5 strategies to run errands more quickly

Between grocery shopping, picking clothes at the dry-cleaner, and dropping off children, you can easily end up spending half of your free time running errands. Follow the advice below to gain time and reduce stress associated with running errands.

• Any time you're stuck in a line, shift the negative, glass-half-empty thinking ("I don't have time for this") into positive, glass-half-full thinking ("Ahhh! A few minutes of peace").
• Close your eyes (yes, while you're standing there in line) and picture yourself in the most peaceful place you can imagine.
• It could be a desert at sunrise, the vast ocean (and you in a lone canoe) or the middle of a massage in a luxurious spa.
• Let your mind go and take several long, deep breaths. Now how do you feel?

• Most weeks, you're buying the same things anyway; having a master list on your computer makes it easy to add and subtract items.
• Organize the list in the same order as the store you usually use.
• So, for instance, if the produce section is the first area you see, fruit and vegetables should be first on your list. Hit the print button and off you go!

• These days, you can bank online, order office supplies, buy garden perennials, shop for shoes and do your grocery shopping online.
• The Internet, used sensibly, can save you hours of time and immeasurable stress.
• Worried about giving a credit card number over the Internet? If the website uses a secured server, then it is safer than giving your credit card over the phone and, in some cases, using it at a store.

• This includes such things as bills that need to be paid, stationery and envelopes for writing letters (yes, letters!), a variety of greeting cards (birthdays, thank you, "just thinking of you"), pens, an envelope of coupons, your calendar, magazines that you haven't read and a good book.
• Then whenever you're sitting in a waiting room, stuck in traffic, waiting for a child's over-long hockey practice to end, you can also be completing other tasks on your list and/or catching up on your reading.

• That is, rein in your racing mind and focus solely on the task at hand.
• Start by walking slowly and deliberately to and from your car to the stores.
• As you shop, focus on the colours and shapes of the produce and the rich scents from the bakery.
• Notice each step, each movement you make.
• By living mindfully in the moment – even while picking out Brussels sprouts – you are performing what relaxation experts call walking meditation.
• Do errands this way and you'll find yourself far more calm and engaged and, at the end, less exhausted and frustrated.

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