Most people have very little or no time margin in their lives. It is very common to hear people talk of having no time, lack of time, not enough time or being out of time. Trying to get more time, we borrow time only to incur a time debt and end up with less time.
But we are not helpless. The clock can be resisted. Time margin can be taken back.
7 ways to restore time margin in your life:
(taken from chapter 9 “Margin in Time” in Richard Swenson’s book “Margin” pages 122-128. In the chapter Swenson shares 16 ways. I have only chose 7 of them to share)
1. Expect the unexpected
A proverb in Ecuador states: “Everything takes longer than it does.” This is not a perfect world and the unexpected happens. To plan for the unexpected is not an invitation to sloppiness or mediocrity but instead a concession to reality. If you want some breathing room, increase your margin of error.
2. Learn to say “No”.
Saying “No” is not just a good idea – it is now become a mathematical necessity. Without this two-letter word, I doubt that regaining margin is possible. If there are fifteen good things to do today and you can do only ten of them, you will need to say “No” five times. This is not rocket science but instead kindergarten logic. Yet saying “No” for most of us is enormously difficult.
3. Turn off the television.
As long as you are saying “No”, say it to your television set. For the average adult, this would gain twenty to thirty hours a week. No other single effort will secure as much time margin as this simple, nearly impossible action.
4. Prune the activity branches.
Even though it is counterintuitive, if one wants a healthy tree with better fruit they need to prune away branches. In the same way, activities and commitments often have a way of adding themselves to our lives. Even though it is much harder to stop something than to start it, periodically, get out the clippers and prune away.
5. Practice simplicity and contentment.
We call consume significant quantities of time in the buying and then maintaining of things. A life of voluntary simplicity and contentment, on the other hand, is opposed to the unnecessary proliferation of material possessions. It is free of the clutter much of society must sort through on a daily basis. With fewer possessions, we do not have as may things to take care of. With a simpler wardrobe, our choice of what to wear each morning becomes less time-consuming. With a smaller estate,there will be less debt bondage in our work schedule.
6. Separate time from technology.
The best thing to remember about time-saving technologies is that they don’t. Instead, they consume, compress and devour time. All the countries with the most time-saving technologies are the most stressed-out countries – an assertion that’s easy to prove.
Remembering, that technology is responsible for much of our time famine, it is good to go on strike occasionally. Try disconnecting from clocks, watches, alarms, beepers, telephones, and e-mail for a day, a weekend or a week. Find the off switch. Don’t answer the telephone. Stop giving people the number to your cell-phone and instead use it to make calls rather than receive calls.
7. Create buffer zones.
If you have a busy schedule with non-stop appointments, consider creating small buffer zones between some of the obligations, a kind of coffee break for the spirit. Even ten or fifteen minutes can allow you to catch up, take a deep breath, close your eyes, pray, call your spouse, reorient your priorities and diffuse your tension.
How do you restore time margin in your life?
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That TV one was the hardest one for me. Growing up that was our nightly routine essentially from after dinner to bed time (excluding any homework that needed to be done). When I got to my own family, I used it to “veg” and it sucked up so much time! Over the years, I’ve claimed so much time by turning it off. Anyway, great list. This one was a big one for me though! Thanks Kevin.
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Jason Stasyszen recently posted…The Pulse of Divine Love
That one is difficult for me too. It is amazing how much time we waste watching TV!
Thanks for sharing Jason.
Kevin Martineau recently posted…One word
I don’t really watch TV. In Bali, without satellite TV, there are not very many viewing options that I care to watch. Other technology, such as Facebook and the time i spend reading other people’s blogs, now…I spend a lot of time on that.
Hey, i promise if I scale back on the blog reading, I’ll keep reading yours.
Thanks for sharing Julie!
Kevin Martineau recently posted…Family Dinner Statistics
Hi Kevin,
it is not easy for me to imagine that anyone’s schedule would look like your picture at the beginning of the post.
I really hope that the busy people find time to read your post and even apply even one of your great suggestions!
Creating buffer zones sounds like good advice, yes, even a few minutes break can make a difference and very likely improve productivity.
Thank you so much for sharing this!
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Love and Light
Yorinda
Yorinda recently posted…Imagine if we would choose to Believe
Creating buffer zones is definitely a good place to start Yorinda!
Thanks for sharing.
Kevin Martineau recently posted…One word
I’m not good at it in my personal life, but at work, I’m always overestimating how long something will take to get done because even if I think it will only take ten minutes, it’s likely that as soon as I promise something will be done in ten minutes, I’ll get interrupted with something that will take up most of the time I allowed.
This is why it is so critical to expect the unexpected and to create buffer zones in our lives Kirra!
Thanks for sharing.
Kevin Martineau recently posted…4 reasons why unity is important in the church
Each one of your points is right on Kevin, but what really made a difference for me was creating that buffer zone – which is right up there with expecting the unexpected. When I jam our schedules so tight that there is no flexibility we’re just piling on the potential for greater stress. Great advice!
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marquita herald recently posted…The Value of Expressing Praise, Admiration and Appreciation
It is such a blessing to have some buffer zones in place! It seems like we are always in need of them.
Thanks for sharing Marquita.
Kevin Martineau recently posted…Bad Lip Reading
Great post and one I really think we should all embrace, not every day should be a laundry day of sorts
Andrea Naomi recently posted…Have you been Fox-ified?
Thanks for sharing Andrea!
Kevin Martineau recently posted…What do you need to unlearn?
Interesting irony occurred to me. As you say, technologies don’t save but rather consume time. Also, the importance of saying no. Strange then, this. One of fav quotes is from Steve Jobs who famously said: “People think focus means saying yes to the thing you’ve got to focus on. But that’s not what it means at all. It means saying no to the hundred other good ideas that there are. You have to pick carefully. I’m actually as proud of the things we haven’t done as the things I have done. Innovation is saying no to 1,000 things.” That from the king of techy tools that steal our time.
I absolutely agree with Steve Job’s quote!
Thanks for sharing Richard.
Kevin Martineau recently posted…Eating together as a family is extremely important!
I was just about to pat myself on the back for having no TV, but then I remembered. DVDs, and TV on the internet!!! We don’t get the commercials that way, and it takes less time to watch an episode, but it’s a lot easier to keep on watching more and more episodes!
Great list, Kevin, with some things I can incorporate or improve on, in my life.
Willena
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Willena Flewelling recently posted…Faith
Thanks for sharing Willena!
Kevin Martineau recently posted…Our world is starving for love