There is not enough time in each day.  Believe me, I have tried to squeeze more out of it than there is, and it is just not possible.  In the past, I have tried everything from staying up really late to get more done (or waking up earlier) and these both run me down too fast after a while.  Between work, spending time with the family, personal entertainment, and staying up to date on what is going on in the world around us, we just do not have enough time to do what we need.

I know there has to be a better way to do things, to keep my life organized and be able to thrive as much as I would like with sacrificing things like family and without letting down at work.  My solution to the problem: automate.

Automation is the process of replacing human actions by machines or by other processes that can complete the same tasks more efficiently.  Quick example: my home DVR.  I have to admit, I do not have a lot of patience for commercials when I am watching TV.  You can ask my wife and she would tell you, I would rather flip the channel to something else and try to make it back to my program in time, instead of sitting through the commercials.  Or I will record a show that is going on right now (when we clearly have enough time to watch it) just so I can skip the commercials when I watch it in a half hour.  My automation process to solve my dislike of commercials is to pre-program my DVR to record all the shows that I like and then I can later skip through them and just watch the good parts.  Okay, I know, that was a pretty lame example, but it gets the point across: think about something that you do now that takes up more time that you would like it to, and find a way to do it in less time, but still get the same result.

Some other ideas might be looking at things in your life that you would rather pay someone else to do than you do it yourself.  How about mowing your yard? Personally, I like to mow my yard and I take pride in what I can accomplish in 2-3 hours on a beautiful evening or weekend.  But if you do not enjoy mowing your yard and you are always complaining about it, then automate that task and pay someone else to do it.  As you know from my other financial postings, I have a constant obsession with money and ways to make it, save it, and spend it.  If you do as well, then paying someone to do your yard (or clean your house or wash your car) might not be the best idea, but you have to weigh out what else you could be doing while someone else does your yard and you write a $30 check.  Think about it.

Another idea is to think about how you get your information (news, blog posts, sports scores, etc).  Instead of scouring the Internet or watching really long TV programs, use the power of RSS and programs like Google Reader to help you get all the information in one place.  Using RSS feeds can let you get the information from websites without having to wade through all the other information you do not care about. (by the way, here is a link to our RSS feed, use it if you would like).

Paying bills.  Well, nobody likes to pay bills because it is your money leaving your pocket, but also it takes time to pay the bills and get the money out.  Use automatic bill pay through your bank’s website to pay for things that are the same amounts each month (insurance, mortgage, or car loans for example).

Paying yourself.  Automate a feed of money from your checking to savings account on a recurring basis.  Maybe that is 1 time a month or one time a paycheck, but get some money from your checking to savings to force yourself to save.  Even better, set up automatic deductions from your paycheck to a 401(k) or Roth IRA account to help the money grow more.

These are just some ideas to get you started thinking about what you can do in your life to automate things and save you time.   What ideas do you have to automate things you do or suggestions others could use to help save them time and money?

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