Rule 2 of 32 · Chapter I — The Steady Centre
Apologise within a day, plainly, with no clause explaining why you were almost right.
Why this rule exists
An apology with a defence attached is not an apology; it is a closing argument, and the other person hears only the defence. Delay compounds the damage because the injured party spends the interval deciding what your silence means. Fast and clean costs you a few seconds of pride and buys back the relationship intact.
In practice
Name what you did, say it was wrong, say what you'll do instead, then stop talking. Cut every sentence containing "but," "if you felt," or an account of how busy or provoked you were. If context genuinely matters, offer it in a separate conversation on a separate day, after the apology has landed on its own.
When it doesn't apply
Don't apologise for things you didn't do to keep the peace — reflexive apology is its own dishonesty. And if you're not yet sure what happened, say you're looking into it rather than issuing an empty one within the day.