The Best Way to Seize an Opportunity

For once, we arrived at the gate prior to boarding.  Instead of rushing to join the last of the passengers, we had time to set our luggage down, and find something to eat prior to the flight.  Just as I was about to leave the kids with my husband, and find something for an early lunch, I noticed the flight crew arriving.  I grabbed two of my girls, and said, “Look, there’s a lady pilot on our flight!”  Both girls stared for a moment, and then went back to finding out what was for lunch.

A little later, as we entered the aircraft, I saw that both pilots were going through their preflight checklists, and I asked the flight attendant if my girls could say hello.  Graciously, both pilots made room for each girl to check out the cockpit, and even let them welcome their fellow passengers aboard over the intercom.  As we departed for our seats in the back, one pilot said, “That’s how you inspire the next generation.”  I could hardly agree more. 

It might seem serendipitous that my daughter spent a few minutes smiling in the left seat on our flight home, but there was a critical element to that opportunity: schedule margin. Had we not afforded ourselves some time to wait at the gate, I would not have noticed the flight crew, nor would I have bothered to look into the cockpit as we boarded.  The opportunity was there, but without some schedule margin, I would not have noticed it.

The best way to seize an opportunity is to give yourself enough margin in your schedule to notice that opportunity in the first place.

In our household, there are two working-outside-the-home adults, four kids, a fixer-upper house mid-way to being fixed-up, and a variety of additional activities added on to normal daily requirements.  I know a lot about time management and efficiency.

What I often forget, is that seizing an opportunity requires noticing those things that I did not anticipate within a carefully managed daily schedule.  That is why affording margin is among the most critical components of embracing opportunity.  A highly efficient schedule is still lacking, if you cannot afford margin for new opportunities.  Our goal is not to be efficient.  Our goal is to be effective.  Part of being effective is preserving room for new opportunities in the areas that you value.

Perhaps one reason we often miss opportunity, is that we do not value it enough to give it room in our lives. Our schedule mirrors our values in the same way as our financial choices. For those of us that find most of our professional and personal time accounted for, we must practice some time management techniques that give us room to sieze those opportunities that are of greatest value.

Three way to preserve margin in your schedule for opportunities:

1. Get clear on the types of opportunities you want to notice.  It has been over six years since I took a flight lesson, but I still value flying, and I want to instill that excitement in my family.  It was easy to notice the flight crew approaching the gate, because that is something within my sphere of opportunities of interest.
2. Plan on 10 extra minutes for every meeting.  Some of the most fruitful meetings happen en route to another meeting.  I recently came in to work early to prepare for a meeting.  Since I had deliberately afforded myself 20 extra minutes, I had time to catch up with a colleague I had not seen for a few years as I walked to my scheduled meeting.
3. View constraints as opportunity.  I used to curse my commute.  Now I give myself a few extra minutes, and use the time to listen to an audiobook or just think through a problem. I’ll often add a calendar reminder to one ask my kids something about a classroom dynamic that I picked up on earlier, but found the conversation got lost in the day-to-day shuffle. 

Opportunity is often lurking closer than we think.  We just need to give ourselves time to notice it.