Tell me at one or two small thing you've done to make your life easier

[listsandbudgets]

I've done 2 this year

1. I've unsubscribed / marked as spam from nearly all my mailing lists. Now my inbox is an oasis of calm and I don't spend what feels like hours every week wading through emails I don't want My spam file is brimming over!
2. I found a sharpie and (once I was sure they were the right way round!) labelled my double fitted sheets with side and top - wish I'd done this years ago not having to shuffle them about trying to work out which way up they go

Oh I love this passport one !

Themed pants and socks. Floral for dd, plain for me.
Put things away, not down.

A whiteboard in the hallway so everything gets put on there, a chest of drawers in hallway, one drawer for each person with hats, gloves, keys, purse ect in and child level coat hooks for coats and their umbrellas ect

whenever I cook from scratch I always cook double. Whether it’s a roast, lasagne or a pudding. I either freeze, or reheat in 2 days time

Plan and lay out outfit night before. Including undies and socks .

Stopped sorting and folding tea towels / serveiettes / cleaning rags. Just wash and chuck dried them all in a basket wicker basket. They get so used so quickly that folding was just a waste of time!

Magnetic whiteboard on the fridge to write down any shopping essentials when running low. This has been a game changer for me.

I am trying to do the put things away not down (said to myself in a sharp internal voice) as I'm a naturally lazy and messy bugger, and it's helping. Not 100% there but I'm making progress.

For the same reason doing a 10 minute fast burst of housework before work as it cuts down on my weekend 2 hour blitz nightmare and makes for a much nicer living space.

A friend buys and writes the whole years birthday cards at the start of Jan (including address and stamps if posting) and keeps them in date order in a box. Brilliant idea if you have a lot to give out.

Listening to a couple of chapters of an audio book in bed is helping me wind-down and get to sleep at a sensible time.

Brilliant thread - and lots of inspirational PPs / Op! I got a label machine last year and am gradually reorganising and declutterring. I hated losing things (especially important things) on a daily basis), so labelling the clear storage boxes with a brief list of what is in them works really well for me. A game changer has been having a little picture shelf fitted above the side where the dishwasher / crockery cupboards are… so I am working my way through old box sets on my iPad while doing the dishes and toe laundry in the evening! (It does take longer, but feels much more enjoyable!).

I read on here ages ago a good tip for house tidiness: whenever you go up or downstairs, take something with you. There's always stuff downstairs that belongs upstairs, and vice versa, and it feels manageable doing it a bit at a time.

Oooh this is awesome organising

@specialk9 thanks although I cannot claim credit as I got it from another MNer on a thread similar to this many years ago! It's a great one though x

@Stoufer - I use mine for all the freezer foods with contents, month and year. No more mystery tubs of red or brown. I love the label maker.

Holiday packing app
Once you've created your main list (for a fortnights holiday for example) you just easily create another one and then knock stuff off or change the quantities.
I have a shit load of medical conditions including Type 1 diabetes and it used to make me so stressed that I'd for get something.
I have lots of different lists from festivals city breaks overnight stay hand luggage etc.
once you've done that initial list it's easy to create others.
I don't add clothes until nearer the time as that changes (bar underwear/swimwear)

Setting up a child email address and giving it to the school. I spent so much time hunting through my personal emails to find the one that said what they needed to bring in on X day. Now they are all together it is so much easier.

I have outsourced my brain to trello. Literally.

I have a trello board for work and personal.
Bits and bobs I need for home such as insurance docs etc I photograph, stick on the trello board with a reminder date then put in the safe. I have notes on the kids mobile contracts, xmas lists, photos of present ideas, medical notes, basically everything I need to remember all sat right at my fingertips.
Same for work. Memos, instructions, display examples, meeting notes... boom. All there categorised. Someone mentions something for, say, stocktake best practice, just a little nugget so what works best and in write it in. Coming up to stocktake time I review my notes in that column and I am set up. The way the higher ups like displays? Heres one they liked last year, how can we improve, recreate etc. With this year's stock.
When my manager says tomorrows plan is this, I have a quick key on my phoen screen that opens up a card and I can type as she talks meaning i never forget what to do, where we are at, the bigger picture.
I also have one called my self advocacy board. Set up with all my kpis. Everytime I get feedback in an email, review, text etc I can screenshot and add to the board under the relevant column. I have also screenshot the final review from last year/previous years to see how I have improved on any feedback I was given to work on. Makes the yearly pdr a doddle! This is also good for raise reviews, and those days when you are feeling a bit crap...read it and actually, it's just a bad day, you are really doing a great job, look at all this lovely feedback! :)

Have you taught the rest of the household to do the same? No matter how many times I've said to the rest of the family "If you see toothpast, toilet roll, pile of washing etc on the stairs, take it up with you". No-one does but me. Not even DH. I think they're all happy to live in a messy environment until we have someone coming round, and then DH goes all Kim and Aggy in a mad panic and gets really grumpy.

Bathroom squeegee to quickly swish all the water down the walls of the shower and down the plug at the end of every shower - it stops some of the water marks and really reduces the humidity and damp.

I do this too.

Makes packing a breeze.

I meal plan for the week and have a plastic wallet taped to the inside of a kitchen cupboard with the plan. I batch cook and freeze meals like chili/Lasagna/cottage pie, because I don't want to spend any more than 30-45 minutes on prepping and cooking during the week.

(I need a label maker just because...)

Chopped, frozen veg. Including onions, garlic & ginger.

Shared family calendar on everyone's iphone, with all medical/dental appointments/birthdays/school events/social events on. I put my work calendar on too, visible only to me, so I know that if I have to make a medical appointment in work time it's not going to be on a day when I have something mega important on in work.

I've discovered the tick list function on my Iphone in Notes last year. Game changer for packing suitcases or making a to-do list of things to sort for going on a complicated trip.

I use the TripIt app for holidays when I'm planning it myself. So useful having an itinerary all set up when you're on a road trip.

We use FindMyIphone in my household (and my mum too) to save time instead of texting/calling to check what time they're on the bus so I know what time to have dinner ready for (DH often has a cuppa ready for me when I walk through the door , whether they got to school in the snow ok, got to appointment on train strike day ok, what time they are reaching their stop if journey has been delayed cos I'm picking them up , whether Mum got home safely after driving home in bad weather (she lives alone) etc. I can't understand those people who say it's controlling. None of us have anything to hide and none of us want bothering when we're just going about our business, I'd rather let other people see where I am than have to update them as to my whereabouts and timekeeping.

We've had a lot of dental hospital appointments in the family the past 5 years. So many appointment letters! I have a place on the mantelpiece (in front of the mirror by a candle) where I put all upcoming appointments, or stuff to action eg road tax, and once it's been "actioned" I shove it behind the mirror to file away when I've got time.

I have very little spare time in which I am not knackered in a heap on the couch after work. My biggest tip to myself to make my life easier is not to sweat the small stuff and don't have a Mrs Hinch house. I'm not superhuman.

Mine are mostly shopping related.
If I'm ordering e.g toothpaste I'll order 4 tubes, then won't need to think it about it again for ages, same with all inexpenaive toiletries. If I need to buy pens I'll buy a pack of 20, they soon dissappear but I don't care, I just buy more next time I'm at the cheap shop. The dc have multiple lunch boxes, if one gets left at school it doesn't bugger up my week

For dd's school coloured bobbles I ordered 5 times more than I thought she'd need, they get lost regularly, she'll have worked through them by the time she's finished primary, we're never stressed looking for bobbles.

Online grocery deliveries every 3 or 4 days, I never run out of anything, never need to nip to the shop.

Frozen onions, peppers, chillies and garlic.

Alexa shopping list - as I use something up I just say "add... to my shopping list" then I review the list whilst shopping.
The family can also add what they like and I can decide if they are worthy 😆

Do you not think that having spare of everything just means that the DC don't look after their stuff or keep forgetting it? Don't get me wrong, I can totally see the advantage of doing it to ease the stress of trying to find a bobble etc, but if my kids thought it didn't matter if they lost stuff cos Mum would just magic up another one, I don't think it would teach them to take care of their belongings.

We hold a Sunday summit at dinner time on a Sunday. We plan out the week, who needs to be where, then work out menus based on that. Then we all go off and get everything ready for the whole week - kits, uniforms, books etc - and includes me having a glass of wine and amending the online shop for the next day.

The amount of stress that 20 minutes of communication reduces is phenomenal, and if it gets missed then it's noticed.

I bulk buy: toilet rolls; washing powder; toothpaste; deodorant. All when on offer and store it.
I am of the age where I need reading glasses. Bulk buy cheap ones from Amazon and have them in every room in the house (and the car).
I saw that tip about always moving something you need to/ take up and down the stairs etc. I am much more disciplined about tidiness.
Use Starling pots - transfer money into them at the beginning of the month for hairdresser, dentist etc. Helps me keep on track/ save monthly for routine stuff.
Buy coffee shop vouchers at the beginning of the month and then put them underneath the clear cover on my phone so no fumbling about to find them and helps me keep track on spending.
Take photos of receipts, including for returns so they are on my phone if I need to chase something up. Delete when the return has been received or no longer need the option of taking something back.