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I’ve always been a list maker and a planner at heart, but there came a time when I was totally overwhelmed and stressed out. It wasn’t so much that my planning was failing me or that I was trying to cram too much into my day (although that sometimes happened). No, my problem was that I was struggling with managing the time that I had.

We all have 24 hours in a day, but how we choose to use those hours is key. Even when my day is planned well, things always crop up, making me feel stressed and like I’m failing at life.

I finally began adding margin time to my day, and it made all the difference in the world.

Why (and How) to Add Margin in Your Day

What does margin look like in a busy day?

Have you ever felt totally overwhelmed by 10:00 in the morning? Or those days where you feel like you’ve run a marathon but haven’t actually accomplished anything?

Margin can be a breath of fresh air in your day. As you’re struggling to get from one thing to the next or cross a million things off your to-do list, margin gives you that extra time to get things done.

In a jam-packed day, margin gives you a chance to play catch up if things take longer than expected. Also, if you’re notoriously late for everything (raising my hand), margin helps to give you a fighting chance at being on time.

How do you create margin in a busy day?

As glorious as margin sounds, including it in your day (and using it wisely) is the trickiest part. There are a couple different ways to add margin to your day so that you’re setting yourself up for success. After all, there’s no point in adding one more to-do item to your list.

1. Use time blocks in your planner

I use time blocks to get through my day. Every evening (or as I schedule appointments in my planner), I block out chunks of time to get my tasks done. For example, if I need to take my son to the allergist at 11:00 a.m., I would block out time from 10:30 until 12:30 for his appointment and the time it takes to drive to the appointment.

Time blocking not only helps prevent me from double booking myself, but it also helps me see exactly what I should be doing at a glance.

Time blocking is effective in both a paper planner and a digital planner. I used time blocking in my email’s calendar at work, and I have continued to use it in my paper planner at home. At home, I found that using reminders for every task was overwhelming (and every time I checked my phone, I would end up pinning something on Pinterest instead of doing my next task), so I made the switch to a paper planner. That said, use whatever method (digital or paper) and add time blocks to make your day more efficient.

2. Include unplanned time in your schedule

I first came across the concept of adding padding to my schedule in Crystal Paine’s Make Over Your Mornings course. While I had been time blocking my day for years when I was working, I never made a point to add margin. If I didn’t finish a task within the allotted time, I would “borrow” time from the next task. At the end of the day, that left me tired, stressed out, and overwhelmed.

In addition to time blocking my tasks and activities, I still leave extra time for margin throughout my day. This means that even though I have a list of time blocks available in my planner, I don’t schedule them all. That’s my time to play catch up. If I’m having a productive day, then the margin time is extra time to snuggle with the kids and read, play a game, or have a spontaneous popcorn party.

The concept of extra blocks of margin time can be useful in both the workforce and in the home. Unscheduled time is a wonderful thing to add midmorning when you need a break, in the early afternoon when everything seems to need attention, or even after dinner, when you really want to vegetate instead of beginning your bedtime routine.

3. Allow for extra time to get things done

Another trick to create margin in your day is to allow for extra time for each task. I make sure to budget extra time for each activity. If I think something will take me five minutes, I plan for 15. If I know I’ll need to cross a set of train tracks to drive across town, I’ll plan on getting stopped by the train.

When I was working, I tracked my “billable hours” in 15-minute increments. If a conference call was scheduled for 30 minutes but only took 20, I was able to use the margin time to catch up on other things, like sending an email.

In the home, time blocking and adding margin to each activity isn’t so cut and dry, but I still use it to my advantage. Trust me, there are mornings when it’s much easier to lay in bed for those extra ten minutes instead of planning on a train or the baby’s wardrobe malfunction. However, preparing for the inevitable has saved my sanity on more than one occasion (and sometimes I wish I would’ve planned for two trains).

4. Keep a running to-do list

On the left side of my planner, I keep a running list of my daily to-do items. If I have a few minutes in between time blocks, I can work on crossing tasks off my to-do list, but I can also use the spare time to take a breath and relax.

I’ve found that having a schedule and a wish list of my daily tasks is so helpful. Once I’ve established a routine, life is much more manageable. Even if I deviate from that routine (i.e. overslept), I still have a starting point and a plan to get through the day.

5. Cross things off your list

Some days, you won’t be able to accomplish everything on your list. That’s ok! You have two options: plan ahead and do everything early, like the night before, or accept that you won’t be able to accomplish certain things and cross them off your list.

I know that if I don’t get certain things done first thing in the morning, they won’t get done. Once the kids are in bed, the couch looks much more inviting than the treadmill. While you shouldn’t make a habit of crossing important items off your list (Forgot to thaw out dinner? No worries, you can just eat out for the tenth day in a row….), it doesn’t hurt if you occasionally skip a task (I’ve been known to leave a few fingerprints on the windows).

Since I started adding margin into my schedule, life has been much more pleasant. I follow a daily routine, but I also love knowing that I have margin available if I need it. The day runs smoother and life seems simpler!

Have you tried adding margin to your day? What worked (or didn’t work)?

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