jumping the gun (taking your time to investigate an opportunity, and fully considering it); knowing your market value (so that you know how much your skills are worth, and you won't sell yourself short); and adopting an abundance mindset (reappraising negative self-talk, and recognising that there are unlimited possibilities, which helps give you more self-confidence). She concludes that:

Ultimately, appearing less available isn’t about limiting our enthusiasm or being unnecessarily hard on ourselves. It’s about trusting in our own self-worth so we can be proactive, experts say. This means mindfully aligning our excitement into strategy.

So, make yourself less available (and more scarce). It'll increase your perceived value. Or at least as an interim measure, maybe learn to say 'no' once in a while (some advice that I should probably follow!).