How far in advance do you schedule MS tasks?

Here is what I am attempting to do just now. I know exactly the assignments I want to perform in each of the next four months, based on frequency of tasks and my personal interests. In the next few months I should visit the mil, visit a real mall, and get paid to do what I usually do and would do for free if no one were willing to pay me to audit, install, remove, measure, time, count, or otherwise shop these things.

I actually e-mailed a scheduler and proposed a route for myself involving that msc's known shops. Was this a good thing to do? Is there a better way to pursue desired assignments? I need to know before I plan additional routes and ask schedulers if they can fit me in...

How do other people plan and schedule in advance, if such a thing is possible?

Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished. - Lao-Tzu

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I'm planning a route in Georgia and Florida for August. Already have 11 shops lined up.

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Have PV-500 & willing to travel.
"Answers are easy. It's asking the right questions which is hard." (The Fourth Doctor, The Face of Evil, 1977)

"Somedays you're the pigeon, somedays you're the statue.” J. Andrew Taylor

"I have never met a man so ignorant that I couldn't learn something from him." Galileo Galilei

Florida in August? Ick.

@Sybil2 wrote:

Florida in August? Ick.

After dealing with this most hideous of winters in the NorthEast this year, I think I'll take FL in August any day. I lived in Houston for years. I know what the humidity and heat is like. However, I'm not a fan of snow and deep freeze.

I actually did a week of video home shops in the Orlando area a couple of years ago in August...camping...in a tent. It wasn't that bad.

shop-et-al, that's how you do it. Email a scheduler and see what they can do.

When I'm doing a route, i'm usually only booking a week in advance but that's because my personal life is chaotic so it's hard for me to plan any further out than that. I try to get an "anchor" shop or shops -- something that pays enough to cover the gas so at least if I can't get any other shops I'm not out of pocket. Once the anchor is set up, and I know its time constraints, then I apply for shops on the way to make a decent day's work.

Usually I'm working for four to six different companies on a 10 shop route. Oh, and I start out, "I'm trying to set up a route to xxxxxxx, which is 120 miles from me. You've got a couple shops in that area. Could you pay $XX in bonus to justify the trip?" and don't be afraid to get several times your gas needs in total. If one company will pay $40 for the trip, and two more will also, there's nothing wrong with keeping that information to yourself and taking the $120 for a trip that might only cost you $40.

If I have other companies covering the travel cost, I might pick up a shop that helps out a scheduler who doesn't have bonus money. The haircut shops never have bonus money but if i'm going by one anyway and need the haircut I'll pick it up.

Time to build a bigger bridge.

Thank you!

Using information you provided above, I scheduled upcoming assignments wisely, well, and in a new/better way.

Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished. - Lao-Tzu

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/11/2015 08:51PM by Shop-et-al.

I book work as far out as I can, I might not do the actual scheduling of it until the week before. For instance, I could add no new work to my current projects and stay busy until the middle of July. That doesn't mean I have any clue what state I'm gonna be in when.

There are reasons that a body stays in motion
At the moment only demons come to mind

I book out a month in advance, leaving a few days at the end of the month for, hopefully, upcoming bonused shops.

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How far in advance do you schedule MS tasks?

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