Ideas for saving time.

[LongHaul]

There are a lot of really smart people on this board and I am curious what people do to save time.  You can always make more money but time is more precious.  Once past it is gone.  Please post any time saving ideas you have, however small.  Even 10 minutes per week saved is almost 9 hours per year.  In 10 years that would be ~87 hours.

 

Some things I do:

 

1.  Check email 1x per day on most days.

2.  Monotask (vs multitask)

3.  Dashlane is a great password program.

4.  I now speed up youtube and other digital content to 1.5x or 2x to get thru quicker depending on content. Another COBF member told me this great suggestion.

5.  I drive 95 mph everywhere.  Just kidding about the last one.

 

[rpadebet]

I assume a fairly large growth rate in the average human lifespan,  apply a fair multiple to terminal value based on current low interest rates and calculate the cumulative time I have left.  I then spend less time that on a daily basis and as everyone knows if you spend less than you have,  you can't help but save time and get rich!

[innerscorecard]

Every day it's obvious to me that not having to commute a long distance both ways to a full-time job would be the biggest win I could achieve, but it won't be for a while yet.

[Travis Wiedower]

I spend a lot of time thinking about ways to save time (hmm...). I work from home most days so some weeks I only drive my car 1-2 days. I make sure to run errands when I already have to be out and about anyway--I pretty much never leave the house to run an errand on a day when I don't have to be gone for something else. Speaking of errands/chores, I've gotten out of as many of them as possible. I hired a maid last year that cleans and does laundry/dishes so that saves me 1-2 hours per week.

 

I do almost all my shopping online so physical errands are kept to a minimum. It takes a while to get your measurements down but I buy almost all my clothes through Luxire which saves a ton of time. It's as close to bespoke as online clothing can be and it now takes me minutes to buy perfectly fitting new clothes. Can't tell you the last time I shopped for clothes in person. When Cincinnati gets Amazon Fresh I will be their first customer which will save me ~45 minutes per week of grocery shopping. These are some of the "bigger" things but as investors we probably spend a lot of time in Excel. I've spent many hours in the past year getting better with Excel which probably saves me 1-2 hours per week. I've gotten MUCH stricter on what emails I receive. I unsubscribe/report spammers on a regular basis to keep my email as clean as possible. I'll try and pay attention the next few days to think of other things I've changed to save time.

[oddballstocks]

I juggle a lot at once, and have become somewhat efficient from it.  A few thoughts:

 

1) Exercise, exercise, exercise.  Clears the mind, gets the body moving, time to think and prepare for all tasks.  If I have a lot to do I run longer so I can think it through and execute.

2) Do only one thing at a time, finish to completion.  Multi-tasking makes things take longer.

3) Work from home, saving 10 hours a week (1hr each way commute) was a big win.

4) Don't read the news, don't read espn, don't watch TV.  This is probably the biggest time sink for most people.  The natural question is what do I do? When I'm not working I play with the kids, talk to my wife, do activities at night.  Once the kids are in bed my wife and I usually talk or read.  Sometimes one Netflix show at night.

5) Don't check your portfolio constantly, forget about it.

6) Work to eliminate phone conversations.  Reading and typing is faster than talking.  I love to talk, but I can blow entire days on the phone with people.  If I had those same conversations over email it'd be 30% of the time.  Plus the conversations can be shoved to a different part of the day, not my prime thinking hours.

7) Don't do worthless crap.  Lots of work is busy work.  Do work that generates money directly, otherwise don't do it.  If it's not paying the bills, or if it wasn't done and no one cared why are you doing it?  Obviously this doesn't apply to hobbies.

8) Rest.  I try to take weekends off completely.  If I weren't married with a family I'd probably work constantly, they force me to stop in the afternoon, and on weekends.  This is good.  Being well rested enables me to work more efficiently.

[Redskin212]

Touch bills once.  I have done this for over 35 years. You know you are going to pay them anyway, so as soon as I get them I pay them.  Before online payments, I would write post dated checks and now I just set up a payment when I receive my bill.

[meiroy]

 

1. Uninstall tinder.

2. Delete that fake Facebook and Linkedin accounts which you use to look at people anonymously.

3. Only follow closely 567 people on Twitter because 1004 is really way too much.

4. Stop taking Uber needlessly just because it's so convenient.

5. Keep just one apple watch and sell the rest. The time you waste each morning deciding between the gold and blue versions can be better used. (e.g. deciding on which iPad cover matches your socks)

6. Comb-over is enough, there's no need to go all Donald Trump (two hours saved right there!)

 

[Travis Wiedower]

Just thought of another one (while I'm up at 2:00am waiting for reports to print, maybe I should take Nate's advice): I found a dry cleaner that picks up my stuff on Tuesday and redelivers it Friday. Saves me two trips to the dry cleaner every two weeks. Once I started putting effort into saving time ~2 years ago I was blown away by how many little things I did that wasted time.

[giofranchi]

https://hbr.org/2015/02/are-you-proud-of-how-youre-spending-your-time?utm_campaign=Socialflow&utm_source=Socialflow&utm_medium=Tweet

 

 

Gio

[MrB]

You cannot save time. We all get 24 hours a day. You can only prioritize how you allocate it.

 

[writser]

Quit your job.

[Guest 50centdollars]

Get rid of cable tv. Best decision I ever made.

[LongHaul]

A lot of good suggestions.  Thanks for the advice.

 

I try to skim the WSJ but after Rupert Murdoch bought it I think he gutted the in depth business stories that I enjoyed and learned a lot from.  Any thoughts on just not reading the WSJ at all? 

[Gardener]

1) I try to write my e-mails as concise and clear-cut as possible. I hate it when people send me e-mails that I read and where I do not get what it is that they want/need from me. It's insane how much time you can lose just on reading e-mails.

2) I try not to use my phone (too often) when at work.

3) I love driving a car, but I never drive my car to work. I always use public transportation (which is reasonably comfortable where I live) and read while commuting. This is 1,5 h per day that I can read/work while commuting. I don't really mind commuting when I can read/work. Often (but not always) I work from home (1-2 times a week).

4) I limit my time in front of the television. Often when I watch television, it is with my spouse or with friends.

5) I listen to podcasts while in the car.

[Jurgis]

I assume a fairly large growth rate in the average human lifespan,  apply a fair multiple to terminal value based on current low interest rates and calculate the cumulative time I have left.  I then spend less time that on a daily basis and as everyone knows if you spend less than you have,  you can't help but save time and get rich!

 

I want to +1 this. Nobody else acknowledged it. Great one rpadebet  8)

 

Most people already said things I do. However, overall, I don't save time for saving time. I save time for doing things I wanna do. ;)

 

So, for example, short to no commute, cause I hate driving/stress.

 

Though overall, I am not good at saving time. I do a lot of stuff "for fun" that are not really time efficient. IMO, if you try to make time for something and then you hate doing it (like researching stocks too much), then it might be better to have less time for it but still like it when you do it. :)

 

One thing that I did not see people mention was "hold forever" stocks. This saves a lot of time, since you don't need to be thinking every day if you should sell and if you should buy something else. :)

 

Also cutting down the number of stocks that I research. If previously I was "relooking" at ~20 stocks per Barron's issue and possibly 20+ other stocks per week. Now I am down to 3-5 maybe.

(In the past I have looked at ~5K stocks briefly and ~1K in detail, though some of these are not updated/relooked for years).

 

[mrholty]

My list is quite different from most here:

 

1.  I close my email after using and only open it 3 or 4 times a day.  Otherwise I find myself responding to emails in a futile attempt to keep my inbox tidy.  During the day I use email for about 30 minutes at a time.  The closed email therefore doesn't distract me from my normal work.

 

2.  I use email less and less and much more phone/Skype/in person contact.  I've found that a substantial amount of email exchanges are going back and forth trying to clarify one point or that you do something and then realize that the person on the other end really wanted something else.

I do use email to confirm items after the fact to cover my ass.

 

3.  I should quit looking at this site and others.  In general these types of websites while interesting can often be a huge time sink.  I generally have not found investment ideas (that I ) invested in from others that have greatly outperformed the rest of my portfolio.  However from other sites I have formed relationships with others that have lead to some great ideas and outperformance from discussions with those people.  I tell myself that is why I don't quit these.

 

4.  I found a new hobby.  I have just started getting into woodworking.  After spending 50 hours a week at a keyboard and moving things around that are not tangible I enjoy the feeling of woodworking.  This spring I just built a new outdoor dining table.  Is it perfect, no but I spent a few hundred dollars on tools, a few hundred in lumber and saved some money.  More importantly its something that I am proud of. 

My wife had been eyeing a new dining set and new bedroom furniture.  Instead I am building those and it will probably take a year but I will save money and my kids think its pretty cool to help.  Not a time savings but a monetary savings and a time that I spend with my children that I will never forget.

[Jurgis]

Email. I try to get my inboxes to ~50 messages weekly or so. Sometimes I succeed. Work email is now at 600+, home is only at 150+. I know where my weekend will go :)

[CONeal]

The timing of this thread is perfect since I am starting my year for goals and such today.  One of the goals is to be more time efficient.

 

 

 

[cobafdek]

The late great Professor Randy Pausch, of "The Last Lecture" fame, had many practical ideas for time management.  This link will get you to your choice of format, apropos of the subject of this thread, to save you time:

 

http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~pausch/Randy/Randy/timemanagement.html

[LongHaul]

4.  I found a new hobby.  I have just started getting into woodworking.  After spending 50 hours a week at a keyboard and moving things around that are not tangible I enjoy the feeling of woodworking.  This spring I just built a new outdoor dining table.  Is it perfect, no but I spent a few hundred dollars on tools, a few hundred in lumber and saved some money.  More importantly its something that I am proud of. 

My wife had been eyeing a new dining set and new bedroom furniture.  Instead I am building those and it will probably take a year but I will save money and my kids think its pretty cool to help.  Not a time savings but a monetary savings and a time that I spend with my children that I will never forget.

 

Not really related to time mgmt but +1 on the tangible hobby.  I have found fixing things around the house to be really fascinating and you can step back and look at what you have accomplished.  You also learn by doing new things which can be relevant to investing.  Youtube is awesome for figuring out how to do tons of stuff.

[BG2008]

1. Lift weights - It increases your testosterone level and increases muscle mass, hence it helps to burn more calories while you're sitting.  Plus, I find it much more fun than doing cardio.

2. Bring a book with you on the subway - You'll be surprised how much reading you get done

3. Download Earningscast and listen to your conference calls on your iPhone on the bus, out walking, doing cardio at the gym, etc. 

4. Buy a kitchen timer.  When you really need to focus, wind it up for 25 minutes.  For 25 minutes you can't do anything else other than your task at hand. 

5. Time savings tips for eating healthy

    a) Buy pre-made soup, ground turkey or rotisserie chicken, and kale or other healthy veggies.  For ground turkey, heat up with a bit of olive oil and add soup and kale/veggies, put into tupperware container.  For rotisserie chicken, pull apart the meat and add to soup.  You now have multiple meals of healthy, high protein, high fiber meals that you can bring to work etc. 

    b) Sweet Potatoes - Heat on high in microwave for 4 minutes, turn over and heat another 3 minutes, you've now got a high fiber, low glycemic complex carb

    c) Cast Iron Pan - Buy a cast iron pan and a stainless steel chainmail cleaner, you can cook your steaks, burger, etc on it and mimic the taste of an outdoor grill

    d) Fage non-fat yogurt and berries - Great high protein snack during the day with minimum calories

    e) Track your calories at myfitnesspal.com 

    f) Buy Quaker's old fashion oatmeal and electric hot water boiler - Boil water using electric water boiler first thing in the morning, add to a bowl with 1/2 to 1 cup of Quaker's old fashion oatmeal and let steep while your brush your teeth etc.  Add fresh blue/black berries or banana with brown sugar.  You just had some complex carbs with lots of fiber in it. 

    g) Poaching eggs - For breakfast, boil a large pot of water, drop a plate on the bottom, turn off heat.  Gently put 3 egg whites and 2 whole eggs onto the plate and let sit for 5-6 minutes.  You'll have poached eggs with runny yolks.  You also don't have to scrub the bottom of your pot. 

5. Buy book called Pomodoro Technique from Amazon, it's worth the money, buy a timer and force yourself to work on one task per 25 minutes

6. Read this pdf on how to improve your fund performance

10_Ways_to_Improve_Your_Fund_Performance.pdf

[innerscorecard]

2. Bring a book with you on the subway - You'll be surprised how much reading you get done

3. Download Earningscast and listen to your conference calls on your iPhone on the bus, out walking, doing cardio at the gym, etc.

 

Wow! Had no idea Earningscast existed. Fantastic idea. I have long commutes every day, and literally have no sitting room (or even standing room) on public transportation. But I can listen to audiobooks and podcasts. Conference calls are even better.

 

I am downloading it immediately.

 

Edit: It appears it is streaming only. Really, really wish it allowed you to simply download the earnings calls, as is the case with podcast apps.

[Guest longinvestor]

Just ordered my Franklin planner. Again. I was most productive for a period of about 5 years a while back diligently using it. Then came the digital world and it's never worked.

 

I'll know it worked if I stop wasting so much time right here.

[TorontoRaptorsFan]

Get rid of the non-essential items in your house.

It will save you a lot of time cleaning your house every week

[Jurgis]

How do you guys reconcile reading 500 pages a day with saving time?  8)

 

 

This is semi-serious question. On one hand, I would save tons of time not reading CoBF, articles, videos about investors and investing, company news, Barron's, investing books, etc. On the other hand, how to decide what of these are important and what are just filler (though possibly interesting). We are at the stage where I could read the investing blogs, listen to podcasts, etc. 8 hours a day and not cover all the good stuff there (sorry Oddballstocks, you're out  :P ). So?