How to simplify life?

[Marax]

Fire away any suggestions/tips/tricks/hacks you have that either simplify your life, increase productivity or just make things a little bit easier and in all areas.

Thanks!

Following with interest.

DH and I are both in demanding jobs with two young kids and no family nearby. Life generally works but we have to be organized to within an inch of our lives. It’s very boring tbh.

Watching with interest - I'd like some too!

I clean the washbasin whilst I'm brushing my teeth...small wins.

I also peg socks on the line in pairs and fold them as I take them off - which I think I got from a similar thread to this years ago.

Don't iron on a regular basis, only things that need it if we're going out. One load of washing a day keeps on top of the laundry and lower your standards

I stopped ironing a long time ago 😂

Pack bags the night before.
Multitask where possible, empty dishwasher while you boil the kettle, fold clothes while kids in the bath.

Calendar reminders for everything.

I don't think I ever started

Clean regularly in small bursts. I do half an hour every morning before work. If you are standing waiting for the kettle to boil wipe the surfaces etc.

Order non perishables in bulk if you can eg 6 months supply of dishwasher tablets,etc, toothpaste, toilet paper, tissues

This is a contradiction but get rid excess that is not useful and think about what you need then investing in that. For example I don't need a million candles I don't like just the ones I do. However a phone charger upstairs and downstairs has made a huge difference.

we have phone chargers around the house, one in each car and at work.

i bulk buy laundry detergent, washing up liquid, rice, pasta and other long life products. doesn't save much money, but it's one less thing i have to worry about buying on a regular basis.

i have a stash of generic greetings cards for various occasions eg class birthday parties (trying to stop sending them for environmental reasons). Also have a few generic gifts for emergencies.

more difficult now they are older, but i used to buy my children a few items of clothing in the next size up (underwear, socks, t-shirts, nightwear) in the sales. not only saves a bit of money, but stopped me getting caught short when they had a growth spurt (was a life saver during lockdown).

Get up at 5am and work out. It's been the single most life altering change I've made and has led to a cascade of other positives.

Obviously doesn't work so well if you have tiny, non-sleeping kids/start work at 6am/already a fitness instructor etc, but I've claimed this time as my own.

I get up and workout, on rest days I get up and read, or do yoga.

During a down time from working out, I did meal planning and precooked a load of meals.

I never ironed, and all our laundry lives in baskets until such time that the baskets need emptying for the next round of clean laundry and that's not a fight I'm bothered to battle!

DH and I have a shared shopping list (think the app is called AnyList). We can both add stuff so whoever is at the shop can see what we need.

i write a To do list for each day of the coming week on a Sunday afternoon. I do it as a draft email actually. Helps me see what is coming up that week. Then every night I check the list for the following day, add anything that’s come up, etc. otherwise stuff gets forgotten.

i generally try to deal with things straight away. For example, if school asks for two pounds in an envelope, I do it when I read the email.

If you have very young children lay clothes out for next day when they go to bed. I also lay mine out the night before if in work.

Meal plan.

Lower your standards with the house but get rid of clutter and tidy up as you go along.

Have a family calendar in the kitchen and also make use of calendar on phone.

Deal with admin tasks as they come in or set a reminder on calendar don’t put off or you are likely to forget.

Book holidays and kennels well in advance if you have a dog. Schedule some fun things to look forward to but also don’t over commit and schedule some quiet weekends un too.

Have plenty of phone chargers, pens, batteries, loo roll, toothpaste, soap, washing up liquid, pasta, rice, blank generic cards, stamps, generic wrapping paper etc in the house.

If your over 45 have readily available tweezers in every room and or in hand bag if you know you know.

Do less and enjoy days or even full weekends with no plans. Just relax at home, go for a walk or have a movie night. Limit big days out, entertaining, visiting family and friends. Don’t feel bad about it - it’s your time. Relax fully and embrace doing nothing.

Regular online shop delivery, makes a huge difference. Now dc are older they have own laundry baskets so do a load per person so no sorting through whose socks and pants belong to who. If someone is coming to visit but you have no time to dust, who does, just spray polish like air freshener and it smells super clean!!!

Don't have clutter of any kind - clothes, Tupperware, random magazines etc - it makes it so much easier when you want to find the things you want

Meal plan - less waste and after a long day, not needing to think about what to cook is great.

Batch cook and even if not specifically a batch cook sesh, just cook twice what you need and freeze it

Don't make a big deal of decluttering - do it a shelf or a drawer at a time in bits of spare time rather than it being another rod to beat yourself with. Go for low hanging fruit first.

If you can afford enough school uniform to last all week then big wash on a Saturday. I also keep school uniform downstairs so I can just pull it on into the sofa and say "get dressed". I also brought a tag for the remote so it makes a noise if it's lost.

Buy socks in bulk - all the same, so no pairing needed. Different sock sizes - buy different for everyone - plain black for one person, grey for another or whatever, but all of those black socks are the same, all grey the same etc.

Bulk buy stuff you won't use faster if you can store it. Check prices, but often Amazon Subscribe and Save can be competitive. Supermarket delivery every few days rather than once a week. I end up spending less that way.

Biggest simplifier - declutter and get rid of stuff. Fewer clothes in the wardrobe, just a few cleaning products, bare minimum of cosmetics and toiletries all make life easier.

Lower your standards and outsource anything you can afford.
get deliveries for everything you can.
start a no gifts policy for Christmas with everyone apart from close family
give stuff to charity shop rather than trying to sell it if you can afford to.

Don’t let yourself get too busy. Schedule in time for weekends doing absolutely nothing. Cut down on after school clubs.

Do small tasks whenever you go to kitchen/ bathroom etc
Perhaps wipe down worktops or clean sink whilst waiting for kettle to boil
Clean sink after you use the toilet
Basket on stairs to return stray items to bedrooms
Throw junk Mail/ envelopes away as soon as they are opened( take photo if necessary)
I'm disabled and I find every little helps

Minimalist mindset / gradual de-clutter. Owning less stuff and truly intentionally choosing and loving what you have means less upkeep, cleaning, sorting, tidying, maintenance and repair… basically, your stuff doesn’t own you. Goes hand in hand with a change of shopping habits (and usually more £ in the bank!)

Embrace the phrase: “Thank you for asking, but no.” The amount of women I see over extended and frazzled due to non-essential commitments they have made out of misguided feelings of fear guilt or obligation is unreal!

Shared google calendar

Shared to do list

Buy in bulk as pp said so you (almost) never run out of things like toothpaste, deodorant, cleaning products. Or use subscribe & save

Online food shopping

Large capacity washing machine if possible - reduces number of loads

Tumble dryer

Laser hair removal

No Christmas presents except for kids pact

(Controversial) Ditch Christmas and birthday cards. Birthday text is fine IMO

Book the next regular dentist/hair/vet appointment when you have the last one - so you don’t need to remember to do it