Lost Art of Asking Questions - Saying No

We do not say no often, it is in our DNA to build collaborations and communities, therefore any ask upon us is seen as an opportunity to build the collaboration or social connection by our mind. However, this has a chance of "spreading us thin", if not done mindfully, therefore say "I don't" instead of "I can't"

Maintaining Open-source software provides a fertile ground for this case. There are several instances where a maintainer's time is demanded onto something that's not planned by the maintainer. An email or a change-set which is being pinged for review, another commit, which regresses and needs to be redone, a build is broken due to external dependencies. A new cool architecture support is to be added. There are N number of things that can lay their hand on your time if you are not careful about what you want to commit for.

Choose to say 'No' more often than saying 'yes', it's not rude. Believe me.