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Organize Time - Doubling Up
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Organize Time - Doubling Up
by Jeffrey Strain
Description: Tips for saving time by doing more than one thing at once.
Dave had one of those grins on his face that you knew something was up.
"What happened?" I asked
"My wife and I got in a fight last week," he responded.
"I don't think that is something that you should be smiling about," I
reminded him.
"I solved the problem," he responded, smiling a little more broadly.
"Do you care to elaborate?" I asked.
"Sure. About 6 months ago I bought an expensive exercise bike for my
wife because she had been insisting that she needed it to keep in shape.
After using it a total of 2 times it ended up in our back room not to
be touched again. Last night as she was watching TV, I mentioned this
fact to her. She explained that she just didn't have the time in her busy
schedule to exercise. I solved the problem for her," he said, breaking
into a grin again.
"Do I want to know how you solved the problem?" I asked
"I hooked up the exercise bike to the TV. Now the only way she can
watch TV is if she pedals the bike hard enough to generate power to watch
it!"
This story always comes to mind when I hear that people "don't have
enough time" to do everything that needs to be done. While it's an extreme
example, it clearly illustrates that with a little thought, more than
one thing can been completed at the same time in many cases.
Time is a limited commodity. We each have 168 hours per week to spend
and that can't be expanded. If you want to improve your financial
situation, becoming more efficient in using this time is essential. The good
news is there are a lot of things that you're probably doing now
individually that you can double up by doing them while doing something else.
Take the example of the TV. There are a wide variety of things you can
do while watching TV or during the commercial breaks. If you know that
you are going to watch a certain TV show, take a minute to prepare and
have something to do at the same time:
** Fold Laundry
** Knit
** Polish Silver
** Exercise / Stretch
** Organize Photos
** Clip and organize coupons
If it usually takes you 20 minutes to fold the laundry, but you can
complete it while watching your favorite afternoon soap opera, that frees
up 20 minutes to do something else.
Another good example of where doubling up can be done is while talking
with friends on the phone. If you have a portable phone, there are a
large number of things you can do around the house at the same time as
talking on the phone.
** Rinse and load the dishwasher
** Unload and put away the dishes
** Sweep the kitchen floor
** Wipe down kitchen counter tops
** Wash a load of laundry
** Hang clothes to dry
** Pick up around the house
** Iron
Even if you don't have a portable phone, you can prepare ahead of time
and have something placed by your land line phone to do when friends
call.
These are just a few examples of things you can do at the same time to
free up more time. There are many more if you give it a little thought.
By learning to double up where possible, you'll free up extra time to
do those things that you thought you just didn't have the time to do.
Copyright (c) Jeffrey Strain. He is owner of
http://www.savingadvice.com - a website dedicated to helping you save
money through quality articles and tips.
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