How to be the most productive on your day off (when you have to run errands): 10 Pro Tips!

We have all been there. We have an unexpected day off and we try to cram 497,632 things to do in that one day. That day comes and goes like the wind and maybe only two things were accomplished. We feel like a failure, and we decide we are a lazy blob of a human. None of this is true.

Here are 10 pro tips when running errands and being productive on your day off:

1.  Brain dump the night before
2. Create a geographical game plan the night before
3. Do a quick tidy of the house the night before
4. Do not skip your evening routine just because you are off the next day
5. On your day off, wake up and complete your morning routine as if you were going to work
6. Start all the machines
7. Load your bag you will need in the car to include snacks, drinks, and maybe even lunch
8. Start your geographical attack
9. Enhance your drive time with an audible book, podcast, music, or phone call with a friend or family member
10. Evaluate your errand day with ideas for your next attempt 

Let's take a deep dive into each of these pro tips.

• Brain dump:  Make a list of anything and EVERYTHING that is on your mind.  Even if it doesn't have to do with your goals for your day off, write it down on paper or in the notes section of your phone.  Get it out of your head so you can actually have a clear mind to THINK!
  • What do I need from the grocery store?   What do the kids need for sports or school?
  • What are we doing the next few weekends?
  • Is there anything I need for work?  What about my partner?
  • Do I need pants hemmed or packages mailed?
  • Should I grab a prescription refill while I'm out?  If so, should I call it in?
• Create a geographical game plan:  Figure out WHERE you need to go and plan your day geographically.  Some people like to go to the "hardest" or "furthest" errand first, but I usually just go in geographical order.  The way my errands tend to land, I usually end up making a circle back to the house.
  • Extra pro tip:  keep store hours and lunch rushes in mind!
  • Extra Extra pro tip:  pick your ClickList order up last (that you submitted the night before because you are an extra extra pro)!
• Do a quick tidy:  I know, I know.  NO ONE wants to do any domestic chore on their Day-Off-Eve.  I don't wanna.  You don't wanna.  We don't wanna.  That said, if I set 10 minutes on my watch timer and buzz around my main living spaces putting things where they go or loading the dishwasher or opening the mail, I can usually fall asleep easier than if I stared at the forgotten sock, ice cream bowl, and homework remnants from my horizontal position on the couch.  Since I know I would end up doing all of that in the morning, I begrudgingly spend about 10 minutes tidying before I sit down for the night.
• Don't skip your evening routine:  Refer to my post tagged below about getting kids out the door.  There are certain steps I take every night no matter HOW tired I am so that I don't wake up the next morning behind the eight ball.  My main nightly task that I never, ever, ever skip is making the coffee and setting the timer so that it is brewing as I fumble out of bed.
• Don't skip your morning routine:  I admit.  I STILL do this, and every time I skip my morning routine on my day off I regret it.  Please, please, please shower and dress at your usual time for work on this golden day off if you want to capitalize on the day.  
• Start all the machines:  I try to start my washing machine as SOON as I wake up on my day off so that I can transfer clothes into the dryer AND get them out before I leave for the day.  I can't stand wrinkled clothes, and I am not going to iron (truth), so I get things out promptly and hang or fold them.  Just as I'm walking out the door, I start my dishwasher and my robot vacuum (thank you Rita the Roomba, I love you long time).  If I REALLY want to show off, I put dinner in the crockpot before I leave.  (mic drop)
• Load your bag:  I usually bring my planner, pens, a notepad, a book (maybe), store returns, pants to be hemmed, my geographical list, snacks (card-carrying member of the Hangry club right here), water, and sometimes my lunch or extra drinks in a soft cooler with ice packs.  WHEN my boys were younger and I had to take them with me for errand day (ladies, we have a special place in heaven), I definitely had a cooler of snacks and drinks.  I am not dragging two toddlers into a Stop-N-Go for a $2 tiny milk and some $4 Goldfish when it's 1000 degrees in Georgia.  I will have snacks and drinks in my mini-van with Paw Patrol on my DVD player, thank you very much.
• Start your attack:  This is the boring part.  I don't really have anything to say about this.  Grab the Gatorade & KIND bars for baseball snack night.  Drop pants off for hemming since you took after your mother and not your 2 tall grandmothers.  Pick out cards and V-Bucks for 4 upcoming birthday parties.  Try to remember your youngest child's shoe size AS you pick out school shoes.  Think about a new restaurant for lunch, but the Chick-Fil-A folks look like they know something we don't with their smiles, "my pleasures," and efficiency so somehow your vehicle steers into their trance of productivity and waffle fries.  Eat the fries as you dream about not having to work, but then you don't stop to get a lottery ticket?  Oh wait, that's just me.  Next....
• Enhance your drive:  I like to listen to Audible books on my commute, because I drive about an hour each way.  That hour is enough time to get interested in a book.  When I have an errand day, my driving route is often short and choppy bursts, so I usually listen to a podcast or return phone calls.  I also love the Marco Polo video messaging app, and I can safely use it with my phone-holder on my dash.
  • Extra pro tip:  use your wait time to get things done.  Waiting on your ClickList?  Respond to an email.  Waiting in the pharmacy pickup line?  Update your planner.  
• Evaluate your day:  You made it!  You're back home and sweaty and possibly grouchy, but you made it!  Before you barge into the house and start your next list of to-do's, sit in your car for at least a few minutes and think back over your errand day.  What worked?  What didn't?  What didn't you have that you know you will need next time?  Make a note on paper or in your phone so that the next time you have a day to tackle the universe store by store, you can make the most of it.  

I encourage you to try these on your next day off and share your success stories (or epic fails- we can laugh or cry with you) in the comments below.  Please know that I still have wasted days off, and that's okay!  I'm learning in my forties that some days are meant to be wasted.  (insert sunshine, beach music, and a cool breeze here)

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