No one cares about your margin as much as you do. Getting more starts with self-leadership. We have to determine to create it and defend it. Without that determination, the pressures of our work environment, fear about our finances, or the escapism of work will eat up the time we need for the things that matter most.

I know what you’re thinking, but I’m talking about margin—breathing room, think time, downtime, those moments we all desperately need really stay effective and enjoy the things that matter most.

But the truth is we seem to be getting less and less of it. Not only are prices racing while wages slow, but we’re working more hours, too.

We’re used to thinking “full time” work means forty hours a week. With that kind of commitment, we still have time for ourselves and families. But there has been a significant creep on our weekly work hours.

Nowadays the average American worker is clocking closer to 50 hours a week, according to a Gallup survey, and for some it’s even higher. A quarter of salaried workers put in more than 60 hours a week!

And what about those of us who are entrepreneurs? It could feel good to cram the calendar or scary to clear it out, but either way we’re often drowning and in desperate need of margin.

I suffer from this as much as anyone. The reality it is that almost everything I know about time management I know from not having enough and learning from mistakes I’ve made in mismanaging that finite resource.

What I’ve learned is that the only way to gain more margin, is to create it—to actively make the space we need to breathe. With that in mind, here are three steps you can take for getting more margin starting today.

1. Intend your time.
2. Spend your time.
3. Defend your time.

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