The Best Decline Letter of All Time: Edmund Wilson - The Blog of Author Tim Ferriss

Hey there, Tim, Sorry for the slow response and thanks for thinking of me in this context. It has become pretty obvious of late that I’m trying to do too much, and so I started an experiment of not adding anything whatsoever to my “to-do” list, so that it wouldn’t get any longer. The result is that the items that were ALREADY on my “to-do” list onl

First, I'll share one of my recent email declines: "This is such a fascinating subject, but I fear I've taken on too many blurb requests in the past few months and gave myself a self-reinforced pause. My apologies"

In turning down obligations, I also resist the urge to offer a consolation prize that ends up devouring almost as much of my schedule (e.g., “Sorry I can’t join your committee, but I’m happy to take a look at some of your proposals as they come together and offer my thoughts”). A clean break is best.