Time Saving Ideas to Live Big

At Yeske Buie, our team and our Clients realize that while money matters, it is what you choose to do with it that matters most. We strive to help our Clients harness their resources to achieve the limitless vision that they have for their life. After all, money, however hard earned, is a renewable resource. On the other hand, it is often said that time is our most finite resource. Considering both of these statements, we center our work on a singular priority: helping Clients make the most of their most valuable resource – LIFE.

With this in mind, we offer a list of time saving ideas in the hope that one of these small changes will open a window of time in your day that you didn’t have before. And we hope that you will make the most of these extra minutes! Do things that give you joy or renew you. Perhaps something from our Live Big^® list?

Mail, Internet and Smart Phones

• Take Care of the Mail
  • If possible, try to sort your paper mail daily. Recycle junk mail as it arrives. Then sort the rest into three piles – To do, File and Shred. Having a small paper shredder on hand while you sort can help you instantly remove the clutter of credit-card offers and ‘checks’. This type of routine can save you time later, and minimize piles of paper that can add stress.
• Set Up Email Filters
  • Let your email program save you some time. In lieu of having all emails sent to your inbox, consider setting up personalized filter features. Gmail has inbox tabs that let you see primary, social, promotions, updates, forums that takes seconds to switch to. You can also set up mail filtering so that fantasy football emails, Meetup emails, etc. have their own dedicated folder and they will never again distract you from what you need to focus on in your inbox.
• Limit Your Web Surfing
  • When you get online, it is easy to get sucked into the internet. What was intended to be a two minute recipe search ends up taking an hour between reading up on friend’s social media posts and seeing the sports headlines. Next time, set a timer for yourself. When the chime sounds, get back to what matters most.
• Program Auto-Fill in Your Phone
  • With more than 70% of Americans sending text messages, why not shorten the amount of time it takes you to send a text message? Most phones have defaults, such as typing “omw” will change to “On my way!”, you can setup abbreviations that work for you. Consider initials if you often type out your name, or other colloquialisms that work for you.

In the Kitchen

• Plan Ahead
  • Yes, you will have to spend some time upfront for this tip to pay off. Block off some time each week to plan your meals. It will make creating your shopping list a breeze to create, prevent multiple trips to the store and boost your ability to avoid unhealthy eating. If you’re stumped on ideas planning that far ahead, consider themes (e.g. Meatless Monday, Taco Tuesday, Breakfast for Dinner Sunday). With meal planning, you don’t have to spend time worrying about what is for lunch throughout the week or waste time worrying about dinner nightly.
• Cook in Bulk
  • Cooking large batches of food such as chili, spaghetti or vegetable soup is simple to do. The immediate benefit for larger families is obvious. However, smaller households can reap even more time savings by cooking this way. Have leftovers for lunch or dinner, but freeze excess quantities for a super quick meal (just remember to eat what you put in the freezer).
• Keep Next Week’s Shopping List on the Fridge
  • This way, if the last paper towel or soap was taken out of the closet, whomever unwraps that last item can add it to the shopping list. No more wasted time running around the house to see what supplies are needed or running out of items.

Plan in Batches

• Batching Saves Time Later
  • Consider blocking out specific times for tasks you can do in batches, such as emails, bills, etc. This can also work in meal preparation. When time allows, make large batches of foods that freeze well, such as chili or a casserole. When you know that you’ll have a busy day, you can grab one of the freezer meals and place in the fridge to thaw before you leave for the day and reheat when you return home.
• Batch Errands
  • By writing your errands on a list throughout the week, you can save time by putting them together in one trip. You can review the list, and plan the route to do the least amount of driving possible. When you compare this to the time required to take multiple errand trips throughout your week, this method can save time.

Find/Finish it Faster

• Stop Searching
  • When you lose your keys or other items, you also lose time trying to find them. Consider dedicating a singular location for all those items you spend time looking for on a regular basis (like your keys, phone, glasses, etc.).
• Hire Someone
  • Sometimes it might make more sense to hire someone to do the job. How much is your time worth? Here are some examples where you might find it is not cost-effective to do yourself and you could save time by hiring someone: yard work, home maintenance, errands, laundry, taxes, etc. There are a plethora of websites tailored for this type of assistance, such as Task Rabbit.