Choosing to Create Margin in Your Life
Work-life balance. For most of us, it’s a perpetual struggle.
Maybe you’ve tried different techniques or time management strategies to get your life under control, but nothing seems to work for long. The demands of daily life press in, and soon you feel like a hamster on a wheel, working hard but getting nowhere.
So what’s the answer?
Well, tools and strategies are helpful, but they don’t change you. You change you. You are the secret sauce, and your personal resolve is the key to lasting change. You need to commit to pursuing balance and creating margin in your life. To creating space and time for the things that matter. It’s that simple, and it’s that hard.
The Fundamentals of Margin
Creating margin is a choice. This is a decision you must make. No one is going to give you space; you must make it happen. And that takes commitment and planning. You have to be adamant about carving out space for those high priority items in your life. Scheduling tools are great to help manage this, but you’re in charge of practical application. You have to actually do what you schedule.
Creating margin is necessary. If you don’t create space in your life, you’ll burn out and have nothing left to give. You’ll be perpetually running on empty. And that’s a bad position from which to create any meaningful work or relationship. It’s vital to create time and space for physical and mental rest, reflection, exercise, personal projects and dreams, family and friends. Investing in these activities will help you maintain a healthy perspective on life. You’ll find you actually have more energy, drive, and purpose. And you’ll be building a reserve to draw from that will keep you productive for the long haul.
Creating margin puts you on a platform to help others. When you’re able to maintain a well-balanced reserve of energy and time, you can become a resource for others. You’re in a position to volunteer, mentor, and give to those people and organizations that matter most to you. It’s a win-win situation. Regularly setting aside time and resources allows you to be an effective player at work, at home, and in your community.
The power of margin is significant. It requires commitment and dedication, but the benefits for you and the other people in your life are more than worth the effort.
What About You?
What are some ways you can create margin in your life? What specific things can you start doing or stop doing?
