Alex:  One thing I really miss about Wisconsin is how easy it was to run errands. I could get a lot accomplished in one day. Or should I say one hour! Out here in LA running errands takes an entire day. Hey that rhymed, sorta. Anyway, yesterday I had a few things I needed from CVS, a check to deposit and my tank was on E. You know how long that took me? 3 hours! Yes, you read that correctly 3 hours. 3 hours to get make-up remover, Q-tips and nail polish remover. 3 hours to deposit a stinkin’ check. 3 hours to freaking fill up my gas tank!! The majority of that time I was in my car. Getting anywhere in this city takes more time than I anticipated. It’s annoying and I always think I can get it done in an hour but I’m learning the hard way that I’m wrong. Have any secrets? What are the best hours to drive to avoid traffic? Or should I just burn a new cd and get comfy being in my car?
Nik:  Get comfy in your car. Podcasts and audio books are great. I also suggest that you plan your errands according to location. For example, I play tennis Saturday mornings and so I plan a ‘loop’ of errands post-tennis. I pick up my mail, get gas, stop at bank and go the market. I literally map out my errands geographically and order them so I’m doing zero backtracking. I also try to group any appointments. If I have two appointments in the same area, I’ll schedule them on the same day and give myself an hour for the appointment and thirty minutes in between–if I’m early, I’ll grab coffee or something. Oh and when I’m working I always have to take the first appointment of the day. That way you don’t wait. I know it sounds annoying and like a lot of work, but if you get in the habit of running your errands in a very methodical manner, you’ll save tons of time.