Buffer Time: Armor Against the Rush of Life

We all know them. Those people who are always, always, pulled-together. They're on time, look great, never seem rushed, produce great results. And I'm here to spill their secret. Not because I think I am some role-model or whatever but simply because I obsessively use their secret and I don't want it to be a secret anymore.

 The secret is what I call buffer time. Buffer time is the accumulation of those little moments that usually go undetected in our daily lives. It’s the time you spend walking from your car into the store. It’s the time you spend in line for your coffee or waiting for a friend to show up. These little moments of seeming emptiness——seemingly unusable time——in fact add up to a lot, a lot in terms of the amount of time and in quality of time. The trick is to turn those moments into high-quality moments. Let me give you a couple examples. . .

Any time when I am walking from one place to another, like to or from my car, or anytime I'm in some sort of a line I'll take out my phone and check my notifications. I do my best not to check any other time during my work/school day. The way my phone is set up, it doesn't give me any audio or vibration notifications. I have to actively pick up my phone and look at the screen to get up-to-date. And that's great. This way, I only feel compelled to check my phone when I feel I have the time, not any moment in between when my phone buzzes. I also arrange my to-do list during these little break times. My to-do list is the only reason I'm sane, and you can learn more about it in this post: What To-Do Lists Do For Your Brain.

But, here's the thing, you probably already do all that. And so this is the second part of the secret: More important than knowing how to make the best of buffer moments is how to make the buffer moments themselves. Yes, they occur naturally in our days, but you can also make artificial buffer moments to help you stay on top of things in a more controlled way. It’s also just a great habit to hone in yourself and will make sure you get to places on time and unfrazzled, like the professional, pulled-together person you are.

For example, I always give myself 15 minutes to get to class, whether that’s timing it so I park my car 15 minutes before class or get out of the campus gym 15 minutes before class or finish eating 15 minutes before class. I set alarms to warn me for every approaching class, just in case. This way, that buffer time that I’d like to have before the start of lecture (to get my notebook out, review a question I want to ask, check my email, etc.) is in place. I don’t have to leave it up to chance.
Fifteen minutes is a good amount to add onto anything you have to be on time for. Don’t try and pretend you can’t imagine how 15 extra minutes could come in handy. What if there’s an accident on the road? What if you forgot to buy a gift for your hosts and have to pull over to get something? What if the parking lot is packed? What if you got the wrong address and have to recalculate your route? And if you’re really that early and nothing went wrong, treat yourself to a scroll through Twitter or a funny cat video. Or rearrange your outfit and hair. (Professional and pulled-together, remember?)

 And pretty soon, everyone will be wondering how you do it. Simple, you can say. Buffer time. I give myself buffer time.

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