I don't know about you but I spend a lot of time in my car.  I am traveling to and from client consultations, client sessions, networking events, shopping trips for organizing product for my clients, donation drop offs and Clever Container parties for my hostesses.  That's just the time I spend in the car for business.  I also run errands, attend social events, visit with friends, etc.  

I know how important it is to manage your time when you are planning trips and one tip I quickly learned was how to plan out the amount of time I need to get to a new location for the first time.  If we have never been there before, how do we know how long it is going to take?  I have the solution!

My key to success to insure that I will be on time is to go onto Map Quest.  (You can also use Google Maps.) Get directions from your home (or wherever your starting point is) to the location you need to be and determine how many miles the trip is in length.  THEN, double that number and it will give you a good idea as to how long it will take you.

For example,  if I am visiting a client for the first time and I know that her home is 14 miles away from mine, I double that number and I know it will take approximately 28 minutes (give or take a few minutes) to get there. 

Trust me, this works.  I have been using this method for more than seven years; from the time I first started my professional organizing business in 2004 to figure out how much time I should allow to get to my appointments.  Now I use this method for all trips to places I have not been to before.  Keep in mind you might get there just a few minutes early some times depending on traffic but you will not have to worry about being late.  You can always cushion it with an extra five minutes if you will be involved in rush hour traffic, but again, this system works well for me.  I love it because I have found that my GPS is very inaccurate with judging arrival times because it does not take into account traffic delays.  My system does!

We can all use tips to help us with time management and I particularly love this one.  Give it a try and let me know how you make out.

In the meantime, have a great week!