Keep in mind, that not everybody is willing to take the hints and some people could just keep thinking that you are busy, but would still be excited to see them.

It's not like you shouldn't follow this advice, it's more like a warning, that sometimes you will see them reaching out to you longer, then one could expect.

I think that it's important to be open and honest about what is going on if you care about the relationship.

I was the emotionally draining friend, and I didn't understand why my friend was avoiding me. I thought that she hated me, and it felt awful. We eventually talked about it and turns out she needed space to protect her own mental health. We were able to move forward from this and still be good friends after talking about it.