I'm struggling with juggling multiple assignments, meeting deadlines and writing narratives, all while also continuing to schedule assignments, rescheduling current projects if necessary.... To make ends meet I need to do several shops in one day, one or more days a week, and that entails driving to nearby locations. I'm exhausted by the time I arrive home. Then, the kids take my full attention, but I still need to complete reports. And, it's slow going with writing narratives. Then it seems the evenings when I really need to work one of the kids will decide they really need mom. I'm a single parent, and the kids have special needs, so I can't just tell them to do whatever they need themselves. Any suggestions for ways to be more efficient and productive? I stash instructions in my purse and review in the restroom stall. I take photos of instruction pages and refer to those when I shop; it looks like I'm texting. I hold up the iPad as though I'm looking at something and I laugh, but I'm really taking a photo. I post the photos to a shared folder then access them on my desktop when doing reports. I have started taking "accidental photos" of the ground to help me with timings, such as entering or exiting a location. I use GeoVerify.

One thing I have been doing if I can do this discreetly is starting the shop from my phone by going to the shop page right after I leave the place (sometimes I will get in my car and drive around the corner or a couple blocks and park again if this is feasible). I upload required photos right then and there and start my narrative by either typing or doing voice recognition in my phone. Then when I get home to do the report on my computer, it's already started for me and it's just a matter of editing and filling out the survey parts.

For timings, there is an app called Mystery Shopwatch that is very helpful. It has a feature where you can add timings by pressing the volume key, so you can keep the phone in your pocket. The trick then is to remember which timings were which but I've been using an app that came with my phone called QuickMemo to screen shot and write on the screenshot which timing was which.

Also make note of which companies want you to do the reports same day and which give you 24 hours. Do the 24 hours ones last, don't schedule yourself anything the next day, and then you have some wiggle room to finish in the morning.

These ideas are general and not specific to mystery shopping.

The feasability of this idea depends upon availability of other parents in your world... Sometimes, can you swap kid-watching duties? You can watch your and other kids while other parents do whatever they do. Later, those parents can watch your kids while you shop and do reports (even though you will have to call your shop work tasks by other names).

The usefulness of this idea depends on your kids and your community... Is there a Parents' Day Out program near you? These kinds of programs allow parents to have occasional, short-term child sitting services at low or no cost. You might use this service to gain time for shops, reports, etc.

Can you negotiate for bonuses so that fewer shops yield similar income? This change could free up some time for you.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/23/2016 02:15PM by Shop-et-al.

What has helped me is to focus more on shops that can be reported the next day. I will do as many of those shops as I can on one day, and then stay at home the next day to do the reports. I know this may not be possible for everyone.

Another thing that is a HUGE time saver for me is to create a cheat sheet for every type of shop. When I read shop guidelines for the first time, I open up a Word document and list all of the things I need to remember. I save the cheat sheet and can print it out to take with me, but usually the physical and mental process of creating the cheat sheet causes me to remember almost everything. When I get another of the same type of shop down the road, I can just scan the guidelines for changes, edit my cheat sheet as needed, and then re-use the cheat sheet for the shop.

Since you did not mention this, narratives should be saved. I prefer Word, or a free equivalent. Always use 'Save As' to start a new one. Use the file name to keep track, set up folders. The file name would be a combination of the client, location, type of shop and date; Client Anytown Dinein 012316, Client Anothertown Audit 012216, etc...

The first narrative for every shop type takes the longest. As for comprehensive chronological narratives, even doing all this they can still take as long to put together as the shop. My first ones took 2x as long, as half the time is great.

For long chronological narratives, sometimes just referencing a previous submission helps make a new one go smoother.

Your absolute best bet is to set yourself a schedule. You have a bunch of obligations other than shopping so relax, schedule everything in its place and try not to do A when you 'should' be doing B. Your schedule will need to change because of the nature of having family, so A and B may need to 'switch spots' but trying to do both at the same time will not benefit either.

Morning coffee is emails and checking my most productive job boards. It is also the time to schedule the day--late home? Throw something in the crock pot or plan an 'instant' dinner of spaghetti, meatballs out of the freezer and bottled sauce doctored up or a Hamburger Helper or equivalent. Home at a reasonable time? Plan a cooked dinner and report writing while it cooks with a timer to remind me when I need to go do the next step. I write a schedule because there are a number of things that can overlap. A number of 'cleaning' things are quicker and easier if you give them time to let cleaners work so you are left with little more than final wipe.

My shop sheet has personal things scheduled as well as shops, so I'm headed out later, I can call the pharmacy to have prescriptions ready to pick up when I arrive. The grocery has an excellent come on sale and I can stop in and grab those items while I am out. I use a DVR to make my notes of shops so that I can comfortably go from shop to shop to shop to personal errand to personal errand to home and then deal with the shops with the DVR to remind me of names, descriptions, timings, etc. that I didn't need to remember or distract me all afternoon.

Unless a shop has an unrealistic time constraint, they all get reported after dinner when my significant other settles down in front of the TV. I watch almost no TV any more and find I really don't miss it.

I find time management & creating the perfect schedule to be fun & challenging. I've gotten really good at guessing how long each shop takes & travel time & traffic patterns. It becomes a game to see if I can beat my own times. Luckily I don't have to fit kids into the equation. But men can become whiny babies if you don't schedule enough time for them.

These are all great ideas. Thank you! My kids have complex special needs and only caregivers trained for their specific needs can watch them. I'm also home-schooling due to their needs. Fortunately, I have a good group of caregivers through the state division of developmental disabilities, but no replacement support if caregivers call-out. As I'm creating this week's calendar I'm scheduling time to finish route reports the following morning, as several of you have suggested. I feel less stressed already. The cheat sheet and saving narratives are other great ideas. I'm now saving printed instructions in case I schedule repeat shops or shops in the same project, like bank, post office and cell phone shops. The instructions don't seem to change in the same month. This is saving time (and toner). I'm also now putting a large post-it on the printed instructions with Shop Date, City, Client, Due Date, then anything I must remember, like photos or cash check. This helps me better sort routes. I'm getting faster with experience. I'm making all the mistakes too, but hopefully I won't make the same mistakes over and over. I also am trying to get a photo of each location, even if one isn't required, because it helps me remember details, and helps me make sure I report the right shop for the right client. I switched cell phone shops for 2 clients this week, so neither report was able to be used, even though I had actually shopped the right locations, but reported the wrong locations. I also turned on voice to type on my computer and am using that feature with some narratives, because I can speak faster than I can type. I also have a spreadsheet where I keep track of the basics for each project.

I also just downloaded the Chronos app for iPhone. It keeps track of my locations. It is logging when I'm home, in transit and maps my location when I stop. It times my stops and starts. This is going to be a very helpful tool.

When I do a shop for the first time I use Word to make a one-page, 2 column reporting form that lists all the questions I'll need an answer to and save it in my 'shop report' folder. Each shop I do gets its own sheet of paper. On the front are the details (copied and pasted from the acceptance email). On the back is the reporting form.

After I do the store I jot out the answers to the questions on my form. When shop has been reported I staple business card/other documentation to the sheet and file away. I've not had a company come back for additional information long after the fact, but if it ever happens I have all the detailed information I'd need.

Another thing I find useful is that many companies have a 'window' of a few days during which to do a shop. Even if they want me to specify a date, I know that rescheduling to other dates in the window is usually allowed without penalty. Generally I specify the first date of the window if at all possible and I note the 'range' of the window in case I have a situation where I need to reschedule. I rarely have a need to reschedule, but when one of my critters (I raise goats) comes up lame or births a kid or has some other issue, the critter takes priority to a shop and I will reschedule if needed.