Margins

A margin is a border you put on one or more sides of a page. Instead of using every centimetre of the space on the page margins help to organise the page and give room for you or someone else to write notes about the content of what is written there.

Margins for your life

To establish margins in your life means to allow there to be some time, money and energy left over each day so that you are not using up everything you have all the time. Such margins allow there to be some time for reflection, some money saved, and some energy available for play and unforseen issues that often arise.

The Consequences of living without Margins

One of the issues in 21st Century life is that many people are so busy they are not leaving any margins in their life. For all kinds of  reasons, including the desire to have it all and the fear of missing out (FOMO), people live quite chaotic and disjointed lives where there are no margins.

The consequences of living without margins include:

• Regular crises
• Feelings of overwhelm and failure
• Fractious relationships
• Poor diet
• Irregular exercise
• Erratic sleep patterns
• Physical and mental health issues

How to establish Margins

This is a challenge for many, as it involves some very important and challenging soul searching to work out what is really important to you.  Depending on how long your life has been without margins it may take  time and assistance from a mentor to build new ways of living.

A few simpler things you can do to start to create margins:

• Start by taking a break from work at morning tea and lunch. Leave your work-station, stretch your legs (and back), go out in the sun, breathe some fresh air.
• Go to bed before 10:00pm at least 3 nights per week
• Learn what it is that refreshes you emotionally and spend 2- 3 hours doing that each week.

Margins are an important key to bring a chaotic life back under control.

If you want peace of mind in the midst of a busy life, you need to learn to establish margins.