This is part-time for me, a rural dweller. There are few shops for me in my town and the nearest town. Also, I get up at 1 am for another job. You will not see me doing a large-report dinner shop or bar shop unless they are part of a rare hotel shop because I should be asleep by 5 pm. That never happens, but I still avoid certain shops. Despite little time for this, I can combine shops, audits, and merchandising tasks with personal errands in distant places and earn part-time income. If I want to examine or buy items personally, I must go to distant towns because these things are not available near me. Above all, I enjoy the open spaces between assignments. My approach is almost 100% values-based. Approximately 4% of my decisions are based on the fact that I am in a certain age group that makes me ineligible for a large number of shops that younger shoppers could do multiples of and make the big bucks. A younger and/or more strictly business oriented soul might work this region differently and earn more money. For example, if I were eligible for age compliance shops, I could work for three days and make hundreds if not thousands of dollars from those shops. But I cannot do that. 4% of my choices are related to time. By the time I get to where the fast bank shops are, there is only enough time to do a few of them. Audits? Once, I was a kamakazi and did three in one day-- after working early in the AM and traveling a few hours to the locations. I lived and encourage you to consider this if desperate, have eaten Wheaties for breakfast, or can push hard for a short spurt to help out a scheduler. Two percent of my choices depend upon rotations. There are not multiples of things here, so I wait for my turn unless a scheduler is able to waive the rotation requirement. This is just one story about one busy rural shopper. There are many more ideas to consider!
Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished. - Lao-Tzu