Mommy Margin…Creating Space for What Matters Most
As moms, and especially as moms who work from home or outside the home, it can feel like “margin” is an elusive dream—something we want but never quite achieve. Mommy Margin really does matter, and there are some practical ways to create it.
Since you are already busy, let's look at this in a streamlined, step-by-step framework to help you find the breathing room your heart needs.
1. Start with Priorities—Not Pinterest
Creating margin begins with clearly identifying your God-given priorities—not what the world says should matter, but what God uniquely calls you to value in this season.
Start with prayer.
Talk openly with your spouse.
Ask the hard questions: What needs to go to make room for what matters most?
Your time and energy are shared resources. Prioritizing wisely is stewardship.
2. Consider Your Season
Your core values may stay the same, but your priorities may shift with each season. Raising littles, launching teens, or entering the empty-nest phase brings different demands. Regularly evaluate how your season impacts your schedule—and be okay with those shifts.
3. Evaluate Your Time (Without the Guilt Trip)
How are you actually spending your time? Is it lining up with what you say matters?
Journal and track how you are spending your time.
Review your calendar and see if it reflects your priorities.
Ask your kids how they perceive your focus and presence. (yes, really!)
These small checks and balances bring awareness to where drift is happening.
4. Compare the Real and the Ideal
It’s easy to go from a jam-packed life to the other extreme, quitting everything out of burnout.
True change isn’t about abandoning everything. It’s about aligning your real life with your ideal life, one decision at a time.
Ask yourself: Does this opportunity serve my core priorities? Or is it just filling space?
5. Delegate, Consolidate, or Eliminate
Already committed to something that’s no longer aligned? You have options:
Delegate: Can someone else help carry this load?
Consolidate: Can you batch or block tasks more efficiently?
Eliminate: If it’s not essential and not aligned—let it go.
Sometimes, saying no opens the door for someone else to enter their calling.
6. Build an Ideal Week (With Margin Built In)
Create a schedule for your week by putting in the items related to your CORE PRIORITIES first and then scheduling everything else if there is time.
If you don’t build margin into your schedule, you may be physically present, but you won’t be emotionally or spiritually available.”
Final Thought
You may not know the future —but God does. When you build margin into your life, you create space for obedience. You make room to show up for the people who need you most. And you offer yourself the grace to live with intention instead of exhaustion.
Faith and Courage,
Lori
