- A. Smith Blog - Leadership in Life
Margin is the empty space in books–the gap between the words and end of the page. Margins provide readers with the freedom to hold a book without covering up the words. For college students, margins are the perfect place for jotting down notes. Could you imagine what it would feel like to open a book, only to discover the margins missing? With words running from one end of the page to the other, books would feel crowded and look jumbled.
To create time for the people and the things in your life that matter most, you need to create more margin in life. That’s the problem with people’s schedules these days. They don’t leave any room for thinking, let alone making a difference in the lives of others.
Here are three ways to create more margin in your life:
1. Get rid of the unnecessary.
This is sometimes hard to accomplish. People want to hold onto as much as they can. Why is this? People don’t like letting anything suffer. People have work, church, family, friends, kids, activities and the list goes on and on. Before we know it, we are at a point where life has control over us instead of us controlling it. The truth is though that there are still 24 hours in a day and we all have to sleep at some point. If you put time into something, anything, there will be an area that suffers. Something has to give. So, “What will it be that suffers?” is the question. Take back your life when you begin getting rid of the unnecessary things that clutter up your life.
2. Maximize your day.
After you get rid of the unnecessary, there still might be a lot on your plate, and that’s ok. It is time to learn how to manage it well. The way I deal with this, is to put the most important things first in your day. This way you know they will get done. To get things done, you can’t compromise on this either. Learn to maximize your day and learn how to do more.
3. Plan as much as you can.
Some have argued with me on this step, but it is what works for me. I know some people who don’t make appointments and want to get everything done right away, but for me this hasn’t worked in my own life. I have found that the less I have to think about and just go ahead and get it out on my schedule, there is mental space that opens for other more important things. It allows me to move on.
When I started putting these 3 points in to my routine, more time became available for family and friends. These 3 things will help you create more margin in your life and will get you to open your days up more often to make a bigger impact in the lives of others.
