Like so many other goods, time is fixed. We have 24 hours a day, no more and no less. As a result, our time is of great value, both figuratively and literally. That’s why the old-fashioned “time is money” thing remains an accurate adage even in the 21st century.
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In other words, every minute of wasted time can cost you dearly. You may not feel the loss immediately, but you will eventually feel it. For example, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics ’2021 U.S. Time Use Survey shows that women spend about 2.4 hours a day on household chores. The use of the current federal minimum wage of $ 7.25 per hour is about $ 6,351 each year.
That doesn’t mean you have to stop doing household chores, of course. However, it reveals the underlying importance of being a little greedy with your time. After all, you only have a limited amount of minutes available. So the more you tease with these minutes, the more likely you are to feel that your time has been well spent.
You can reduce the time to anywhere you want from your calendar. So, if you’re looking for places to start saving a lot of money (over time), try cutting back a few minutes in the areas of transportation, health, shopping, food preparation, and entertainment.
Transportation: minimization of units, daily commutes and more
Life can be called a road, but you don’t want to spend too much time on real roads. Time is literally money in the case of driving, as gasoline prices are skyrocketing and are not expected to decline in 2022, the Wall Street Journal reports. As a result, you will improve your portfolio in both a tangible and perceived way by minimizing driving and commuting time.
What are some of the solutions to jumping in your car less often? A popular answer is to travel to your office fewer days than now. However, even if you can’t do telework full-time, you may be able to switch to a hybrid work agreement. If you’re the boss, you may want to make a radical move like trying a four-day work week, like some companies in the UK.
Another method to spend less time behind the wheel is to consolidate orders. For example, try to do everything, until you pick up the kids from the football practice, with a single trip. You will use your vehicle less often as long as you keep getting everything.
Healthcare: seeing doctors more efficiently
Between scheduling medical appointments and sitting in waiting rooms, you spend a lot of time on health visits. And if you have to make appointments for other people in your household, you still waste more time in the process.
While you need to maintain your health and well-being, you should not devote precious hours to scheduling and attending visits. In many situations, you can streamline your healthcare experience while saving time and money by harnessing the power of telemedicine.
Have you ever tried telemedicine before? It’s so much more than a Zoom-style virtual chat. During a checkup, your online doctor can diagnose and treat a wide range of ailments, from respiratory illnesses to skin conditions. In addition to not having to drive to a doctor’s office and spend hours in a waiting room, there are many other benefits.
One day last year I was too sick to go to the doctor’s office. The telemedicine doctor could even look me in the throat. I picked up the phone, looking at my throat (as if you had the phone to take a selfie). The process was very easy, I was able to stay in bed and it only took about 15 minutes before Dr. call the necessary medicine at my local pharmacy.
According to HealthTap, a leading virtual primary care provider, online care visits can save you time and money. HealthTap provides primary care based on board-certified physician members at a fraction of the cost. According to the company’s research, the cost of a telehealth visit can save you more than half of what you could pay out of pocket without insurance.
Shopping: resting from lines and records
It is very likely that you are already doing some online shopping. Statistical figures suggest that about three-quarters of people buy digitally on a regular basis. However, you may not be taking advantage of online shopping to save time.
Consider the items you usually buy. E-commerce stores like Amazon and Chewy offer discounts on repeat orders. All you have to do is set up a repeat subscription. Often, you will get a discount on the merchandise you need and they will send it to you systematically.
You may want to do the same with ordering your repeat groceries. It is understandable if you like to pick fresh produce, meat, seafood and dairy products. However, you probably don’t need to see a box of pasta or a bag of chips in person. It may be easier to receive a portion of the pantry merchandise at home weekly. You will still have all the kitchen utensils you need to make your meals. You just won’t travel back and forth to the grocery store every few days.
Food preparation: Eat well while saving time
Cooking can be a pleasant and relaxing process. Many families like to make at least one meal a social occasion with everyone helping out. However, preparing meals can seem like a time consuming task. Even if you work from home, you may not necessarily reserve 30 minutes or an hour to create nutritious dishes. However, you don’t have to resort to Uber Eats as a rescue. You can still eat well and be frugal with your time.
A winning strategy may be to slice all the vegetables and some fruits in advance. Some people like to spend an hour on Sunday chopping broccoli, carrots, cauliflower and similar ingredients for the recipes of the week.
My local grocery store has all the vegetables cut and sealed in containers of different sizes, and you may find an even more convenient quick pickup. Bite-sized pieces can be stored in reusable containers in the refrigerator or freezer until needed. Then you can find them during the week as needed without missing a beat.
Another technique to maximize your cooking moments is to make double batches of the foods your family loves. Serve one batch and place the other in the freezer. He will be there to thaw and cook on a very busy night. And instead of resorting to fast food, you’ll have a nutrient-rich meal in an instant that you barely had to prepare.
Entertainment: sifting through the good of waste
Eighty-one percent of people admit to using YouTube widely. Sixty-nine percent can’t get enough of Facebook. These numbers also don’t just represent Generation Z consumers. They’re general, including baby boomers, Generation X, and millennials. On average, Techjury claims that most people are tuned in to social media for almost two and a half hours a day.
What does it mean? Unless your job is as a social media marketer, you’re probably spending more time on social media than you need to. It can be easy to fall into the hole of the fun TikToks or start scrolling non-stop on Instagram. However, you are not doing yourself any favors if you run out of extra time by clicking, commenting, and tagging.
In the coming weeks, pay close attention to your time on social media. If you have an iPhone, check your social media usage statistics at the end of each day. See if you can reduce your usage the day before. Remember it’s okay to sign up, but avoid “going out” mentally for long periods of time when you might be spending your most productive and satisfying time personally.
Without a doubt: time is money. This is because it is a valuable and scarce asset that seems to go faster as you age. Unfortunately, you can’t stop the clock or add more minutes to your busy days. Still, you can apply some smart time management techniques to your daily routines to make your days feel productive and efficient.
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