Shave minutes to save hours.

How many ways can you save time each day? One easy way is to really take a long look at your daily drive.

I suspect that most people have more than one possible route they can take to get to their daily destination. If so, are you sure you’re using the most efficient route when taking into account the time of day and traffic levels?

I have two primary routes I can use to get to my office. I’ve always used one in particular because it seemed faster; there was always less traffic because it led me through quieter streets. It’s peaceful. The other route, which I never really used, kept me on the highway longer and then directed me through an industrial area with nothing to look at on my drive but huge, grey, concrete buildings.

If you look at a map and trace out these two paths the first route - through the quiet neighborhoods - looks like the clear winner in terms of distance and time. The second route takes me farther and through busy, industrial areas.

But I wondered if my assumptions were true; was my preferred route to my office really the quicker route? I decided to put it to a test; I drove each route for a week while I timed the trip.

A strange thing happened; I realized that my assumptions were completely incorrect!

My preferred route actually took an average of 7 minutes and 25 seconds longer to arrive at my office. Further, this time was pretty stable whether I was headed to my office or to my house. I was spending fifteen minutes more in the car each day than I needed.

I know what you’re thinking, “Big deal, you saved 7.5 minutes going to work and another 7.5 minutes going home. That’s not so much.”

You’re right, it’s not much. But think about that time in bigger terms; If I continue to take the longer route over the course of a work-week it’s an extra hour and fifteen minutes I’m stuck in the car. Over the course of a month it’s an extra five hours in the car. Over the course of a year it’s an extra sixty hours stuck in the car. I don’t know what your time is worth, but for me sixty hours lost costs me a lot of money.

If you’re earning $75,000 per year, losing 60 hours “costs” you $2163.60 - think in terms of what each minute lost costs you and you’ll quickly learn to seek out and eliminate lost minutes.

I also suspect there are a lot of places in my day I can shave additional minutes that will add up to extra hours in a short amount of time; I’m willing to wager this is true for you, too. Additionally, this “recovered time” not only gives us the freedom to spend it elsewhere, it also reinforces the skills of productivity, efficiency and resource management - skills we should all be practising at every opportunity!

Every lost minute reclaimed is an extra minute you can use to do something you want, or use to continue to build wealth and work to achieve financial Independence.

If I can save a few minutes a day, that time adds up quickly. Anything that gives me a few extra minutes of my day back without taking any additional effort on my part is exactly what I keep myself open to.

I challenge you to find your own ways to “shave and save.” What will you do with the extra time you reclaim?

2 comments January 10th, 2006