If you’re feeling stressed out or frustrated with life right now, you’re not alone.

Sometimes, while dealing with work, school, friends, family and relationships — in the middle of a pandemic — it’s okay to tell someone to leave you alone. Lindsay Boccardo, a generational consultant and millennial career coach in Indianapolis, says there are three steps to kindly say “no.”

The first step is acknowledging the other person’s intention.

“It’s safe to assume that most people don’t wake up trying to ruin your day or try to make your life hard,” Boccardo told WISH-TV. “We’re looking at social psychology, all of us wearing masks and being distant, we can tend to forget the heart behind the other human. You can say ‘Hey, I know you’re trying to figure this out.’ Whatever it is, just take a breath and believe the best. That will help you.”

Boccardo says the second step is setting up your boundary, or what she likes to call, a “friendly fence line.”

“It usually sounds like this: ‘Hey, we typically reserve Sundays for family days, so I wasn’t planning on being available for a phone call.'”

She says the third and final step is important. After you set up a boundary, make sure you offer what you are willing to do.

“Sometimes somebody asks something of us that’s so big, we just want to say ‘no, get away from me, I got enough stuff to deal with.’ But instead, give some type of solution that shows that you still care about the other person when it’s appropriate.”

Boccardo says that can sound something like, “Let’s figure this out first thing Monday.”