Last night I participated in a webinar hosted by Andy Traub where the discussion centered around how every woman can find margin.
Margin.
Brilliant. A balanced life has margin.
Many people in the discussion, asked, “what is margin?” They needed this defined.
I believe margin is the area in your life where you can rest. You can think. It’s the time you can choose what you do. It’s extra time.
But don’t confuse extra time with time you don’t need. Think of it as extraordinary time. Time that is so important it can’t be left out. It’s essential time for your well being.
So, how do we create margin? Traub interviewed Crystal Paine of MoneySavingMom.com and she said several key things that were spot on:
- “Say no to unnecessary things
- Focus on essentials
- Cut down to the basics
- Get on a basic routine.”
These seem quite simple, but we know all too well how hard these things are to do. If they were easy, we’d all to them and not need to attend a webinar to remind us. The important part of all of this is to know you are allowed to need margin in your life. You are allowed to ask for help. You are allowed to say out loud that you’ve had enough and just need a break.
You are allowed.
Paine also had another great bullet point — “look for opportunities for breathing room.”
Ahh, breathing room. AKA — margin.
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ABOUT ALICIA: Alicia is the founder of Balancing Motherhood.com. Last year, she managed to stay sane while completing an MBA, working full-time, blogging, and still baking amazing birthday cakes — all while raising a young family at home.
Andrea says
February 24, 2014 at 9:24 amI so needed to read this today! Thank you for sharing. I wish I could have made the webinar!
Alicia at BalancingMotherhood.com says
February 25, 2014 at 9:03 pmthanks Andrea. It’s something I think we all need to hear … again, and again, and again!
Suzi Banks Baum says
February 24, 2014 at 7:31 pmSo happy to take some breathing room time here with you! I crossed your path in our OMFG group and find we have some common strands to our work. Great to hear this discussion of margin. Being a writer, I find marginalia to quite fascinating. xo Suzi
Alicia at BalancingMotherhood.com says
February 25, 2014 at 9:02 pmThanks Suzi! Glad you found me form the OMFG group. Hopefully we can connect again and gain insights from each other on this path.
Cait Lynch says
February 25, 2014 at 8:49 amLove the idea of “look for opportunities for breathing room.†I always appreciate everything more when I leave a little space for the margins to show up–and when I do? They do.
Thank you!
Alicia at BalancingMotherhood.com says
February 25, 2014 at 9:01 pmthanks Cait! That’s a great way to look at it.
Andy Traub says
March 2, 2014 at 4:03 pmHere’s the replay link. Thx for the post. http://www.takepermission.com/margin-with-crystal-paine/