On a farm, fences are a big deal.
They’re often one of the biggest infrastructure expenses.
They’re also necessary in many cases.
Fences keep certain things in and certain things out.
Some fences might be to guard smaller animals against predators. Or keep grazing animals like deer from eating crops or tree branches.
Fences are also used for rotationally grazing animals as we do with our sheep. They get fresh new grass daily, and the pasture has time to regrow before another visit.
In life, we often build fences for our time.
Our days and calendars are a lot like an open pasture.
They start empty and we gradually add fences to guide how we spend our time.
Some may be fences we don’t control, like work commitments, kids’ schedules, or healthcare appointments we can’t move.
But by and large, we decide where to put the fences around our time.
We might use a fence that keeps us from spending too much time in a meeting by having a start and end time scheduled.
Or we might have a fence that protects the time we want to exercise or write by waking up before the rest of the household is awake.
Fences for our time remind me of the concept of time blocking.
Time blocking is often touted as a solution to reducing overwhelm and improving productivity. It’s where you block out time on your calendar and decide exactly what you’ll get done during that block.
As much as I’ve wanted to time block, I always rebelled against it.
It felt like I was micromanaging myself. I wanted the freedom to do different things based on changing circumstances. Not just blindly follow what my calendar told me to do.
I realized that some people like smaller fences and others like bigger ones.
For example, you might thrive using smaller fences with specific activities dedicated to each time block.
Or you might prefer a large fence, with a variety of activities available.
On our farm, if we have a large group of sheep we need to give them more space to graze or move them more often.
That way they won’t run out of fresh grass.
If we have a smaller group of sheep, we can give them a smaller area to graze.
For our schedules, we can evaluate if we need a big chunk of time or smaller ones that change for each task.
This reframe helped me better appreciate time blocking and concepts like deep work, where a larger block of time is recommended to get deeper into the work.
Sometimes we need a tall fence, because things need to be contained more. Maybe you have a task that requires focus and must block your internet and all distractions.
Other times, you might need a little fence that’s more of a suggestion. It won’t keep everything out but will provide some time protection.
Protecting our priorities
Fencing your time is a great way to be intentional and to prioritize what matters to you.
Without fencing, our animals would escape and wander onto the road, or be snatched up by coyotes.
Without time fencing, our time might slip through our fingers or be taken away by forces with different priorities.
It helps to remember that our days have a mix of fences built by others like our work and families, and by ourselves.
The best part?
Fences aren’t permanent.
You can add or remove them, and move them around until you figure out the best configuration.
And even fences that have been in place for a long time are not set in stone.
Eventually, you may enter into a new season of life where a different time infrastructure is needed.
The ultimate fence…
The ultimate fence around our time is the one we can’t see.
It’s the end of our lives, and none of us know when we’ll reach that fence.
That makes how we choose to spend our time all the more precious.
So let’s pick the fences we build around our time wisely, while we still can.
