Thursday, July 26, 2012

Emotional Margin in Life's Calendar

Leaders craft both the chronological and emotional weight of their days. It's not enough to just have a plan on how to manage the responsibilities of your life, competitive as they may be. The deeper question is how you anticipate the emotional load that comes with influencing others.

As a pastor, I can book myself cover to cover with ministry tasks In that way I get a ton done. But the quality of the work can be left wanting if the emotional space I allow myself to take into those moments and meetings is compromised.

Planning a day is not just about lining up appointments, but also about limiting the emotional load those appointments carry. I do not have limitless emotional energy even though I do have the ability to (almost) limitlessly stack up tasks across the 24 hours of my day.