The Power Of Having A Margin

I bet you can easily recall you working on a complicated task and realizing that it will take longer than you thought originally. Then your mind starts looking for any tiny possibility to squeeze it into time slot you have. This distracts you from the task itself, makes you nervous, and stress level goes up.

Wouldn’t it be great to have extra time available for that task?

Absolutely.

That would keep you calm and allow your brain to focus on the task instead of looking for shortcuts and derailing from the task itself.

That’s when having margin in your day shines. When you know that you have free to use buffer of time in your day, you simply take it and extend the time you have to handle your complicated task.

But you know what? The real power of margin lies outside of tasks and productivity. Real magic happens when you have margin in a day to fully enjoy the experience.

I have a long-lasting habit walking in the morning. Ideally about an hour or a bit longer. I like walking and it has lots of benefits. Most important for me is that it relaxes my mind and lets it wander.

Most of the time I don’t plan anything half an hour after my walk. I create a margin for walking. If I leave later or I take a longer route or I enjoy walking more than usually, I know I have time.

But as soon as I have something scheduled right after walking without any margin, the walking experience is totally different. I check if I will come back on time. I set an alarm when I need to pivot and go back. I’m not fully present at walking.

I encourage you to give yourself a margin both in professional and personal life. Especially in personal life.

Going to your son’s game, put an hour margin to usual game duration. Visiting school to see your daughters performance in a play, put an hour of margin. Going to cinema with friends after work, free up whole night (I bet you won’t go home after watching a movie).

See a difference in experience when there is no need to rush.

---