It’s beyond beautiful here today. They are calling for 6-10” of snow tomorrow but today is 63 and sunny. I have the windows open, a new recipe in the crock pot filling the house with delicious smells, and a sound track of birds in the background.
It’s quiet and peaceful and recharging me in the best way.
I’ve been having a lot of conversations with friends lately about how we have all been feeling overwhelmed. It feels like every free moment I have is filled up with something. Which isn’t bad but is making me feel like all I want to do when I do have a free moment is drop into bed and pass out. Which doesn’t leave any room for doing the things that actually recharge me. Are you feeling this way too?
We are all so connected these days. I know my phone beeps and buzzes all day. From Facebook, Instagram, emails, texts, and thats not even counting the times I intentionally go to check those things. gah! So much! Connection is great but what Im realizing is that I need to find the balance between being connected and having down time.
In design there is a term called White Space. It’s the amount of space between items on a page or design. There is always a battle about this because designers usually want more white space since it gives a cleaner look and most clients want less so they can fill up the page. This is the eternal battle of a designer. (For an example check out Google’s home page and then Yahoo’s, one uses a ton of white space the other, barely any.)
So why am I telling you design terms? Because what white space does for design is also what it can do for life.
In design, more white space improves legibility, so people can read things easier. It increases comprehension, so when you read something you retain more of it. It can increase attention to a certain part of a design, create a sense of luxury, give breathing room to different elements and create balance on the page.
Can you see how those same concepts can translate to life?
White space in life:
– Creates Clarity: When everything is important, nothing is important. Giving ourselves more white space lets our brain clear up the clutter so we can focus and see what really matters. It lets us focus our time and energy on the things and people that are the most important. It lets us see the things we can let go of too.
-Increases Memory & Focus: When you are constantly going from one thing to another, always connected, your brain never has time to really think more than a few thoughts. Be honest, how many times have you read that same paragraph in your book but can’t remember what it said? When you disconnect and give yourself some white space, not only can you actually start reading again but you increase your memory all together. Instead of being pulled in a million directions, our thoughts can actually focus so you can finally remember what is on your grocery list.
-Breathing Room & Balance: Let’s be honest work/life balance is one of the hardest things to achieve but I can tell you for sure the first step is putting more white space in your life. You need down time. You need to disconnect so you can reconnect to yourself and what is important to you. The more you give yourself breathing room the more balance you will start to feel.
-Sense of Luxury: Imagine you start to give yourself more White Space. You start to feel less stressed because your brain can relax. You’re spending more time doing the things that recharge you and are important to you. Your memory starts coming back. Now tell me that doesn’t feel like luxury?!
So here is what I’m saying, what if instead of filling every free second with something, like scrolling through Facebook during commercials, or while you are in the bathroom (you know you do it), or while your waiting in line for something, what if instead of scrolling, we took those few minutes to just be present? Maybe those few minutes don’t seem like much but they add up! It’s a little step that can lead to much bigger ones!
Being present = White Space
Being present to feel what we are feeling instead of numbing out. Being present with our loved ones so we really hear them. Being present with ourselves so we can listen to what our bodies and minds say we really need.
Starting today I’m going to delete Facebook off my phone. It’s not that I won’t still check it but when I do it will be intentionally from my computer so I’m not tempted by it all the time.
What can you do to create some White Space for yourself?
To my designer friends Viva La White Space! And no, I can’t make the logo bigger.