Creating Margin

How much margin do you put in your paper? For some it may be .5" so that you can cram everything you want into one page. Others may prefer a 1" margin for a clean look.

A while back, I wrote a post on Intentional Living and Leading. I wanted to follow up that post with this one on Creating Margin. Margin is a pre-cursor to becoming more intentional. I would venture to say that the average family attempts to live with a .5" margin in their weekly schedule as they attempt to jam as much as possible.

Less margin equals busyness. What does more busyness equal? Lack of family time? Building relationships? Getting to spend more quality time together. I love playing family games and going on bike rides with my family. They are important to me. Therefore, I have spent the last couple of years attempting to create more margin into our family schedules. We are not perfect. There are plenty of weeks where I feel like a slave to the schedule.

Creating margin is hard. It means saying no, more than yes. It means saying no to some very good things – church, school, sports, community, etc. The trade off comes when you can say yes to the best things –your spouse, each individual kid, family, and close friends.

Relationships are important. Relationships are the best thing we have in life. Relationships are usually relegated to the margins of life. How are you going to create more margin?