Freeing up time thanks to technology

Sometimes people wonder why I rely on technology so much.

There's a great chart that I've seen that says that 65% of the money that companies spend on IT/technology goes to maintenance and 35% goes to new, innovative solutions that help the business prosper.

The same is true at home, I suspect. It's easy to get overwhelmed by the maintenance aspects of life...paying bills, managing your social calendar, answering repetitive questions. What this does is prevent you from doing the things that you really want to do.

My philosophy is different. I'm willing to make a large upfront time investment in say, setting up online bill payment or writing up very detailed directions to my house so that over time, I spend less time doing the maintenance and more time on things I want to do.

When people say, "how do I get to your house?" I don't have to spend anytime explaining anything, I just send the 2 page document with detailed directions and maps, and we're off. Multiply that by many tasks and you start saving considerable time.

But, the upfront investment is key.