When a financial advisor writes about margin, you probably expect to read about buying securities with borrowed money using other securities as collateral. If tax planning is on your mind, you might be thinking about marginal tax rates, or if you are a business owner, you may be focused on your profit margin.
As a former economics teacher, I could lecture on marginal cost, marginal revenue, marginal utility, marginal product of labor, etc. These topics are worth discussion, but there is another use of the word “margin” that resonates with nearly everyone: the margin of time in your life.
Have you ever reached a point in your life where you go through day after day just reacting to one thing after another? You wake up each day with a “to-do” list in your head to keep things moving forward at home and at work. However, because life is unpredictable and things are always coming up, you keep adding to the list faster than you can accomplish the tasks you had planned.
It can be an exhausting and frustrating feeling, because you feel like you are always taking two steps forward and one step back. You are keeping your head above water, but just barely. Maybe you have an ambitious attitude and are okay with being booked solid, and being hardworking is commendable, but the problem with getting to this point is that life has a way of dropping surprises on us.
Sometimes the life surprises are small and easy to accommodate. A flat tire on your way to work, a child with a mild illness, or a broken appliance can usually be addressed without an emotional breakdown, but if you are already operating at capacity, even the small surprises can push you over the edge. This risk can be even higher when the catastrophic life events hit. A major medical problem, the death of a loved one, or an unplanned career change can break even the strongest person.
Like most complicated problems in life, the answer may not be simple. It takes a combination of methods that focus on using your time and energy efficiently.
When assessing your to-do list each day, one great strategy a friend shared with me is to do the little tasks as soon as they pop up so you can check them off your list right away, saving you mental energy in the long run while giving you a small dose of accomplishment at the same time. Paying a bill or returning an email, for example, can be done quickly and then be taken off your mind.
Letting the little tasks build up just makes a mountain out of a molehill. When we keep piling on to our mental load, it heightens the risk that important tasks will be forgotten. When this happens, you often remember it in a moment of panic (sometimes in the middle of the night), which only adds more stress to your life. As we all know, too much stress can negatively impact our physical, mental, and emotional health. And because humans are interconnected, our loved ones and coworkers can take on this stress in their own lives, creating a domino effect of stress that could have been avoided in the first place.
Fortunately, there are things you can do to create margin and protect your personal peace. For example, automating small aspects of your life can have compounding effects. Most dads can relate to the frustration of having to turn off every light in the house multiple times a day. Installing Wi-Fi controlled light switches in my house has saved me valuable minutes during the morning scramble to get out the door (plus, there is the bonus of feeling like a Jetson when using my voice to dim the lights in the evening).
I am reminded of the classic rock song “Free Will” by Rush and the line “if you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice,” which they borrowed from philosopher Rene Descartes. By learning to say “no,” determining what is truly essential, creating boundaries with your family or colleagues, and delegating certain tasks to people you trust, you can maintain a healthy margin in your life.
If financial planning is one such task cluttering your plate, our qualified financial advisors at TruStone Wealth Management are here to help you document your goals, track progress, and prepare for the unexpected. While we may not be able to help your kids remember to turn the lights off when they leave the room, we can at least help you feel more in control of your financial future. And if you are fortunate to have a stretch with no surprises coming your way, enjoy the break!
I'm here to help you feel more confident about your financial future.
Learn more about me
Read more articles by Tim Fugleberg