If your excuse sounds really smooth, you’ve probably used it before. That’s a pattern, not a reason.

Practiced excuses come out too neatly. Real explanations are rough, because you are working out what happened while you say it, whereas a line that arrives fully formed has been road-tested. Smoothness is the sign of repetition, and repetition means the thing you are explaining keeps happening. The excuse is doing its job, which is why nothing changes.

Listen for your own greatest hits this week: the traffic, the phone, the way you have always been. When you hear one, finish the sentence differently, with what would have to change so you do not need it again. You can still use it once, as long as you notice.