Simple steps to start a Town Day in your week and five reasons why you should.

Errands that require us to leave the house, and daily shopping tasks can be a time-consuming and money-draining chore. Having a Town Day frees up your week by condensing those tasks to one day.  We can’t avoid shopping whether it’s groceries, new athletic shoes for your child, toilet paper or making sure the car’s gas tank is full. I’m giving five reasons for a Town Day and simple steps to organize yourself for one.  I’ve written a lot about Town Day in Home Management, Plain and Simple, this is the quick read.

Five Reasons for Town Day

1. Town Day brings focus to your weekly errands.  Days fill up, and by holding a Town Day every week you will be deliberate with the necessary stops.
2. Holding a Town Day eases the  mind.  When you have a plan for your tasks and shopping, you don’t need to run out to pick up last minute items. You’ve prepared ahead of time. You’ve managed your time by putting Town Day on the calendar. By planning your day, you know where you’re going to stop and the items on your lists will be crossed off.
3. Your other days change for the better. Because you have Town Day tasks planned and taken care of, you’ve freed up time to focus on the things you like to do on other days.

4. Financial decisions improve because you’ve planned your stops and corresponding lists.  When you make your menu plan, grocery lists, and other shopping lists ahead of time, you end up saving money. By being prepared and shopping on one specific day, you don’t struggle with the urge or opportunity to make impulse buys.

5. You save time, in both your week and on Town Day.  When you’ve thought about your activities and plan them, you are able live more mindfully. You are able to gain time and be more productive with it.

Simple Steps to Start

• Each week, set aside a certain amount of time to make your shopping lists and plan other needed errands. Look at your family’s calendar and choose a day and time that makes sense for your family to hold Town Day.  We’re all unique in ourselves and our families, and different seasons of life call for different ways of doing a Town Day. For example, I hold Town Day on the morning that my children are at homeschool coop. This works for me most of the time.
• Have fun with Town Day by planning something enjoyable in the day! Perhaps it’s just you, so you grab a coffee or treat. On a day you have energetic children along, maybe you stop to play at the park.
• Ideas for Town Day: schedule medical and dental appointments for this day, do your big box store shopping, get groceries for the week, fill the car with gas, clean the car. Perhaps it even works for your family to do these on a day when you’re out for lessons, sports practice, or homeschool coop.
• Organize your day and your route.  Think about how much time each stop will take, plan when to start, where to start, and put your route in an order that makes the most sense for your day.
• When you get home, put your items away immediately and then have a rest time.

Town Day can bring your week from good to great! Every week that you deliberately plan a Town Day, the more organized you will get about it. With practice, this process will get faster and you will find more free time popping up in your week.  Choose one day for errands because it streamlines your life. You can do this!

Get a Checklist for Town Day in the Free Resource Library.