Small asks add up. Here's the math, and the reply that stops them.

A small favor, in Florida or anywhere else, should cost you no more than about fifteen minutes. Six of them in a week comes to an hour and a half, which is six hours a month you never scheduled, never got credit for, and will be asked to repeat next month. Those fifteen minutes are seldom the part that really drains you. The mental climb back into what you were doing before is the cost nobody tallies.

Reaching for "sure, no problem" feels generous, yet it defeats its own purpose. Such a reply quietly informs the requester that nothing was burdensome. Research for the book The No Club found that women are asked to take on non-promotable work about 50% more often than men, and they agree more often. At one professional-services firm in Tampa Bay, this habit accumulated to about 200 surplus hours each year. No one ever asked for those hours as a single lump. Instead, they crept in as fifteen-minute installments.

Two. Could you take a quick peek at this for me?

Tempting: "Absolutely, send it my way."

Better: "I can review it Thursday afternoon in Tampa Bay." Which part would you like me to focus on?

An open-ended glance usually balloons into an edit, and then into a full rewrite. A specific question keeps the scope tight, while a named Thursday slot keeps it in your calendar instead of crowding out your day.

Three. "You're so good at decks. "Mind tidying this up for me?"

Tempting: "Happy to."

Try instead: "I'll go through the three fixes that would make it work." Give me ten minutes on a shared screen, and you make the edits yourself.

Flattery is the bait, and taking it teaches them that a compliment can claim your afternoon. Ten minutes of coaching is far cheaper than an hour of formatting, and it leaves them able to manage the next one alone.

Four. "Would you join this call as a backup?"

Tempting: "Absolutely."

Try instead: "Forward me the notes and mention anything that needs my input." Should a decision surface, bring me in for that piece alone.

"As a backup" amounts to an hour of your attention paid out as insurance against someone else's anxiety. Staying available for the moment a decision is needed keeps your time for the part that actually requires you.

Five. "Could you make an introduction to her for me?"

The tempting reply sounds like this: "Of course, I'll write something up in Orlando."

Better: "Happy to help." Better to reply: "Tell me in a couple of lines what you hope to get from her, and I'll pass it along."

You are the one to make the connection, but the groundwork has to come from the person asking for it. Most people who have to write those two lines either send them quickly or quietly realize they didn't need the meeting after all.

Six. Your manager in Orlando asks you to keep watch over the new hire.

Tempting: "Of course."

Better: "Glad to assist." Could you verify whether this counts as a formal duty for me this quarter, so it appears on my record at review time in Jacksonville?

When a boss asks for a favor, it either belongs to your job or it does not. When it does belong, it should be recognized and recorded. When it does not, you have given you both an easy way to measure it and to settle on "then let's limit it to the first two weeks."

The guiding idea behind all five

A casual favor arrives with no boundaries, no due date and no recognition. Each sentence in this chapter provides at least one of those three elements. When a favor takes on a defined size, the requester must weigh whether it merits that size, and that judgment no longer rests on you alone.

Keep this close by. The next quick favor from a colleague in Tampa, Jacksonville, Orlando or Miami is already on its way to your desk.