Intelligent productivity requires that we use the best time management techniques. Now we all have many errands outside the house that we do every week: shopping, haircuts, dropping off and picking up the kids at school and extracurricular activities, and much more.
You need to be as efficient as possible with errands. Doing so can save you several hours a week, and just think what those several hours can mean for your happiness and attaining your goals.
So use these 6 ways…
1. Confirm All Appointments the Day Before
Also check with the doctor or dentist or vet an hour before your appointment to see if they have major delays so you can plan accordingly. And bring reading, either for business or pleasure, in case you do have a significant wait for an appointment.
2. Keep a Set of Detailed Lists with All Your Errands
I have one specifically for what I need to buy at the large chain stores like Target. I have another that has food I get at the natural foods store on one side and food I buy at regular supermarkets on the other side. A third list contains all the errands for my next errand day. I use 3 x 5 cards for my lists; they easily fit in my pocket, I can get a lot of items on one card, and I can also have a separate list on each side of the card.
3. Group Errands by Geographic Location and by Order of Execution
This allows you to minimize both the number of miles you travel and the time you spend traveling by doing all the errands you need in one place before heading off to the next place.
4. Plan the Timing of Appointments Carefully
Make sure you can do all of your errands and still be on time for your appointments.
5. Rank your Errands in Order of Priority
A for must do; B for good to do; C for could do or not do, or could do on a future trip—just in case of unexpected delays or inaccurate estimates of how long errands will take.
6. Don’t Go Now If You Can Go Another Errand Day
For example, if you want to buy 3 items at Target, but don’t need them for a couple of weeks, consider if you should wait those 2 weeks and go to Target when you actually have more things to buy.
How to Get the Most Enjoyment from Errands
- Give yourself enough time to do all the errands; you don’t want to feel rushed.
- Think about how these errands benefit you and those you care about.
- Savor the opportunity to meet new people and to talk with people you don’t see often.
- Listen to music or educational audios as you travel, or just enjoy the scenery.
Your Take?
What’s your attitude about errands? Love doing them? Dislike doing them? Any tips to share?
{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
No here is one that I think we can all use. The more time you save, the more time you have to do FUN things!
And some of these really hit home too! Like the first one – confirming appointments is an absolute must if you are busy at all. The truth is that most people don’t really care about your time. It is up to you to see that they do not waste it!
I also really liked that you mentioned planning enough time to do your errands. I know that I, and many other people tend to try to cram too much into an afternoon. Failure is the only thing that can result from poor planning.
Excellent list of ideas! Thanks John!
.-= mark´s last blog ..3 Steps To Finding Your Balance =-.
Mark, fun is what it’s ultimately all about for me.
Now that I give myself more time for errands I find that I enjoy the whole process more.
Another tip. My golden retriever Molly had a vet appointment this morning. I got the first appointment of the day at 8:15 and was ushered right on in.
Good suggestions, John. You know you have followed your suggestions well if you end up not driving your car at least two days a week.
Keep up the good work!
Thanks Eric.
I usually fit my errands into one day. That happens to be today.
My to-do items:
1. Vet appoint for Molly (my 14-year-old golden retriever)
2. Molly’s first summer haircut (and a bath)
3. Meeting with a fellow member of the Mount Shasta Trail Association board to put a Paypal button on the MSTA site
4. Post Office
5. Work…
All good ideas John. I think I do them all, just a bit less systematically. My friends would call me “Flow Master” when we would do errands together because I’d always figure out the best route to minimize backtracking and delays.
I think I’ve finally become naturally and effortlessly “organized”. I put that word in quotes because people often say things like, “You’re so organized!” or, “I wish I was organized!” As if one just is “organized” or not, like being blonde or not.
I learned to be organized, and made a conscious effort to focus my attention in organized ways. Even really obvious things like putting things near where I use them most often were not so obvious once upon a time. I had other goals (being cool, seeming cool, maintaining immediate comfort, acting out old feelings, maintaining a certain level of drama, wanting to have things to complain about, etc.) that were at odds with being organized.
But as I became clearer and clearer about my mission in life, and therefore my goals, I began to see how being disorganized really interfered with my mission and goals. Before I could really dig into all the little habits that were in my way, it was important for me to have an overall clarity about what I wanted to do with my life. I’m not sure how other people do it, but I can’t imagine going from disorganized to organized, without having overall mission clarity.
Organization for its own sake does not appeal to me. It has to be in service of something more, some other value that it will enhance. For instance, I love movies and I have many of them. When I want to watch one I don’t want to spend time searching for it. Between my T’ai-Chi life, my music life, my social and recreational lives, I am pretty busy. In order to not get burned out or ineffective in these areas of my life, I need time. Not just enough time to actually do them, but time to rest, do nothing, or wait for inspiration. In other words I need slack. I don’t want to waste time looking for movies. So I have a notebook where I keep track of all my movies and which CD/DVD wallet they are in. It took a little time and energy to set up but once that system was set up, it was pretty easy to maintain as I just added new movies I acquired to an already existing organizing system.
*Another lesson learned: Once anything is in place, it just takes a little time regularly to keep it going. If you let it fall into disarray, it will take much more time and energy to fix.
Good post John. I hope people on this journey find it useful. You are one of the only friends I have who’s in my league when it comes to being organized and getting things done!
Gene, organization at home is something that I’ve had mixed success with. Part of it comes from having lots of books and magazine articles to deal with and only having one office to keep everything.
But I have found that, like you, when I have a good reason to get organized in a certain area of my life, I do it, and it always helps.
You have your DVDs. I have my CDs. My stereo holds 51 CDs. I have a list of which CDs are in which slot. And it’s in pencil so I can make changes as needed.
John,
Under “How to get the most enjoyment from errands” – a big tip not mentioned is: get out of the car and ride your bike, whenever and wherever possible to do your errands. Carry a backpack. Get panniers. It’s a – I hate this expression – no brainer! Mary and I gave up our car 15 months ago, and haven’t looked back.
.-= Gambolin’ Man´s last blog ..YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK: Ascending the Steep John Muir Trail to Vernal Fall for a Teasing Glimpse into the World Famous Back Country Wilderness =-.
The bike and backpack is an excellent suggestion, especially if you live in an urban area or all your errands are within biking distance of your house.
Doesn’t work so well for me, though. The closest town is about 12 miles away.
But I’m glad you got rid of the car. Someday…
Twitter: @TheJohnSoares
I recently spent nearly three weeks house-sitting in San Francisco. I walked everywhere, and I really appreciated not driving or parking.
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John: Great post with very helpful tips. I actually found your blog because you left a comment on my guest post at CYT. Thanks again for that comment by the way. I really appreciated it. I also really appreciated this post. I now know I need to get a little more organized about my approach if I am really going to be as effective and productive as possible. Thanks for all the great tips.
Sibyl, I’m really glad you like this post. I just put your feed in my reader and I’m following you on Twitter.
Thanks for stopping by and keep up your good work.
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