This way, when someone makes a request you'll be able to ask yourself "do I want to do this?" and receive a quick answer you can trust. If you're still not sure, don't feel pressured to answer one way or the other. Tell the person requesting your help that you need some time to think about it and make sure it's something you can do. If they're reasonable, they'll understand your position and appreciate that you're putting thought into your decision rather than simply rejecting them outright because you're not sure. Make No (Detailed) Excuses When saying "no", you'll be tempted to provide a reason because you don't want the person requesting your help to think you're so awful you'd just say no for no reason at all. But if you asked for help and someone said "no I can't", would you assume they're just declining arbitrarily? Probably not. That doesn't mean you should provide absolutely no context for your answer, but providing an excuse gives people a reason to contest your decision. For example: "I can't go with you on a sewer adventure to find the lost poop of Isaac the Rat King because I have to mow a lawn and paint a wall." In this highly unrealistic example, the person requesting your companionship on a gross adventure could offer to help you paint your wall and mow your lawn afterwards -- or perhaps even hire someone to do it for you if they were so inclined. Applying this