Why White Space?

Do you feeling like your life is perpetually on fast forward? Is your life overloaded; overloaded with activities, changes, commitments, competition, debts, decisions, expectations, information, media, people, problems, technology, traffic or work? You have run out of white space!
 
Which text block is easier to read? 
When you read a book (a real one, not an electronic one!) there are margins. This margin or white space enables easier comprehension of the words on the page.
Margin is also the space you leave in your live for the unexpected. Margin acts as a safety zone between you and disaster. If you live too close to the edge of overload you are bound to fall off once in a while! When you create margin there is a buffer that allows for ease of living.
 
Areas to create white space include:

• Finances – unexpected expenses piled on top of mounds of debt create stress and tension. Change your spending/saving habits and create white space to live life more freely.
• Health – whether it’s eating habits, exercise routines or sleeping patterns most of us know that there is something we should be doing that we are not. Change your health habits and create some white space; you’ll get extra energy, increased immunity and renewed resilience.
• Time – we’ve let Outlook dictate the length of meetings; people are perpetually late moving from one meeting to the next without white space to take a nature break, get some work done or grab a snack. Take back your calendar and give yourself some white space!

No White Space > Frustration > Stress > Exhaustion > Irritability > Burn Out…

What you can do:
Accept responsibility – take control and recognize the choices you make determine the amount of white space. If there is not enough white space then you must make different choices.
Make time– time in your schedule gives you room to breathe, freedom to think, space to heal, opportunities to be innovative and reconnect with what matters most to you.
Re-evaluate and prioritize – if you don’t decide what is important and make it a priority, others will do it for you. Look at your life and think about whether you are spending it on your top priorities.
Create boundaries – turn it off, shut it down, say goodbye. You can decide when you will respond or interact with your electronic gadgets. You can walk away from draining situations. You can remove people from your life. Boundaries are essential to white space.
There is a popular Christmas carol about wishing for a White Christmas. Our wish for you is more white space in your life.