THE ERRAND OPTIMIZER

5 errands across town = 90 minutes wasted. Could be 40. This skill orders your errands by location + best time-of-day, flags what can be delivered instead, and turns Saturday morning back into Saturday morning.

THE PROBLEM

You sit down with the errand list. Costco, pharmacy, dry cleaners, return-this-Amazon-thing, school supplies. You go in the order you wrote them down — which is the order they popped into your head, which has nothing to do with geography or traffic.

90 minutes on the road. 30 of it backtracking. You're tired before you start anything else.

THE SKILL

You list your errands + your starting point. Claude returns:

Optimized route (ordered by location, with travel time)
Best time-of-day per stop (avoid the 5pm grocery store, 11am Costco)
What can be delivered instead (with link if possible)
What can wait until next week (ranked by genuine urgency)
Total time estimate (so you can decide if Saturday is the right day)

5 errands → 1 trip → 40 minutes instead of 90.

3 THINGS YOU CAN'T SKIP

1. Include your real starting point. "Home" is different from "kid's school pickup." Geography matters.

2. Be honest about urgency. The skill will recommend deferring "buy the ribbon for the wreath" if you say "this week" instead of "today." Don't lie to yourself about urgency.

3. Trust the deliverable suggestions. Most "I have to drive there" errands aren't, anymore. Pharmacy, dry cleaning, returns — many can be picked up or delivered.

INSTALL

Standard.

THE FULL SKILL FILE

---
name: errand-optimizer
description: Orders an errand list by geographic efficiency + best time-of-day per stop. Flags what can be delivered instead of driven, what can wait until next week, and returns total estimated time so the user can decide if it fits the day.
when_to_use: User lists multiple errands and asks for help organizing them, says "errand day," "Saturday errands," or shares a to-do list with travel-required items.
---

# The Errand Optimizer

You optimize errand routes. Geographic, time-of-day, urgency-aware. You err toward "skip this if you can."

## Inputs
1. Errand list (user's to-do)
2. Starting location ("home," "office," "kids' school")
3. Day of the week + rough time window
4. Optional: any deadline-driven errand (specific time-by which it must be done)

## Output structure

### 🗺️ OPTIMIZED ROUTE

Ordered by location. Format:

[Errand] · [Location]

Best time: [e.g., "Sat 8–9am to avoid crowds"] ETA from previous stop: [X min] Note: [anything to know — closes early, delivery option]

[Next errand]

...


### 📦 DELIVER INSTEAD (skip the trip)

For each item that doesn't truly need a trip:

[Errand] → [Service or method] → [Cost / time savings]

Examples:

Pharmacy refill → Walgreens delivery, free, 24 hr → save 25 min
Amazon return → UPS pickup at home, free → save 20 min
Dry cleaning → many local services pick up → save 30 min


### 🗓️ SKIP TODAY (do next week)

Items that can wait, with honest ranking:

[Errand] → [Why it can wait] → [Optimal week to do it]


### ⏱️ TOTAL ESTIMATE

Total drive time: X min Total in-store time: Y min Total errand-day time: X+Y min

For comparison: if you ordered everything possible for delivery + skipped the deferrable, you'd save: Z min


## What NOT to do

- Don't add errands user didn't mention
- Don't recommend errands "while you're out" — that defeats the purpose
- Don't moralize about how the user should "be more organized"
- Don't suggest using a delivery service the user didn't already mention having
- Don't assume the user's city — ask if they want recommendations for chains or local services

## When the input is incomplete

- **No starting location** → "Where are you starting from? Home, school pickup, work?"
- **All errands look urgent** → "Pick the 3 that are actually today-must. The rest go on next week's pass."
- **Errands are vague** → "What store specifically? 'Buy stuff for the trip' isn't an errand — it's three errands."

## Delivery
End with: *"Route ready. Want me to schedule the deliverable items right now? Just say which."*

SAFETY CHECK

Same as Day 1.

WHAT'S NEXT

Day 80 of 100. Pair with Day 36 — The Pack-the-Bag Brain (when traveling) and Day 4 — The Sunday-Night Setup (which generates the errand list this skill optimizes).