My cute, cozy little Paris apartment had a nasty surprise

I rented a cute, cozy little Paris apartment. 

When I got there, I was horrified.

It looked just like the photos. That wasn't the problem.

The problem was, my cute, cozy little Paris apartment smelled like an ashtray.

The previous tenant must have smoked like a chimney. The minute I walked up the door, cigarette fumes shot up my nose at the speed of smell. They instantly conquered the olfactory centers in my brain. I've walked through seedy off-strip casino-gas stations in Vegas that smelled nicer.

Priority 1 was to get rid of this nasty odor. So I opened all the windows and the front door and left them open for the entire day on Sunday. That helped... a little bit.

But then I had trouble sleeping, because my nose was complaining about all the cigarette smoke. So I woke up groggy and grumpy the next morning.

So I spent 4 hours scrubbing all the floors, walls, windows, and mirrors with vinegar. (Vinegar is really good for getting out cigarette smell, at least according to the internet.) 

That helped. It reduced the cigarette smell by about 70%. (Although it also made my apartment smell like vinegar.)

Then yesterday I took the final step. I sprinkled baking soda all over my couch, my mattress, all the rugs, all the pillows, and everything else that might have absorbed some cigarette smoke.

I woke up this morning and now, the cigarette smell is mostly gone. I can't smell it anymore, even if I actively think about it. (My apartment now actually smells better than the hallway outside!)

I'm still in kind of a hectic period with client work. I have a few big deadlines this week. So I could easily have put this off until later. (My hands smelled like vinegar after 4 hours of scrubbing on Monday, and then I worked until midnight.)

But the problem is, if my apartment smells like an ashtray, that's gonna mess up my sleep, which is gonna mess up my work quality. Plus, it's no fun being groggy and grumpy. So I decided, better to get it done now.

My general philosophy is to solve problems ASAP. I've learned that when you don't solve a problem right away, it just becomes a bigger problem.

Anytime you can put in a bunch of time, money, and effort today to avoid having big problems down the road, you should usually do it.

I do this in my business, too. I'd rather spend a couple extra hours doing customer research today to avoid weeks of split-testing down the road, for example. 

This time management philosophy has probably saved me 1,000+ hours over the past 5 years.

Ask yourself: what problems can you solve right now that will save you tons of time and headache down the road?