10 Things You Could Do if You Could Live an Errand-Free Life

We spend a significant portion of our weeks in our cars running errands. The exact amount of time, according to the Surface Transportation Policy Project, is 46 percent of our car trips. This time is spent shopping, chauffeuring and conducting other errands. If you didn't have to do these things, if you could hire someone else--oftentimes called a lifestyle management consultant or personal assistant--to do them for you, what could you do what all of that extra time? Following is ten suggestions:

1. Get more exercise. The National Women's Health Information Center says that maintaining an active lifestyle - that is doing more than 30 minutes of brisk exercise most days of the week - can reduce your risk of heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, colon cancer, and diabetes. Exercise also keeps your bones, muscles and joints healthy and reduces anxiety and depression and improves your mood.

2. Walk your dog more. This is one way to get that 30+ minutes of exercise a day, and what is good for you is equally good for Fido to maintain his weight.

3. Spend more time with your kids. According to the Families and Work Institute, "67 percent of employed parents say they don't have enough time with their kids." If this is you, think of what fun things you could do with your kids in the time you usually run errands.

4. Plan a romantic weekly date with your significant other. Wouldn't they be excited if you reconnected one night each week without the kids, over a candlelit dinner, a walk in the park or a movie?

5. Learn a new hobby. Ever want to learn how to golf or to knit? Use your new free hours each week to take up something you've always wanted to try but could never find the time for before.

6. Start a new part-time business. Do you have a cool business idea or know of a product that needs to be created? Where would the world be if Bill Gates hadn't started Microsoft? Most businesses start small, often part time, before blossoming into something more. Use your new free time to come up with a good business plan or to create a new needed widget. Who knows, maybe you could be the next Bill Gates.

7. Volunteer with a local nonprofit organization or tutor at a local school. Nonprofit organizations are always looking for help, so whether you'd you like to save the whales or teach a child to read, a local organization probably needs you.

8. Get involved in your local government. Most people don't have any idea what is going on in their towns. What new businesses are moving in? What new zoning laws have passed? Will any decisions affect your taxes? Use your new free time to attend community meetings and learn about what decisions your elected officials are making that may affect your life.

9. Spend more time with friends. Everyone has friends he or she rarely sees but always promises to see more. Now you will be able to do that--go out for dinner or drinks or shopping more frequently and watch your friendship grow stronger.

10. Read more books, newspapers and magazines. According to a report by reading researchers Anderson, Wilson and Fielding, out-of-school reading habits of adults have shown that even 15 minutes a day of independent reading can expose adults to more than a million words of text in a year. And numerous studies have shown that kids who grow up in households where parents read are more likely to become readers themselves. So set your kids up for a lifetime of reading by letting them see you read.

All of these things, and more, are possible if you hire a lifestyle management company to run your errands each week. A lifestyle management company will do your grocery shopping, pick up your dry cleaning, wait for repair persons, get your automobile serviced, mail packages for you, coordinate a weekend getaway and much, much more. The time you spend doing these ten suggestions is worth so much more than that--and so is your mental health and family time.

Running errands and completing household and business chores will always be a part of life. It is the completion of these tasks that keep the refrigerator stocked, the home improvements & repairs completed, and so much more. However, now that Americans are working more than they did 5 years ago, the completion of errands and chores are becoming more difficult to complete. With time becoming an ever precious commodity it's important to determine what takes priority in one's life. By learning what you're not able to do while running errands and handling chores, you can determine what areas of your life you'd like to take more control and begin living the life you want.

Tracey Crockett is the Chief Lifestyle Manager of Chores, Errands 'N More, a full-service lifestyle management and errand / concierge company located in Upstate South Carolina. The company was founded with the objective of enhancing the quality of life for its customers by offering an extensive list of services and service packages - and thus providing its clientele with the opportunity to enjoy life without its day-to-day complications. More information can be found at www.choreserrandsnmore.com, or by calling 888-509-5533.

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