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Margin: Restoring Emotional, Physical, Financial, and Time Reserves to Overloaded Lives Paperback – January 9, 2024

by Richard Swenson (Author)
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 667 ratings
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Margin is the space that once existed between ourselves and our limits. Today we use margin just to get by. This book is for anyone who yearns for relief from the pressure of overload. Reevaluate your priorities, determine the value of rest and simplicity in your life, and see where your identity really comes from. The benefits can be good health, financial stability, fulfilling relationships, and availability for God’s purpose.
Previous page
  1. Print length
    240 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    NavPress
  4. Publication date
    January 9, 2024
  5. Dimensions
    5.9 x 0.69 x 8.7 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    1576836827
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1576836828
  8. See all details
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From the Publisher

Margin is about making space in your life to prevent stress, fatigue, and overload.

Armand Nicholi endorses Margin by Richard Swenson.

Dr. David L. Stevens endorses Margin by Richard Swenson.

Doug Trouten endorses Margin by Richard Swenson.

Create space for spiritual priorities and engage in discipleship and spiritual growth with Navpress.
Customer Reviews
4.9 out of 5 stars
79
4.6 out of 5 stars
143
4.7 out of 5 stars
208
Price $12.29 $11.99 $11.49

Editorial Reviews

Review

Indispensable for health and sanity. Dallas Willard, author of Renovation of the Heart

This underground classic was recommended to me when I was recovering from burnout over a decade ago. In a world that’s only gotten busier and louder since Swenson wrote Margin, this book is even more essential today. Carey Nieuwhof, bestselling leadership author and podcaster

Margin is a home remedy for people who’ve run out of time, energy, confidence, and courage. Tim Kimmel, author of Little House on the Freeway and Grace-Based Parenting

From the Back Cover

Overload is fatigue. Margin is energy. Overload is hurry and anxiety. Margin is calm and security. Overload is the disease of our time.

Margin is the cure.

In Margin, Dr. Richard Swenson provides seventy-five practical prescriptions in the areas of your emotional energy, physical energy, time, and finances to restore your contentment, simplicity, balance, and rest. If you yearn for relief from the pain and pressure of overload, take a lifelong dose of Margin. The benefits of good health, financial stability, fulfilling relationships, and availability for God’s purposes will follow you all your days.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ NavPress; First Edition (January 9, 2024)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 240 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1576836827
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1576836828
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 10.4 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.9 x 0.69 x 8.7 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 667 ratings

About the author

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Richard A. Swenson

Richard A. Swenson

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Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5
667 global ratings
Durable, well written, worth the money!
5 Stars
Durable, well written, worth the money!
I got the paperback and it held up very well through the entire time I read it. It was very insightful and I highly recommend it to anyone with time management and planning issues! I will definitely be applying what I learned from this book to my life.
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Top reviews from the United States

Marvin Rouhotas Jr
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent read for leadership teams.
Reviewed in the United States on April 15, 2024
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We read this book as an executive leadership team. This book has several excellent points in the diverse world of executive leadership.
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Hannah
5.0 out of 5 stars Durable, well written, worth the money!
Reviewed in the United States on September 2, 2023
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I got the paperback and it held up very well through the entire time I read it. It was very insightful and I highly recommend it to anyone with time management and planning issues! I will definitely be applying what I learned from this book to my life.
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Hannah
5.0 out of 5 stars Durable, well written, worth the money!
Reviewed in the United States on September 2, 2023
I got the paperback and it held up very well through the entire time I read it. It was very insightful and I highly recommend it to anyone with time management and planning issues! I will definitely be applying what I learned from this book to my life.
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2 people found this helpful
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Repentant Centurion
4.0 out of 5 stars Good read, worthy information
Reviewed in the United States on July 13, 2010
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Overall, this book is an easy to read discussion on the problems many people face in today's society. He makes it clear that regardless of personality, upbringing, or status, all people suffer from stress in life; it just may be different for each person and have different symptoms in each. The author is very clear up front with his ideas of how "our faults demand a glaring prominence of their own" despite the perceived wonders of progress. Dr. Swenson appears to firmly believe that many of the stresses in our lives are self-inflicted by the desire for "material and cognitive status."
He is also not afraid of directing the reader to the Christian understanding of what true wealth and power are as they emanate from God, not from our own feeble efforts. This is demonstrated well in quoting William Wilberforce's statement "Above all, measure your progress by your experience of the love of God and its exercise before men."
Where Dr. Swenson really shines is his prescriptions for restoration of emotional energy, physical energy, time, and finances. Instead of providing the reader with a range of solutions only an academic could relate to, Dr. Swenson gives prescriptions that address our common problems and are easily implementable.
Again, Dr. Swenson is not afraid to bring his Christian faith into the mix of solutions. He even goes to the point of humorously asking whether Jesus might have used a pocket calendar to illustrate how "God never intended for time to oppress us, dictating our every move." These Christian ideals also make their way through the author's discussions on the other aspects of emotional energy and finances. For example, in one of his stronger statements, the author emphasizes, "wealth is not a primary objective of the spiritual life."
Although the book provides a wealth of information and warning on lack of margins and the benefits of having them in all aspects of our lives, there is little discussion of how these ideas can play out in a life of pastor or his work. This is not to say there are no connections to ministry as the concepts themselves would seem to be very applicable regardless of the situation; however, there does not seem to be a concerted effort to tie these concepts to areas in ministry. Further discussion would need to be had in connecting the many beneficial notions Dr. Swenson presents beyond the individual to a larger entity such as a church body or evangelistic ministry.
12 people found this helpful
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Ashley
5.0 out of 5 stars Still timely advice
Reviewed in the United States on September 23, 2023
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good practical Godly wisdom, margin was something I had as a young adult and lost over time but I'm trying to reacquire as a senior now.
One person found this helpful
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GrillMan
5.0 out of 5 stars Read slowly. Read again, doing.
Reviewed in the United States on December 23, 2023
Verified Purchase
What does it profit you to gain the “world” but lose your soul? Look it up (Matt 16:26). Let that sink in as you rush around with some contorted priority stack (we are all guilty of such). Read this book slowly. Pause to consider what it says.
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R.M. Koske
3.0 out of 5 stars Folks with with vision problems or dyslexia - be cautious
Reviewed in the United States on May 2, 2011
Verified Purchase
Short version: A weird and subtly bad font is used for the main text. If you have vision problems or dyslexia, check this book out carefully and make sure you see a sample of the font before you buy - you might not be able to read this.

Long version:
So far I've only read 10% of this book. The glowing reviews and the subject matter make me want to finish it, but the font is really bugging me.

For some reason, the publisher has chosen to set the main body of the book in a font that looks like a bad photocopy of a bad photocopy. Several of the closed letters - b, d, p - are "broken" so they're not fully closed. Thin parts of the F, t and y are missing. I feel like I'm reading a bad scan on Project Gutenberg.

I didn't think I was terribly picky about this stuff. I read long-form stuff on the web all the time, and I'm not especially sensitive about font online. But I can't stop noticing this. This font is for me a bizarre choice that is really overshadowing the text. If the Kindle app would allow me to, I'd copy and paste the whole book into notepad so I could read it in Courier, because then the font would be something ugly that I could ignore. As it is, I may not finish the book if the content doesn't become more compelling soon.
13 people found this helpful
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Lami
5.0 out of 5 stars Fitting
Reviewed in the United States on January 25, 2024
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It fitted well for an 11year old
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Teresa Orth
5.0 out of 5 stars Margin is prescription for what we lack
Reviewed in the United States on February 23, 2014
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I really enjoyed reading this book and having a one word response to what I am feeling when everything is crowding out all the things I value: Marginless! The prescription for improving your life and living the life God created for you is to carve out more margin in all areas of your life. I am learning to say "no" to doing too many things that are not in line with my long term margins. I am learning to plan my year, month, day out so that I can accomplish what I need to do and still leave that margin for what God needs me to do to minister to myself, my children and other souls. It is true that today's world provides too much of everything. You could spend hours reading volumes and still be behind in any area of expertise. We have to create the time and margin in our physical, emotional, and spiritual lives to stop the sickness of no time in our lives. This book is excellent and will help you find the time to find the time!
7 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

Daniel L. Love
5.0 out of 5 stars Rest Can Be Aquired
Reviewed in Canada on December 13, 2023
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Richard Swenson encourages us to get balance back into our lives. I like this book because I realized that I was overloaded, overburdened and overwhelmed with too many things going on in my life. A good friend, Cyril, recommended that I read this book. It took me a year before I bought this book, but after I started reading it I could not put it down. It is extremely relevant to our over scheduled lives.
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Mark H
5.0 out of 5 stars Margin - Everybody Needs It!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 7, 2012
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This is a fantastic book! Life changing truths that have been outworked first by the author - giving the book credibility. Its easy to read and full of application. Everyone needs margin - sadly most people don't realise it!! On the back of this book I have made `margin' my top priority; margin for what matters most to me, not those around me but for `me'. If I get this right it will benefit those around me anyway. Margin needs to be my best friend who provokes me when I'm about to overcommit on my limits and refreshes me when I don't overload.

As someone who manages in a large company that is performance and results driven (causing high pressure points), who is part of a team responsible for the oversight of a middle to large sized charity/school (racking up 65-70 hours a week for 2 years), and in the midst of this has a young family with 2 babies, my life had become void of any such `margin'. I first heard the message presented by a pastor by the name of Craig Groeschel who spoke from this very book. As a result I sort out to get hold of the book. Anyone seeking to achieve great things with their life needs to read this book so that they can actually review `at work cost' do they want to continue pursuing what `they think' is important and then way up the cost!! "What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his own soul [or that which are most valuable to him; my faith, family, friends, loved ones, recreation etc.]
7 people found this helpful
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Ibn Battuta
5.0 out of 5 stars Margin
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 5, 2022
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Brilliant book, not just filled with what you should and shouldn't do in life, but with LOVE. Real live that speaks to the heart especially of those who live with pain, sickness and the emotional grief that comes from that isolation. Swenson speaks from the heart not just of a doctor, but as the channel of God's own voice to challenge and to comfort.
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Milew
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent; well worth a read!
Reviewed in Canada on April 27, 2018
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One of my favorite books; it's helped me numerous times as a manager when dealing with issues related to workplace stress, overload and change management. Highly suggested. It does have a Christian 'influence' but whether you're Christian or not, the ideas are excellent - and don't discount the helpful ideas because of the author's background.
2 people found this helpful
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Daniel
4.0 out of 5 stars Great book !
Reviewed in Canada on September 4, 2020
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Great book.
Bought it used but it was in such bad shape!
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