The freelancers curse is never being able to say ‘No’.
No means you’re turning away work. (Who would do that?)
No means someone else will do the work and you’ll find out and you’ll hate them a bit for it. (and hate yourself in turn)
No means when the inevitable lull in work comes around and you’re sitting twiddling your thumbs and you remember that work you said no to you’ll think Ah jaysus. (And the money! THE MONEY!)
But yes.
Saying yes when you’re busy means you can’t give the time you need to do good work.
Saying yes when you’re exhausted means you can’t find it in you to do the best work.
Saying yes when you’re already overloaded means you’re more than likely to let at least one person down. Maybe two. Maybe three.
Sometimes the smart thing to do is to say no.