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Tracey Crockett is the Chief Lifestyle Manager of Chores, Errands ‘N More, a full-service concierge and lifestyle management company located in Upstate South Carolina. The company was founded with the objective of enhancing the quality of life for its customers by offering an extensive list of services and service packages - and thus providing its clientele with the opportunity to enjoy life without its day-to-day complications. More information can be found at www.choreserrandsnmore.com, or by calling 888-509-5533.
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 10 Things you Could Do If you Could Live An Errand-free LifeWe spend a significant portion of our weeks in our cars running errands. The exact amount of time, according to the Surface Transportation Policy Project, is 46 percent of our car trips. This time is spent shopping, chauffeuring and conducting other errands. If you didn't have to do these things, if you could hire someone else--oftentimes called a lifestyle management consultant or personal assistant--to do them for you, what could you do what all of that extra time? Following is ten suggestions:
1. Get more exercise. The National Women's Health Information Center says that maintaining an active lifestyle - that is doing more than 30 minutes of brisk exercise most days of the week - can reduce your risk of heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, colon cancer, and diabetes. Exercise also keeps your bones, muscles and joints healthy and reduces anxiety and depression and improves your mood.
2. Walk your dog more. This is one way to get that 30+ minutes of exercise a day, and what is good for you is equally good for Fido to maintain his weight.
3. Spend more time with your kids. According to the Families and Work Institute, "67 percent of employed parents say they don't have enough time with their kids." If this is you, think of what fun things you could do with your kids in the time you usually run errands.
4. Plan a romantic weekly date with your significant other. Wouldn't they be excited if you reconnected one night each week without the kids, over a candlelit dinner, a walk in the park or a movie?
5. Learn a new hobby. Ever want to learn how to golf or to knit? Use your new free hours each week to take up something you've always wanted to try but could never find the time for before.
6. Start a new part-time business. Do you have a cool business idea or know of a product that needs to be created? Where would the world be if Bill Gates hadn't started Microsoft? Most businesses start small, often part time, before blossoming into something more. Use your new free time to come up with a good business plan or to create a new needed widget. Who knows, maybe you could be the next Bill Gates.
7. Volunteer with a local nonprofit organization or tutor at a local school. Nonprofit organizations are always looking for help, so whether you'd you like to save the whales or teach a child to read, a local organization probably needs you.
8. Get involved in your local government. Most people don't have any idea what is going on in their towns. What new businesses are moving in? What new zoning laws have passed? Will any decisions affect your taxes? Use your new free time to attend community meetings and learn about what decisions your elected officials are making that may affect your life.
9. Spend more time with friends. Everyone has friends he or she rarely sees but always promises to see more. Now you will be able to do that--go out for dinner or drinks or shopping more frequently and watch your friendship grow stronger.
10. Read more books, newspapers and magazines. According to a report by reading researchers Anderson, Wilson and Fielding, out-of-school reading habits of adults have shown that even 15 minutes a day of independent reading can expose adults to more than a million words of text in a year. And numerous studies have shown that kids who grow up in households where parents read are more likely to become readers themselves. So set your kids up for a lifetime of reading by letting them see you read.
All of these things, and more, are possible if you hire a lifestyle management company to run your errands each week. A lifestyle management company will do your grocery shopping, pick up your dry cleaning, wait for repair persons, get your automobile serviced, mail packages for you, coordinate a weekend getaway and much, much more. The time you spend doing these ten suggestions is worth so much more than that--and so is your mental health and family time. Are you Time Poverished?Karen is a working mother who managed to land an exciting, fulfilling job which requires international travel. She's seeing parts of the world that she never dreamed of visiting, and she has found her work for a non-profit organization is more rewarding than any other job she's had.
And yet, while she wouldn't trade her position for any other job in the world, Karen has come to the realization that she is now hopelessly time poverished. There just doesn't seem to be enough time to talk with her daughter, touch base with her mom, pay bills, wait for the cable repair man--and the rest of the 101 things she needs to do each week.
Mike has built an impressive career as the head of a statewide service organization. He has one child left at home and he wants to devote all the attention he can to her. Yet, he struggles each day balancing the demands of work and home. Mike is far from alone in his predicament.
The average working parent now has to spend six and a half hours more on the job each week than the typical working parent did 30 years ago. Add it all up, and you might be working six weeks more each year than your parents did. In addition, a survey conducted by Jupiter Research found that the average consumer now spends about 14 hours a week online for shopping, bill paying, and other chores.
Interestingly enough, the Bureau of Labor Statistics has concluded that the average 35 to 44-year-old American has only a little more than four hours a day for recreational activities. Much of the rest of his or her time is devoted to work and child care. Research indicates that both men and women are being affected by the 21st century time crunch. As a result, it wouldn't be at all surprising if you came to the conclusion that you are time-poor.
If you're wondering whether you are just a little short on time or truly time poverished, ask yourself the following questions:
o Do I feel as if I'm falling short when it comes to fulfilling my obligations to my family? Are my spouse and/or children being shortchanged?
o Am I getting less than seven hours of sleep each night--even though I know I need as much sleep as I can get to be truly effective at my job? Do I feel as if I'm constantly on the verge of total exhaustion?
o Do I continually eat my meals on the run--and gain weight as a result--because I simply don't have the time to cook a nutritious meal and sit down to enjoy it?
o Do I have to overdose on caffeine each day in order to maintain my crazy schedule? Do I feel jittery as a result?
If you answered "yes" to any of the preceding questions, you can consider yourself time poverished.
Once you accept the idea that you are, indeed, woefully short on time, what can you do about it? Psychology experts say the key is to prioritize. Determine what you absolutely have to do yourself each day. Then, determine if there are certain things you can "farm out." For instance, it might be well worth your while to hire a lifestyle management company to handle some time-consuming professional duties, such as meeting and event planning, the relocation of your facilities, or research for your business' target market. Since lifestyle management companies are so much more than an errand service, they can provide you with the professional support necessary to help your business grow and thrive.
Meanwhile, a lifestyle management company can ease your time crunch at home by waiting for the appliance repairman for you, connecting you to a pre-screened vendor, or house-sitting while awaiting a furniture delivery. You can use their services to connect with a landscaper, painter, insurance agent, and the like, relieving your stress level and saving you some precious time.
It all comes down to this: instead of trying to be as busy as you can possibly be, think about the results of all of your activity. You may have heard of the Pareto Principle, or the 80/20 rule. According to this principle, 80 percent of unfocused effort yields 20 percent of results. In contrast, 80 percent of results are accomplished with only 20 percent of focused effort. By focusing your time and energy, you should be able to achieve your goals--personally and professionally. How to Beat the Waiting Game?Although statistics vary on the subject, it is reasonable to assume that the average person spends about 2 days a year just waiting for an errand to be completed. However, if one delegate's these tasks to an organized person - or better still, a lifestyle management company- then this time can certainly be gained back to do more meaningful tasks. Why It Pays to Hire Help at HomeMany people believe in the myth that outsourcing errands and other household duties is an expensive affair only for the rich and the famous. Not only is this assumption untrue, but the fact is that outsourcing errands can actually help to save money. The reduced stress level and increased time for friends/family can certainly help in leading a more fulfilling and productive life.
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