Emotion is central to principals' daily operation of schools. As principals' work is intensifying, principals are increasingly encountering emotionally charged situations on a daily basis. This article uses data from a large provincial survey to explore what time demand factors contribute to these emotionally draining situations that principals are experiencing in the context of work intensification. An ordinal logit regression that is commonly employed for the analysis of ordinal categorical data was used for data analysis. The findings reveal that the time demands, such as the fast work pace, long work hours and lack of time, all work in concert to increase the likelihood of emotionally draining situations among school principals. As principals try to manage emotional situations, these contributing factors are far beyond their control. The unmanageable time demands can leave principals feeling frustrated and vulnerable and evoke negative emotions that adversely impact their own well-being as well as their schools.