“Make space for the life you want to have.”
– Shawna Scafe
For many of us from the moment our feet hit the floor in the morning we are off to the races. Its a race against time to unload the dishwasher, wake up the sleepy-headed kiddo, and pop into the shower before the clock runs out. How many things can I cram into one small window of time?
Now I am not going to lie, this is me 100%. I used to brag about how I had the ability to “bend time”. The racing of the dishwasher that is a real game. Every morning when I turn on the coffee pot, I race to see if I can get the dishwasher unloaded before the coffee is done brewing. I am slightly competitive if you haven’t figured that out already. I love the adrenaline and the push but over the years I have learned a very valuable lesson. The more things that I cram into my super valuable boxes of time the less I am actually getting out of it. To borrow a sliver of the pitcher analogy, if I have one pitcher of water, I can only pour so much in my cups if I have many to fill. If I have fewer cups, my one pitcher can go much further. My point is by adding more I was actually delivering less. I was scattered, rushed, grouchy, and a bit of a ticking time bomb. What is the point of getting a million things done in a day if it makes you a miserable person to be around? I realized that in order for me to be the relaxed and available mom, friend, worker, and partner that I wanted to be I was going to need to resist the need to crowd my day and instead actively create space in it! I am a long time; time-blocker, it has proven to be the best way for me to manage my day and all of the things that are important to me. So in order to put my money where my mouth was, I started building in 15 minutes of space between my scheduled activities. Now 15 minutes doesn’t feel like a ton of space but for a recovering calendar crammer, it was a big deal.
This is what I learned; I was more present for meetings; after all, if it ran over it was no big deal. My commutes to soccer practice were filled with better conversations with my daughter because I wasn’t preoccupied with being late. I ended up having less being asked of me each day which meant I could pour myself into what was needed with more intention and focus. So here is my challenge to you, give it a try! Build-in 15 minutes of margin between scheduled activities and see what happens. Let me know if you notice anything different about your day or demeanor. It is always so amazing to me how even the littlest choices we make can have such a massive impact. – Megan
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