maintenance tasksWhen you prioritize maintenance tasks, you can save money, avoid service interruptions and potential catastrophes. Anyone that owns a vehicle of any type or a home, understands that there will be ongoing maintenance tasks of these items, or their parts. Nothing lasts forever.

Typically, we prioritize tasks based on urgency, but when you prioritize maintenance tasks, they may or may not be urgent. It may be that you didn’t keep up with a maintenance schedule which now creates a sense of urgency, and that is what you want to avoid.

Maintenance tasks are an important part of keeping your home and vehicles in good condition. Life comes at us fast and sometimes these tasks take a backseat to other more important things. However, when you schedule everything you need to get done, these tasks won’t get lost in the shuffle.  I encourage you to check out the list below to help prioritize your maintenance tasks.

Things to Consider

  • The type of item – Depending on the item, there may be a maintenance schedule that can be incorporated into your schedule to avoid service interruptions. Your service provider may also provide discounts throughout the year that you can take advantage of.
  • Average life expectancy – Being proactive by servicing or replacing an item that is getting toward the end-of-life expectancy can avoid such things as service interruptions and may save money if replacement can be done during the off-season.
  • Cost of replacement – Off-season pricing typically saves money when replacing an item that has, or is close to end-of-life, if you can wait until that time comes.
  • Skillset, physical ability, or desire to perform the maintenance tasks – If you don’t have the skillset, physical ability, or desire to perform this task, hiring a professional is an option, or may be a necessity.
  • Understanding how long it will take to perform the task – This is important in order to schedule this task. If you’ve never performed this task, allow extra time in case it takes longer than expected.
  • Required tools and replacement parts – You may need to order tools or parts to complete the maintenance tasks, so factor in ample time for the purchase of tools and replacement parts.