Don't be a duffer, design your own buffer
For those of you old enough to remember The Fast Show on TV back in the 90s, “This week I have mostly been thinking about Buffers”. When I first think of buffers it conjures up pictures of old steam engines coming in to the station. Their physical buffers at the front allowing a little bit of extra space if the train touches the wall at the end of the line.
Our designed buffers
There are also “space’ buffers, for example when we drive a car. We leave a sensible amount of distance between us and the car driving in front, leaving us enough time to break if they make a move that we don’t fully expect. It feels a lot less stressful than driving right up someone’s bumper (another buffer), leaving us no time to react (and also raising the stress/annoyance of the driver in front).
Then there’s financial buffers. Rainy day accounts help us deal with the unexpected. Cash reserves and overdraught facilities help businesses to manage cash flow and to avoid bankruptcy.
Giving us headspace
What about those buffers in our heads too. Leaving enough time to go from one meeting to the next, starting a car journey half an hour early, in case you it traffic, so you arrive at your destination on time, and without the anxiety of possibly being late. If we build in that “flex’ it enables us to be more present in that meeting we have that runs over, and more relaxed on that car journey.
How stressful is your diary?
We know about the planning fallacy, where we think we can do more than we are actually capable of doing, but the majority of us carry on doing it.
Here’s an idea for all you calendar and to-do list junkies. Book in some buffer time, Not just seeing a white space between appointments, but actually block out that flex time. See if it creates better rhythm to your day. And if you arrive somewhere early, you might even enjoy an expected conversation, relax with a coffee, or even take a few minutes to sit and just take a breath.
What buffers do you create in your life, let me know in the comments.