Nothing is a waste of time if you use the experience wisely. – Auguste Rodin

During the week, I wake up at 6 a.m. I wake up my son shortly after, and our morning routine begins. There’s coffee to brew, breakfast to make, lunches to pack, and clothes to put on. Since we have to get out the door by 7:15 a.m. to make it to school by 8 a.m., there is little time to spare. But we have our routine down to the minute, and it works. Until it doesn’t.

Yesterday, I overslept for 15 minutes. But, we rallied and got out the door at 7:25 a.m. I helped my son into his seat and walked around the truck. I jumped in my seat, turned the key, and put the truck in reverse. We were good, Waze said we were going to make it on time!

At least that’s what I thought; then I noticed my fuel light was on! We had to stop for gas. We were late.

I should have filled up the night before, on our way home when I noticed the light was on. But, for some reason, I decided I’d get gas in the morning. That was a mistake.

Life is busy and stressful, but I can reduce some of that stress with better planning. This lesson made me consider ways to reduce friction points in other areas of my day.

Here are eight ways I came up with to better manage my time:

• Get gas on the way home
• Set up the coffee pot the night before with an auto-start timer
• Pack lunches & set out clothes the night before
• Stop the scavenger hunts: Discipline myself to return things to their regular spots (glasses, keys, phones, wallet)
• Stop web surfing and zombie scrolling
• Grocery shop online
• Say “No” more often to things outside of my goals
• Do the things I don’t want to do first instead of finding ways to procrastinate

This list is my first step to following Rodin’s advice and using my experience wisely. What are some things that you do to save time?

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Ok, that’s all for today. Good luck out there!

#CreateSomethingGreat

Photo by sergio souza from Pexels