How long does it take you to make a schedule for errands?

[the_tortoise]

Let's say you have to do some errands.

You have to go shopping and go to a bank.

You have already written your shopping list.

You need to go to at least 2 or 3 stores to get everything you need from your shopping list (depending on which stores you go to, which items you are getting at which store to stay within your budget -- since things have different prices at different stores).

You have to take the bus to get around.

None of the stores or the bank are within walking distance of each other or for some reason you can't walk between them (injury, limited mobility, shopping purchases will be too heavy, it is raining lava, zombies, whatever).

Buses run approximately every half hour and the schedules are different for each bus -- they don't all meet up with each other so there is wait time if you have to transfer from one bus to another. For at least one leg of your journey you will have to take two buses.

How long do you think it would take you to plan such schedule, on average? (Including creating/configuring any visual aids or alarms you require to remember and follow it.)

 

[BraidedPony]

I couldn’t plan something that complicated. I’m smart enough, but the sequencing with the bus schedule is too much.
For me I would have to take into account how har I would have to carry packages, safety issues with coming and going from the bank, and just being out in public for so long would make it hard to think straight planning such a horrible day.
I just wouldn’t be able to plan and follow through with this.

 

[Progster]

Wow... ages, as I'd have to look up the bus routes and schedules, and also plan which bus to take and when... I don't think I'd bother, I'd order online or get everything from the supermarket rather than go to 3 different stores. My errands are never this complicated, but if I have to go to a new shop in a new location, involving a new bus route or means of transport, it would cause anxiety and I don't know if I would do it.

 

[TheFreeCat]

This is a very good question. I may have to make a post about it because I think I am on the far, far end.

 

[Loren]

I ticked 1 to 1.5 hours, only due to the fact that scheduling/ planning is one of my stronger points. I, initially, checked 30 minutes or less, but, that was before I read your post. The bus scheduling would definitely take more time to research/sort out and work into the schedule.

 

[Pats]

I usually can't get myself to go to more than 2 places in one outing. I'll have 3 or 4 on my list, but end up going home after the first or second because that would be all I could handle.
The biggest planning thing I've ever done was an 18 day vacation for my sister and I flying to Salt Lake City. I had our routes, what time we had to leave by and how much time it would take to get from this place to that place, neat places we would stop for lunch, motel reservations where at each night, any tour - like one of my bucket list things was to go through Antelope Canyon and you had to book a tour for that. Some places I wanted to go but when I checked into it, we couldn't (lottery hiking only). But I worked on details of that trip for almost a month. I also used google map to check scenery to decide which would be the most scenic route.
Then this past summer I played tour guide for my son and his family on day 4-7 from Beartooth Pass over to Yellowstone/West Yellowstone, Mt and down to Jackson past the Tetons. I had a note book with information needed on everything and as he was driving I would say after you leave the park, look for this intersection and drive down this road that will put you closer to the Tetons than the main road and which pull offs to get the best photos. I also had information in my notebook on what to do if you encounter a bear and if the bear does this or if it does that. A particular yarn shop we had to stop at because my daughter wanted some bison yarn. I really put a lot of time and detail when I do plan.

 

[Judge]

Seconds- or very few minutes involved as a rule. But then I have no perceived issues with executive functioning. With grocery/shopping lists I actually look into my cupboards, refrigerator and medicine cabinet to visually identify what I'm running out of.

But yes, I do tend to write them down and keep them in my pocket as a sort of "fail-safe" device.

I should probably add that memory concerns are in fact an aspect of executive functioning. But only one of many. And at my age, short term memory isn't as good as it used to be.

To me the important thing is to write it down. And stay organized, no matter how long it takes to make such a list.

 

[Tanyax]

I agree with pats. I can only do 2 shops at a time. I had to do 3 yesterday as it’s my daughters birthday tomorrow so I had no choice. I put it off for days. I hated every second. Did it as quick as I could and then could not wait to get home. I avoid shops, people, leaving the house wherever possible.

 

[Mia]

Wouldn't do it all in one day. One day bank. Next day one shop, then another shop the following day. It's the way I did it when I lived in the city. Did large item shopping by bus, which ran every half hour. Or I walked, few things were close. The bank was a twenty minute walk, and I did that in combination with a dog walk.

Used a backpack if it was fruit and vegetables which I bought every two to four days, milk and other heavy items went into a two wheel shopping cart which I used.
Much of the shopping I did was on the return trip from work.

It would all depend on the area you live in. Where I lived there were small fruit & vegetable stores, bakeries, a health food cooperative, that you could shop in from the street. Locally there were two large supermarkets for other items.

 

[Judge]

It would all depend on the area you live in. Where I lived there were small fruit & vegetable stores, bakeries, that you could shop from the street. Locally there were two large supermarkets for other items.

Good points. Reminds me that I'm blessed with organized and usually routine shopping that literally goes down about four miles involving only two roads in the same direction.

 

[sidd851]

Luckily, google maps is aware of my
local bus schedules, and can even coordinate between the two local bus lines(overlapping service areas).
With a little foresight, and a guess as to how long each stop might take, I can guess when I'll probably get home, but,
I'm not particularly fond of trying to keep to a schedule, when shopping and running
errands. I plan for it to take a good deal longer than if I were trying to make it go as quickly as possible. I will order my stops, so as to make the heaviest stops last, as I am able. I will not, however, create undue stress
over my return time.

I feel that when I'm running errands, it's my time: I won't (normally) be rushed or prodded.
If I feel like stopping in the park, a local coffee shop, or even at the confluence of the Monongahela and Allegheny Rivers, to enjoy the scenery, the fresh air, the sun, or one of my favorite pastimes, people-watching, I do.
This is my time. I'll do these things at my pace and leisure.

I realize that this may not be possible for some with busy, even hectic schedules,
but even planning to use an entire saturday
to complete your errands can be a relaxing escape--- Your errands are there for you,
You are not there to slave to your errands.

May you be well.

sidd

 

[Fino]

I'd die.

And I'd think I'd rather walk than take the bus. What happened to my car?

If it's too far to walk, do I really need what I'm going for?

If I do really need the things, can I buy them online?

If I can't buy them online, can someone else do this for me?

If someone else can't do this for me, then I'd just not do it.

And then I'd die.

 

[Sherlock77]

I can't comment on the bus option, I've always owned a car for many years, and rarely take public transit... I will run as many as four or five errands at the same time, having a car helps, a lot!

I will just look at each different stop I need to make, and plot out what I think is the most efficient route, and I'm very knowledgeable with the roads where I live, then I take a wild guess on how long it might take, because anything can happen along the way.

I've said it before to people, what I can accomplish in two or three hours, I can't imagine taking the bus for all those errands, it might take me most of the day... Although maybe if I was a regular bus user I would learn time shortcuts...

 

[TempeFan]

O Other- Days/week If I have to include a bus a lot more, as the closest bus stop is at least 30 miles away.

The nearest Walmart is a 70 mile out of state road trip, so for an emergency gallon of milk or a cup of some ingredient or a box of Ding Dongs, I just slip into my onesie and a pair of sneakers and take the 10 minute stroll to the local Dollar General. I can leave and get back with my item in 30 minutes to an hour and 30 minutes, depending on who's cashiering that day.

Whenever we go to town for groceries and errands, it's an all day excursion, for which we pack a cooler with lots if ice to keep the ice cream and frozen peas cold on the drive home. To get all the monthly groceries requires 4 stores: Martins, Aldis, Walmart(at the mall), and Sav-A-Lot. I plan for it constantly by writing everything I need to do and get on little scraps of recycled paper called lists. Then on the day, we pick a direction and while my hubby chauffers, I consolidate all the lists into one big list and tell him where to go.

 

[Pats]

I agree with pats. I can only do 2 shops at a time. I had to do 3 yesterday as it’s my daughters birthday tomorrow so I had no choice. I put it off for days. I hated every second. Did it as quick as I could and then could not wait to get home. I avoid shops, people, leaving the house wherever possible.

I postpone having to go out as long as I can, too. "Still got bread, I can get through another day." "One more day." "out of cigarettes, I gotta go." lol
And have you ever ridden out with someone who runs to this store over there, then cross town to that one, then back to the other side of town for something else? Drives me crazy. Actually, when I run out to Walmart with my daughter in law - we'll be close to the pet section and she'll say, "Oh, I'll come back for the dog food." I'm like, "No, get it while we're over here." No wonder it takes her 2 hours to pick up groceries. LOL
(Oh - not talking behind my daughter in law's back - we talk about her doing these things and joke about it. and she knows it drives me crazy. )

 

[the_tortoise]

I wish I could just order online or get everything at one store. I can't afford to, though, and there are practical problems with mail delivery for me so ordering something online means going out to get it somewhere else anyways. (I'm also kind of picky about food and have some dietary restrictions -- for getting everything at one store.)

Thanks for all your responses! I'm sort of glad it's not just me that finds something like this to be a horrendous, and at times impossible, task. I watch my family plan things out and it seems like they do it easily and so fast, and people have expressed surprise at how long it takes me to do things. I get very discouraged and it's good to know others understand.

It would take me a minimum of about 3-4 hours to plan the kind of schedule I proposed. Last time I made a schedule like this it took me all day. Often I can't do it and I end up breaking it down into multiple trips, but not always. ....

Sometimes planning and making the multiple trips is just as hard, albeit in other ways.

If I make multiple trips I have to factor in more things because there are more days to consider (and getting into or out of weekends the bus schedules all change and so do a lot of store hours and I don't always remember that until I'm wondering why I've been waiting for the bus for so long that it occurs to me that maybe it's not coming at all, or standing outside of a store that's closed);

Plus, I have to contend with more sensory overload (more time spent out in the sensory onslaught, or it just feels like more time because it's dragged out over multiple days - something horrible for me to anticipate over a longer period of time instead of getting it over with all at once) and with the immense difficulty and stress involved in planning and executing all the other steps of going out over and over instead of just once (knowing I get a break afterwards)....making lots of trips over a period of days can lead to bad meltdowns if I push through and manage it ...things just pile up or don't get done if don't manage it....and exhaustion and despair happen with the multiple-trips scenario whether I mange it or not....

....So I try to cram as much into one outing as I possibly can.