Everyone has probably found themselves in this unpleasant situation where you should somehow tell your guests that it’s time to leave. In this article, we will try to learn how to do it in a polite manner. Of course, you should always protect your own boundaries – physical, emotional, and mental, and that sometimes requires learning techniques related to dealing with guests that somehow don’t know how to leave your place on their own.

Take a look at this list and learn how to respectfully tell guests in your home that they’ve overstayed and it’s their time to go:

1. Set the time yourself. Let’s say that someone has got an idea to come to your place. They have either called you or sent you a message to tell you that. Usually, guests are super excited about their idea and are looking forward to meeting you and having a good time. You don’t want to be rude, so you are thinking about telling them how much they can stay. This is especially important for people who simply don’t know how to go home. The best tip – set the time yourself. Tell them that it’s fine to come and hang out together, but that you have to leave your house in 2 or 3 hours. Say that you have other obligations that must be done throughout the day.

2. Tell a story. While you are with unpleasant guests, you can share a story about someone else who comes to your place and doesn’t know how to go home on their own. 90% of them will realize that you don’t like that sort of guest, so they will soon start respecting your schedule, wishes, and needs.

3. Do it ahead. Whenever you have a chance to tell your guests how free you are for hanging out – do it ahead. This way, you won’t even end up in an unpleasant situation. Remind yourself of our first fact to get an entire picture of what it should look like.

4. What to do when they weren’t even invited in the first place? Even more unpleasant situation happens when someone just appears at your door, and then doesn’t know how to leave. It is completely okay to tell them that you haven’t planned to hang out with others today and that you have many other obligations to finish – which cannot wait. Be sure that you focus on your obligations, and not on the situation in which they have arrived without the invitation. You can tell them that you are free to drink coffee with them and that you must continue doing many other things after that. You can also recommend time for hanging out if you like that person – make a plan when you two will meet, but not today.

5. Respect your rules when visiting their place. Once you set healthy boundaries for unpleasant guests, you are finally strong enough to respect your own time, together with mental and emotional boundaries. But don’t forget to respect those boundaries when visiting their place. Always ask how much you can stay and respect these rules from our list.

As you can see, it’s not that hard. Implement these 5 steps and get rid of unpleasant situations and stress with guests that don’t know how to leave your place on their own.

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