Overtime is almost always requested in the same way: late, informally, and framed as a favour rather than a request, which makes it awkward to answer as though it were a request. The word 'just' does a lot of quiet work here. Just an hour or two. Just this weekend. Just until the release is out, which was also the reason given in March. A polite decline needs only two components, and neither of them is an apology. A plain no, and a fact about your life stated without embarrassment. 'I can't do the extra hours this week, I've got commitments in the evenings that I've already moved twice' is complete. You do not owe a description of the commitments, and volunteering one invites a negotiation about whether it counts, which is a conversation nobody should be having about their own evening. The part that makes it land well is offering something real instead: an early start rather than a late finish, one evening rather than four, or a proper handover so the person who does take it isn't beginning from nothing. And say it once, clearly. A reluctant maybe gets chased on Friday afternoon; a plain no does not. Below are ten ways to decline overtime politely, plus twenty in the generator.
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