Recently, I started posting about my work on social media, and now I regularly get invited by LinkedIn strangers to chat over coffee. I enjoy those chats here and there, but with the commute, they're 3-hour, 10-euro blind dates in the middle of the day.
Business partners also invite me to private networking events. It's meant as a token of gratitude for our collaboration, but they're an anxiety-inducing nightmare for me.
How can I politely decline such invitations without being rude or making excuses? I am not too busy; I just don't want to go.
Obviously, when it's someone you know or important to you, give them the courtesy of a polite decline or say you're very busy and will let them know if anything changes in the future. But for strangers: ignore if you don't want to interact.