As a business owner, entrepreneur, coach or consultant, it’s important to plan ahead and schedule the activities for your business, but in a fast-paced society, it’s easy for your calendar to be filled quickly with events, activities and tasks.
However, I find that the magic happens by including lots of white space in your calendar. Let me explain….
I learned awhile ago about the importance of white space when it comes to graphic design. If you are designing a flyer, you don’t want every inch of the flyer to be filled with words or graphics, it’s important that the design includes lots of white space.
The white space allows the eye to rest on the important information on the flyer like the title, the content and the images. This can not be accomplished if every inch of the flyer is full.
Much like designing a flyer, the way you design your life and your business needs to include lots of white space. Every inch of your calendar does not need to be filled with business events, activities, or tasks.
Society places a lot of emphasis on being busy, but over the last couple of years of being in business, I’ve learned that being intentional with your schedule and including white space in your calendar is much better than being busy, overbooked and stressed.
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Here are some ways you can include white space in your life and why it’s so important:
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Daily White Space
When it comes to daily white space, it means taking breaks throughout the day. As business owners we can get so wrapped up in our businesses that we could easily work for 12 hours and only take a few minutes to eat.
This is not how we are designed as human beings, we are designed to have moments of rest including in our day. It allows us to not get burned out and overwhelmed, helps us to be more focused, helps us to have more energy to continue, so what does including white space in your day look like?
- Take Small BreaksWithin the day take time to step away from your desk and take a break. Take a walk, have a conversation, do something other than your work for at least 15 minutes for at least four times for the day. That amounts to an hour away from the grind of working.
- Take a Lunch BreakI can’t believe how many people will actually work at their desk and each lunch. It’s so important to step away from your computer and take at least an hour off to eat lunch and just relax and unwind from your work. This helps you to be more focused when you return to work after lunch.
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Weekly White Space
This is actually a biblical principle, God actually requires us to have a day of rest every week, a day where we don’t do any work. This is so important to Him that He made it a commandment. The Fourth Commandment states, “……. six days shall thou labor and do all thy work, but the seventh day is a day of rest in it…..”
If this is something that God instructs us to do, I think it’s important to follow the instructions of the Creator. A day of rest every week helps you to rest, reflect and fellowship with other believers, so you can be ready for the next work week.
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Monthly White Space
In addition to having a day of rest, I have also started to implement half-days. This year, I have decided to work half a day on Fridays. To take that day off to just relax and appreciate what God has given me. I look forward to Fridays because I know I will only be working half a day.
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Yearly White Space
I have committed to taking time off every quarter. This includes taking vacations or just going home to Florida to spend time with family. It’s important to do this at least once a quarter. When I return from vacation I feel refreshed, renewed, and ready to work even harder in my business.
The advantages of including white space in your life and in your business include, being more focused, having more energy, allowing you to rest, reflect, relax, so you can be refreshed, renewed, and ready to conquer the world.
These are my suggestions on how to create white space in your life and business. What other ways do you like to create white space in your business? Be sure to comment below: