In personal finance, it’s important to set aside an emergency fund. This money provides a margin of security when unexpected expenses arise. Similarly, when companies design products, they often include a margin of safety features. When I worked as an editor, our production schedules incorporated a margin to allow for potential delays. In many circumstances, including a margin is essential for a positive outcome.
Why then don’t we follow this practice in our personal lives? I’ve been reflecting on the idea of margin lately as I’ve struggled to complete tasks on my to-do list. Some weeks I carry forward uncompleted items from the week before. Some tasks have remained on the list for weeks, or months. I’ve carried some items forward so many times they don’t make sense anymore in the present day. Maybe they weren’t actually that important in the first place and never belonged on the list.
My oldest son has a habit of asking about my day. The other day I was lamenting about how I’d not done all that I’d planned to do. I was disappointed with myself. His frank response was that I simply overestimated what I could do in a day. In other words, I had unrealistic expectations. He was right.
In addition to unrealistic expectations, I had absolutely no margin built into my day. There was no time allotment for interruptions, or not feeling well, or anything else. All I had was a list of items I thought I should be able to accomplish.
It’s important to build enough margin into our lives so when life doesn’t go as planned, we have the flexibility to adapt without negative consequences. I want to get better at this. When things go awry in my life, lots of tasks go undone because I’ve filled my days with too many unnecessary and unimportant things. The dust builds and the weeds entangle. They climb my house and choke it, seeking to bring it down because no one is paying attention. There’s no time to pay attention when your list is overfilled and you have no margin.
I want to focus more on simplicity than on productivity. It’s time for more margin. I’m surrounded by clutter physically and symbolically and that needs to change so there’s room for things of substance, the things that really matter.
How about you? Do you have a buffer zone in your life? Is there time in your day to reflect and function in a stress-free way and deal with life without going to pieces? If not, I encourage you to add more margin.
