Who Has Time For Laundry?
I haven’t done my own laundry since 2014. Not because I can’t do my own laundry though.
If you experiment with my time value calculator you can see a starting estimate of what your personal time is worth. For me, when thinking about opportunities like this around the house, I value my time at $35 per hour…
I started trying other wash-and-fold services. My perception was that the cost of sending the laundry through a separate service was going to be too high. This isn’t necessarily true though.
I haven’t done my own laundry since 2014. Not because I can’t do my own laundry though.
Me, in 6th Grade.
Growing up my mom actually had me doing my own laundry in the 6th grade. Back then I had a habit of leaving things in the pockets of my pants, especially little gum wrappers. My mom used to do the laundry for the household, and this would drive her crazy. She would find the things in my clothes or in the washer afterward and I’d hear her from across the house, “Briaannnn!”.
Photo from Pexels
Sometimes it would ruin my clothes and we’d have to replace them. One day at the beginning of my 6th grade year she’d had enough, “Brian, if you leave something in your pockets one more time, you're going to be doing your own laundry. This is your final warning!” I think you see where this is going. Within a few weeks, it happened again. She calmly walked up to me and said, “Come with me. **walks me to dryer in basement** You see this? **points to balled up gum wrapper in dryer** that’s the last time!” That day she showed me how to use the washer and dryer, and that was it. I started doing all of my own laundry at the age of 11. Have been ever since.
Decades later, as I started my work with Productivity Gladiator, and created my calculator to determine what my time was worth, I realized outsourcing my laundry might be worth it.
Using a service or a person to do my laundry for me might free up valuable time to do some things that were more important to me?
I noticed it took about one and a half hours to do one load of laundry from sorting it beforehand to folding and putting it away afterward. I found that every ten days or so I would be doing two to three loads of laundry. Doing more loads at once saved some time, but you still have to do one after the other if you’re doing it from home. Overall I found, regardless of whether it was in a washer and dryer in my home, or a laundry room, overall it was about 3 hours of my time for 3 loads of laundry.
Photo from Unsplash
If you experiment with my time value calculator you can see a starting estimate of what your personal time is worth. For me, when thinking about opportunities like this around the house, I value my personal time at $35 per hour. That means in my mind I spend $105 of my time on laundry every 10 days. I started to wonder, “Could I find someone or some service who could do it for less? If I did, could I afford to keep that up and make it a regular part of my life? Would they do a good enough job that I would want to keep working with them?” If I’m being honest, while I’m very good at doing laundry, I don't really love to do it. I don’t enjoy it. It's one of those things that I feel like I “have to do” but I don't really “want to do”.
This has been an adventure and a journey.
In 2014, I started experimenting with outsourcing my laundry. At the time, I was using the home cleaning service called Handy. One of the add-on services was for Handy to do your laundry while they worked. I started to experiment with this. I definitely learned that you had to provide some instruction. Here's a template copy of the instruction sheet that I used to provide the cleaning person which included the instructions they were to follow for the laundry. For about 5 years, I used their services. It worked pretty well. The cleaning people would come and go, and whoever did my cleaning was able to follow the instructions and did a good enough job with the laundry. At some point, I felt the quality of the job they did was no longer up to par for me. I’d find the clothes wrinkled, or some of it left undone. These results weren’t “good enough” to continue the service.
Photo from Unsplash
It was during this time that I started trying other wash-and-fold services. Prior to this, my perception was that the cost of sending the laundry through a separate service was going to be too high. I found this isn’t necessarily true. I remember in college many years ago I used the wash-and-fold service at a local laundromat near campus. They were on the way from one of the jobs I worked, and they offered it for $.50/pound. They always did a good job of folding my clothes, things were never wrinkled, and the quality of the work they did was good. I started wondering if there was something like that around me now-a-days. I used Google Maps and Yelp, checked their websites, called different laundromats that were nearby, and I found a few options that could work. The going rate seemed to be $1 per pound these days. During that research, I also looked into services that included delivery and I came across SudShare. SudShare is also $1 per pound, includes free delivery and pickup, and is a one-day turnaround time. This is very comparable to the service I would get at a laundromat, so I decided to give it a try.
(May 2023 Update: Sudshare has been renamed/rebranded to Poplin.)
So how much? How many pounds is it?
For my household, I’ve found it’s about 20 pounds per adult every 10 days. This includes workout clothes, sheets, and towels every 2 weeks, all of it. Right now, it’s about $40 every 10 days and ends up being about $130-$140 in total per month. I tip the people though that’s not required of course.
Photo from Pexels
Wash/Dry Preferences?
In my experience, cold wash with like colors, low temperature dry is best and easiest. It has resulted in excellent longevity for my clothes, even through the hundreds of people that have washed them.
How is the current service?
It’s been six months with SudShare now, and the results have been wonderful! I have been impressed with the quality of the service and especially the folding. I equate Sudshare to the Uber of wash-and-fold service. There are a whole bunch of people out there willing to do laundry which they call “Sudsters”. When you request a service they post the opportunity to see which Sudster wants it. They come and pick it up, wash-and-fold it, and drop it back off the next day. The quality of the folding has been just as good as I remember from the wash-and-fold services I used before, nothing comes back wrinkled. It's comforting to me to use this “Uber-like” model as well. With many different people being available to come and do laundry, this means if someone is on vacation, or too busy, or stops working for SudShare, there are others who will be able to fill in, and I don’t have to coordinate any of that.
Since I've started I've had about ten different Sudsters do my laundry. Of those, only one of them did not complete my laundry in the guaranteed time frame of one day and took 2 days, causing me to not request that Sudster again. The rest of the Sudsters I’ve used have been great and I would use them again. The app allows for this too, you can always keep requesting your favorite Sudsters, and if they’re not available another one can take care of it.
Ultimately, I'm writing this post for two reasons:
I wanted to share the thought that if you're feeling overwhelmed or looking for opportunities to get some of your time back, you could look into wash and fold service for your laundry. You could give a gift card to a parent or friend who is feeling this way too. Do you feel like you don’t get quality time with your partner or family? Do you ever go out to eat on weekends? Perhaps you can try using that money on this service one weekend on a Sunday afternoon, and instead of doing laundry, go on a $0 date instead. You can make some sandwiches and go picnic in the park, go see friends, play games, or do something together. Using a service doesn’t necessarily mean spending more money each month, just changing how you spend it in relation to your time.
Right now I’m happy with the quality of the work I'm getting with SudShare, but I'm also comfortable with the fact that just like many services there might come a day where I might be looking for a new one. I’ve used many over the years. For the 3 hours of my time that I get back every 10 days or so, it is absolutely worth it for me to continue to look for these kinds of solutions. That time allows me to do more of the things that are important to me, and feel more balanced in my life. I do have a limit on how much I would pay for this type of service. This is not something I would always choose to use if it didn’t make sense, but right now, with the price and experience I’m getting, I'm extremely happy with this decision and the solution that I have. If you’ve never considered this, I hope you’ll look into it!
Other hot tips from others I’ve heard since writing this:
Never, ever, take anything wet for wash-and-fold service! -Kim C-
Note: I looked into this, good tip to pay attention too! SudShare weighs your laundry after it’s all been dried and folded, each service is different!
2 Bits of Helpful Info About SudShare Specifically:
To check if SudShare services your area, you can type in your zipcode here.
$10 Credit - I have no affiliation or relationship to SudShare, and ultimately write this to inform you. However, they have a referral program, so if you would like to give them a try you can use this link and earn a $10 credit towards your first laundry service.
https://referral.sudshare.com/px1d
I’m Brian. At age 4, I was diagnosed with insulin dependent (type 1) diabetes and told that my life was going to be 10-20 years shorter than everyone else. Time is precious. I created Productivity Gladiator because I saw what a difference it made to share small and specific actions you can take right now, right away, to achieve better work life balance, be more productive, and live your best life right now, today, not wait until retirement. I want you to start doing the things you WANT to do, not get stuck only chasing what you NEED to do. If any of this resonates with you, I hope you’ll subscribe, and if you’re so inclined, send me a note. It brings me joy sharing Productivity Gladiator with you.
Addiction to Social Media & Free Hacks To Fix It
“Wait, I just spent 45 minutes on Facebook? Instragram?”
For many, social media has become a habit, and the longer they stick with that habit, the harder it is to break. For some, it becomes an unhealthy addiction or an unfortunate obsession. Are you a constant social media checker? In your leisure time at home? At work? On school breaks? While in line at the grocery store? While eating? While in the bathroom?
So what can you do? Here’s life hacks to get you started!
SOCIAL MEDIA ADDICTION SERIES: PART 2
“Wait, I just spent 45 minutes on Facebook? Instragram?”
In Part 1 of this series, we talked about just about smart phones, now in this Part 2 and Part 3, let’s look at the issue overall across all your devices.
For many, social media has become a habit, and the longer they stick with that habit, the harder it is to break. For some, it becomes an unhealthy addiction or an unfortunate obsession. Are you a constant social media checker? In your leisure time at home? At work? On school breaks? While in line at the grocery store? While eating? While in the bathroom?
Found at Digital Information World
Statistics from GWI in a report by the Digital Information World show that internet users are now spending an average of 2 hours and 22 minutes daily on messaging platforms and social networking applications. In a year, that’s a total of 863 hours!
Expand over a decade and that means the average person spent 8,630 hours on it during that time. If there’s 8,760 hours in a year, that means…
That’s one FULL YEAR spent on social media out of your last 10 years?!
Let’s assign some value to that time. Did you use the calculator in our earlier post and calculate how much your personal time is worth? If it’s $10/hr that means you spent $86,630 worth of your personal time on social media?
If you value your personal time at $25/hr, that’s $215,750 worth of your time you spend on social media over the last 10 years?!
That doesn’t even count the “opportunity cost” of the life experiences you missed out on during those hours. The best memories of the last decade likely haven’t involved the times you were on social media! How many real conversations could you have had with this time? How many games could you have played with your kids? How many dates could you have been on? How many romantic moments could you have had? Happy hours? Family movie nights? How much money could you have made if you picked up a side hustle instead?
Now this isn’t saying you should quit social media all together, though I support and admire those who do, and they often seem happier not to be on it! I’ve heard so many people in my workshops talk about how much they need it. “But I have to use it.” I hear you! For some it’s work. For others it’s family. For some it’s for a specific project. Social media is helpful and advantageous in many ways, but the time you consume for it is the problem, and it’s not too late to find solutions to that.
So what can you do? Here’s life hacks to get you started!
Productivity Gladiator is all about action. Here’s specific actions you can take right now to help get it under control. Start with one of these, then do another, then another, find the solutions that work for you, where you feel like you’re back in control. I recommend trying all of these below. Start at the top and try that one for a week, then try the next one. Once you’ve tried them all, you should have a combination of one or more that gets you to a better place where you feel in control. These are behavioral hacks you can change now, now costs or apps needed. In the next post we’ll share other apps and software to add another layer to your management of this time suck.
Turn off all of the notifications on all your devices.
Yep, your phone, your computer, your watch, your tablet, ALL OF THEM. This loosens social media’s constant nagging, “check me!” Now you’re back in control, it’s up to you when you check it, and won’t bother you when you don’t.Uninstall the social media apps from your phone.
This way you must use the browser to access social media. The experience isn’t as good on the mobile browser, so it’s not as easy to lose track of time, it helps make you slightly more aware of the time you’re spending.Sign out of your account every time you’re done,
Now you always have to sign in to access the social media sites. It’s the extra moment which makes you think about what you’re going to do.Use an “incognito” or “private” browser window, on both your phone and on your desktop. Most people aren’t good at remembering to log out each time, and this way the computer won’t remember you’re logged in, and you’ll have to go through the act of logging in each time, which will make you pause and think about what you’re doing.
Change your password to something AWFUL.
This way each time you’re logging on, you’ll have to think and type that phrase, such as “IMworthlessONsocials” or “1kittenisdyingbecauseofme!” or “IMbetterTHANthisUGH” or much worse! BE AGGRESSIVE! BE MEAN! YOU NEED TO THE REMINDER!Use an actual alarm clock instead of your phone.
In the morning, laying in bed. That’s the biggest time many of us fall into social media without meaning too. Avoid that completely. Get an alarm clock, maybe even one of the ones with a light that slowly gets brighter! I haven’t tried it, but something like this one could be an option?
Most importantly, if you find you’re unable to take any of the above steps, or it’s not making any difference, it may be time to talk to someone about this, a professional or therapist. There are real problems of addiction and depression that can come from social media. The Anxiety and Depression Association of America delves deeper into this. Please read, be self-aware, and seek help. It’s important! This is about the life you’re actually living, and you only get one of those, so prioritize that over social media!
Don’t stop here!
SOCIAL MEDIA ADDICTION SERIES: PART 1 - How Many Hours Do You Spend On Social Media?
SOCIAL MEDIA ADDICTION SERIES: PART 2 - Free Hacks To Fix It
(*You’re Reading This One)
SOCIAL MEDIA ADDICTION SERIES: PART 3 - Fix It With Apps And Tech Hacks
Subscribe if you don’t already! Get these nuggets of knowledge in your email so you don’t have to go looking for them!
I’m Brian. At age 4, I was diagnosed with insulin dependent (type 1) diabetes and told that my life was going to be 10-20 years shorter than everyone else. Time is precious. I created Productivity Gladiator because I saw what a difference it made to share small and specific actions you can take right now, right away, to achieve better work life balance, be more productive, and live your best life right now, today, not wait until retirement. I want you to start doing the things you WANT to do, not get stuck only chasing what you NEED to do. If any of this resonates with you, I hope you’ll subscribe, and if you’re so inclined, send me a note. It brings me joy sharing Productivity Gladiator with you.