If they are disappointed to not get the 'easy way out', explain to them why you are doing this. If they ask for your help, offer them the help you are willing to give. In other situations remember you are doing them no favor in the long run by supporting their laziness and letting them exploit you.īasically, help them in the same situation and way as they would help you (giving them tips, instead of the full presentation, answering specific questions instead of doing their homework for them.) This does not mean you are letting them down, instead, you are helping them in a more sustainable long-term useful way.Īnd you can tell them that. You can decide in which situations you want to help out (for example if they have actual questions and ask for some kind of tutoring, or even if they had a family emergency and just didn't manage to finish the presentation). Letting them exploit you is not going to earn you any thanks and not going to teach them anything useful for life. What you are trying to avoid is being exploited. You will definitely help them if they face an actual difficulty. To me, it seems that you are not at all unwilling to help. Realize that you are also saying no for their own sake. Also, the problem gets repeatedly when people get extended due dates, in which case I can't say 'I'm not done' because I am supposed to have handed in the assignment. So someone wants a cultural tag, there it is. I could just man up and say 'No,' but then these guys help me out when I need them (not in the same way sometimes it's a problem or a question I can't answer I don't ask for everything and then 'change it') so I don't want to rat them out. It is not even getting caught that bothers me (they're actually good at changing things up) it's that I don't want to give it to them. They then tell me to e-mail them and say 'Oh, we'll change the fonts and some of the words.'.

Say we had to make a PowerPoint presentation or something, and the guys realize I finished it but they have not. I don't want to be rude, but they pester me and I try to escape but I can't - I end up spending a lot of time helping them to do a homework task that they were supposed to do themselves, so I just make things quick (as in 2-word answers or something like 'It's in the worksheet we have').īut it doesn't end there. I am the smart guy at school and people always want my help.

I want to finish my homework