The hurrier I go the behinder I get.
(the White Rabbit, in Alice And Wonderland)
Martha, Martha…you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.
(Jesus, in Luke 10:41-42)
The Problem with Progress
A few years ago I decided to move away from the cutting edge to what a friend described as the “trailing edge” of technology. I was over-committed and felt over-communicated, especially by email (which is really “e-memo”). That’s why I kept resisting the current “social nitwitting” of blogs and tweets and face-booking. I was reminded of the old saying, “You can’t stop progress.” I don’t necessarily want to stop progress, but there are times when I would like things to slow down just a little!
A worldwide epidemic is growing exponentially across the globe and I’m not talking about a flu virus. Richard A. Swenson, a medical doctor, named the epidemic “overload syndrome.”[1] The growth of progress over the last century has brought many wonderful and helpful inventions into our lives while also causing a parallel increase in stress levels that can lead to psychological, physiological and behavioral disorders. One place this is evident is in the way people drive in traffic! Tail-gating, road rage, and wolf-packing at 20-30 miles above the posted speed limit are examples.
Dr. Swenson identified the source of this stress as our living in an age that has lost control of progress and is now controlled by progress. To maintain or regain a healthy balance in life, Swenson suggests we should not try to fight progress, but to regain control of it to make it work again for us.
I decided it would be healthier and wiser to enter the 21st century of communication on my terms with what I hope is a balanced approach. So now I blog, fb and tweet (although I call it “twitting”). I guess I have become a fledgling social nitwit. J
Do You Suffer From Overload Syndrome?
Overload syndrome occurs “whenever the requirements upon us exceed that which we are able to bear,”[2] breaking the proverbial camel’s back. Consider which of these describe your overload:
activity overload,
change overload,
choice overload,
commitment overload,
debt overload,
decision overload,
education overload,
expectation overload,
fatigue overload,
hurry overload,
information overload,
media overload,
communication overload,
news overload,
people overload,
possession overload,
technology overload,
traffic overload,
work overload,
service or ministry overload.
Overload and Margin
None of these is necessarily bad, taken alone or in moderation! But when it gets to the point that you do not have the power (time and energy) to deal with all that is being heaped on you, that becomes overload. Margin, the prescription for overload, is when your power is greater than your load. Swenson puts this in the form of a simple mathematical equation:
Power – Load = Margin.
You always want the margin side to be in the positive and not in the negative. If your margin is in the negative, you are suffering from overload. Another way to look at would be:
Power > Load = Margin.
Load > Power = Overload.
Relationships are Everything
Swenson points out that having margin is not a necessity for good leadership. But availability is. Effective leaders make themselves available for the needs of others. To be available, you must have margin. The most effective leaders are able to find and maintain margin in every area of life.
Time management is essential to building margin, but the management of time must be based on one’s priority relationships. Giving appropriate time to priority relationships then becomes the key to finding margin.
On the surface, one might have thought Dr. Rolando Gutierrez was overloaded just by the many roles he filled—professor at the Politecnical Institute of Mexico, pastor of Horeb Baptist Church, president of the National Baptist Convention of Mexico, president of the Latin American Theological Fraternity, editor of a theological journal, author, husband, father, grandfather and more. Even with all these roles and activities, however, Don Rolando always seemed to have time to visit and share one on one with people. Whenever he was in conversation with you, he seemed to give you all his attention, as if at that moment you were more important than anyone or anything else in the world. He never seemed overly hurried or rushed, and he was also always on time!
Don Rolando also knew he could not fill every request for his time. He often delegated a responsibility to a representative or allowed a member of his team to attend a function to which he had been invited.
Work Hard, Play Hard
The most effective leaders are able to find balance and margin in the areas of emotional energy, physical energy and time. They know the importance of taking vacations and disconnecting completely from work. They also know it is important to take regular time to exercise and recreate. Effective leaders play almost as hard as they work.
Hint to the Leader
· To effectively serve your followers, you must build a degree of margin in your life that will allow time for teaching them to be less dependent on you as they mature to become leaders of still others. As you serve your followers, this in turn will help you build a relationship of trust, credibility and mutual accountability.
· Leave the second in command in command sometime.
· Take regular time off to relax, rejuvenate, recreate.
· Make opportunities to do fun things with your team.
Hint to the Follower
· There is more to life than work. Don’t spend so much time trying to get ahead that you leave behind the relationships that are most important to you.
· Begin now establishing boundaries and maintaining priorities in your life. (More about this in next week’s article!)
© Dr. Larry N. Gay
February 2010
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