Creating the Space You Need

You know that space on a page that surrounds the written word?

The white space. 

You might use that space to take notes, or maybe you just let it be white space.

That white space is called “margin.”

When you write, you leave white space to make it easier for the reader to comprehend what’s on the page.

And fun fact - in order to perform at our peak, we need margin too. Whether it’s on a page, in our schedule, or in our lives, we need space.

But we cram our schedules full, wearing busy as a badge, and to be honest the environments we work in often don’t help either.

According to the World Health Organization, working an average of 55 hours or more each week increases your risk of stroke by 35% and your risk of dying from heart disease by 17%, compared to averaging 35-40 hour workweeks.

My observation in working with leaders for almost 20 years is that they don’t have enough time to manage and lead their team, and do the work that is required of them. It’s maybe why we see a younger generation entering the workforce unwilling to become leaders or managers at a much higher rate than previous generations. They are teaching all of us about the value of more balance in our lives.

What’s interesting is that Zippia reports that during an 8-hour workday, the average worker only spends 4 hours and 12 minutes actively working. 78% of respondents reported not needing 8 hours to complete their daily work. Perhaps there is an argument here for managers and leaders to delegate more to balance it out more.

Research also shows that on average, we max out at about 6 hours of productivity a day. Beyond this, we are not as productive, we are not as focused, and we'd be better served doing different things.

Interestingly, when I worked in HR, we would calculate full time employees at 2080 hours (which is 40 hours per week for 52 weeks). Average vacations in the companies I worked for were about 4 weeks a year. Which realistically gives you 48 weeks at 40 hours/week (if people took their full vacation, which they mostly don’t). That math equates to1920 hours.

If we were to do the 38 hours/week (per the WHO's recommendation) with 48 weeks of work - we’d get 1820 hours worked/year. Almost 100 hours less than what we currently are working if we even work just a 40 hour work week (and we likely work more). And take all our vacation (which you probably don’t).

So what do we do with this information? How do we tangibly pivot towards more margin? I have some thoughts!

1. Do a time audit for 2 weeks. It’s totally a pain - I get it. But I have been amazed at the time leaks I find when I do this. I usually do it once a year, or maybe more frequently, depending on how I’m feeling about my time. If I’m feeling crunched or like I need to make a case for more help or less work/better priorities, I would do this. While it’s a pain, free apps like Clockify can help make it easier. Evaluate what you see after 2 weeks. See what’s taking more time than expected; see where you’re not as productive as you thought, make adjustments.    
2. Evaluate your meetings. Zippia reports that 71% of time spent in meetings is unproductive. Question your assumptions. Does everyone need to be in the meeting? Does it have to be an hour? Is it clear what the desired outcome of the meeting is?    
3. Increase your constraints. When we put more constraints on our time (setting a hard stop to leave the office every day by 5 as an example, and reinforce this by creating another event or task you have to do/be at by 6), we help focus ourselves on the biggest priorities of the day.     
4. Identify where in the day your energy is strongest/highest and match your activities accordingly.    
5. Have a system that helps support you consistently managing your margin - whether it’s digital or analog or people in your life that support the margin.    

And bonus tip: take that vacation. Actually unplug. Make a plan ahead of time to be able to unplug and at the same time empower your team and colleagues to succeed.