The person who asks before helping has left your judgment in the room.

Unrequested help can quietly say that you were not managing. When someone reorganizes your kitchen, rewrites your paragraph, or takes over the difficult phone call without asking, the assistance arrives with a verdict attached, however kindly it was meant. A question first changes the whole transaction: you remain the person deciding, and the help becomes something you accepted rather than something that happened to you.

Ask before you step in this week, even when the answer seems obvious. Offer two versions, doing it or helping with it, and take the answer as given.