When we work on projects, we often struggle to meet deadlines.

This results in pressure and at times shoddy work.

There are situations when a deadline is forced upon you, but in many cases you yourself set the deadline. In those cases, the ability to look ahead and to leave room for uncertainties and to polish what you did as a first cut makes sure that you complete the project without stress, and deliver quality work that is not done in a rush.

Leaving extra room does not only help when tackling big projects. There are other areas where it helps.

It helps to leave room in your day when you are not ‘doing’ but just thinking and organizing. Benjamin Franklin had time scheduled every day to put things in their place.

Same goes about eating. It is wise to leave some room in your stomach while eating. In fact, in Ayurveda for optimum health, it is recommended that we should only eat until the stomach is half full, and leave a quarter for water, and a quarter empty.

When pitching for a new business, always leave room for adjustments and negotiations. You may not need it but in case you do you can fall back on it and still close the deal.

A few years back I used to be late for my meetings a lot. I wanted to change it. My willingness to change played a role but having space between meetings made sure that even if one of my meetings ran over time, it won’t eat into my next meeting and I’ll still be able to start on time. This practice has allowed me to be on time for my meetings.

What are the areas, where you can create or leave some room and make your life easier?