If, despite your best intentions to orchestrate the right conditions, you find yourself unable to stay present and be the empathetic listener your conversation partner deserves, postponing your conversation may be your best bet. The most effective way to do this is to be honest: share why you’d like to table your chat and offer an alternative. For instance, you might say: I want to make sure I’m operating at 100% for our chat. Let’s talk in the morning, when I’m likely to be freshest. Discussing this is important to me, but I can feel myself fading fast. I need a snack and then I’ll be able to
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