I should have got my car washed at 4 AM. It would have taken longer for my tired self to get home but holy cannoli a lot of people are trying to get a car wash on this Saturday afternoon. My estimate based on this line is that I will be here for over an hour (I was right). Today I wanted to write about being strategic with time management. Had I thought this through last night, I wouldn’t be here today writing this in a car wash lineup.
My car’s exterior is kind of gross. I could see handprints on the trunk from people using it last night. It’s so bad my back camera has grime on it rendering it useless, I’ve had to turn around to reverse. While the interior of my car gets vacuumed before each shift, I waited a bit too long for this car wash and the time that it can no longer be procrastinated.
I’m going to “lose” an hour or so sitting here. I use the quotations because I will get this blog written, something I had to do today anyway. Being productive with this time gives me a chance to recover on this fumble. As long as I remember Saturday afternoon is a terrible time to get a car wash.
Procrastinating for the sake of the grind
My credit score started going up. This has me focused on making money as quickly as possible to really deal with my debt. I run my main gig then flip into Uber Driver mode for evenings and weekends. I have been pushìng and the results are coming in. Maintaining this pace constantly has me facing opportunity costs like should I take that next Uber passenger or deal with a car wash?
Now because my vehicle is used for work, its cleanliness impacts the perception my clients have on me. When the weather is trash you can get away with a messy exterior, today it’s bright and shiny. These self serve car washes are 24/7. I have one car wash already paid for at 10$, but it’s with Couche Tarde. It may have cost me 18$ to get the car wash anywhere else. It would have taken 15 minutes including the drive.
I had hoped Uber would take me near a Couche Tard car wash. It did not. I instead kept getting trips and had a nice profitable night. The other thing that influenced that choice is I didn’t want to spend 8 more dollars (about 11$ of revenue to earn back) to get the car wash somewhere else. That was a miscalculation. I would have easily made back that 11$ plus extra had I not been cheap about car washes.
This type of thinking can be expanded to everything. We all have chores we can’t ignore forever. When you are planning your week, or making snap judgements, take into account the best time to perform a task. It may not be viable to get a car wash in the middle of the night, but at least you can see if there’s a time where you only wait 20-30 minutes instead of an hour.
This applies to any task. If you’re a writer and finding your flow is impossible during certain hours (maybe kids or colleagues interrupt), you can rearrange your day. Do admin tasks in interruption heavy moments and save writing for when you can hide from the world. Or waiting in line at a car wash.
Spending money to make money makes sense
Sometimes when the broke mindset kicks in I retract to a “save money” mentality. A hustler spends wisely. They know an extra bit now will lead to more later. While we often let emotions govern these kinds of decisions, well I do, math is a better governor of finance.
The basic equation is, will you make more money after the fact. A good example is my investment in the car. Over the course of its life, if it helps me make more than it costs, it’s a net positive. Money in versus money out is only part of the equation, you need to also think about time.
The reason I should have got the car wash anywhere, last night, is because instead of taking an hour and 15 minutes (I’m 5 cars out now), it would only have taken 15 minutes. With a low estimate I would have made more money just getting a pricier car wash and dealing with it when everyone was home sleeping or partying.
Sometimes the impulse to save a few dollars ignores the cost of those savings. Your time is worth money. This doesn’t mean every waking hour should be in pursuit of the almighty dollar, it’s about control of your day. When you plan you should reduce inefficiencies so you can free up the most time you can. It’s the most precious commodity we have and every moment wasted in frustration is one that is lost forever.
I’m aware language like wasted time is a matter of PRSPCTVS. I am banging out this first draft of a blog with time I would have spent Ubering. Later on I have less blog writing time and more Ubering. We’re talking about 15$ max in lost earnings. I’m aware this isn’t a “big deal” but it is a learning opportunity. There are plenty of moments in our life where being scared with our money could cost you far more.
There is an argument to be made that Bitcoin is worth investing in. Many of us stayed scared of crypto and won’t know if they could have made bank. I’m not recommending crypto. I personally need to clear debt before I gamble like that. Once I am debt free, I will gamble on crypto and stocks.
The important part is moving with intention
If you like waiting in line at the car wash because you get a break from your family, you may value things differently. In my case I want to be out there Ubering and instead am sitting in line (I’m the next car). I was expecting a 30 minute wait max and I was very wrong.
Writing this blog took longer than had I been at home since I had to type on my phone. It has been an experience in thinking more before typing, but writing speed is a topic for another day. Today I want to present my blunder to help you make sure you aren’t caught off guard as often. If you are already good with time management, share some tips in the comments.
With a bit of foresight and planning we can make sure we do more on our own time. Or at least when unexpected calls from your boss show up you have the capacity to deal with it. Trying to squeeze in unexpected work tasks while rushing around due to long car wash lines sucks. I think a lot of us stay in a rush because we underestimate how long it takes to live life. If we overestimated time and planned accordingly we’d have more peace of mind.
Maybe I’m reaching here but when I’m focused and moving with intention I get so much more done. Maybe I’m just getting old but I want to make sure I make the most out of the rest of my life. Apply some of the wisdom I’ve learned to lower stress. When your actions are what you set out to do, you feel more fulfilled. I tend to feel more like a grown up when I plan and God says, bet. I hope this one was helpful for you.
Oh, look I can see out the back cam when I reverse.
Live Long and Prosper Everyone