You know what "white space" is, right? In design, it's the space on a page that isn't all filled in with text or graphics. It's important to have enough of it in a newsletter, website, book, etc. that the important stuff has room to breathe. Without enough white space, it's hard to focus on what really matters.
Steve Roesler, blogging at All Things Workplace, suggests that your work life probably needs more white space, too. He offers some helpful suggestions for how to make sure you have enough "white space" in your day to tend to the things that are important to you.
We think that making sure you have enough "white space" is also pretty good advice for your life. And that might be especially true during the holiday season.
A month or so ago we blogged about the symptoms of a consumable approach to life. This time of year, it is especially easy to get sucked in. Before you know it, you've got that sinking feeling that you don't have enough; can't buy enough; don't do enough. You feel the life getting sucked out of you as you try to measure up to what somebody else thinks is important, trying to keep up with your neighbors, trying to put up with your family.
Whoa.
Designers know they're finished with a layout when they've taken OUT as much as they can (rather than trying to squeeze every last thing IN). What can you take out of your life during this holiday season in order to create enough "white space" for you to focus on the things that really matter?
Here are five questions for you to ask as you're putting your days together over this next month. When things come up that are demanding your time, attention, or money, ask:
- Why am I doing this? - Make sure every meeting or event you attend, every gift you buy, every cookie you bake, every party you schedule, etc. really matters to you and/or the people, community, or organization you care about. If it doesn't matter, don't do it.
- Is this giving me life or sucking the life out of me? - The answer to this question could be a big indicator of whether or not what you're doing really matters to you (see above). If it's really important to you or the people you care about, it probably won't make you feel like poking your eye out with a stick.
- Can this wait? - Not everything that has to be done has to be done right now.
- Do I have my feet on the ground? - It's awesome to have big ideas and grand visions but only if they are also connected to what is really possible. Make sure what you've scheduled for yourself is doable without killing you (or anybody else). If it isn't, you need a different plan that is based on your actual resources and needs.
- Is this going to matter six months from now? - This question can really help put things into perspective for you. Your family probably won't remember that you pulled an all-nighter putting together fancy table decorations for your holiday meal but they might remember that you left the dishes in the sink and sat around playing games with them all night after dinner. Try to look at everything you're doing from at least six months down the road and see how important it really is.
This holiday season, put a little white space in your life.
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