Stop saying sorry for taking up space in a hallway. Save your apologies for when you actually did something.

Reflexive apologising is a habit of pre-emptive smallness, and it quietly teaches people how to treat you. It also spends the word, so that when you genuinely need to apologise for something real, the phrase has been worn down into a verbal tic with no weight left in it. Existing in a place is not an imposition.

Catch yourself this week and swap the apology for something accurate, thank you for waiting, or nothing at all. Notice how often it was about nothing. Save the real ones for real occasions, where they will actually land.