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

Thank you. For me, I’m finding it’s a bit of a time waster. And seeing the perfect people on Instagram makes me feel a bit inferior. I should delete it really.

Oh no, well, thank you everyone who warns against this, and apologies for suggesting it. Very sensible to not risk it, by the sounds of it. I had no idea!

I’ve travelled to the States, Australia, all over Europe, for the past 15 years with no problem. But I will (very carefully) try to remove our Gelly Roll-ed names from our passport covers now!

Thanks again. I’m new to mumsnet and I've tried to edit my post, but can’t see how to do that. Maybe it’s not possible?

What’s the app called please

@FrothAndBubble - you can do this with a word document! You don't need an app! Once you have a main list, its easy. & you can print it out and check everything off as you pack it.

Late to the game; but these are all great.

after we take our socks off, we roll them together and they go into the wash in a ball. Means they’re always hung out to dry in pairs or they go into the tumble dryer in a ball, then straight back in the sock drawers. They still wash clean, never had any issues!

Some great tips and ideas here! Thank you everyone for sharing.

However, for everyone saying that they run their dishwasher/washing machine overnight or when they are out, please don't. Our local Fire Service visited us to do a fire safety check. Not something that we requested, they were just going house to house, providing awareness and fitting smoke detectors where necessary. Whilst we had smoke detectors they replaced ours as theirs were far more sensitive. I understand that most Fire Services in the UK offer this to anyone who requests it and I would recommend that you take them up on it if you can.

They were very clear - robustly so - that you should absolutely not run dishwashers, washing machines or even worse dryers at any time when you are not physically present or awake, due to fire risks. Very rare of course, but it does happen and better to be safe than sorry.

They also advised us on a fire evacuation plan by checking the layout of our house both upstairs and downstairs in relation to escape routes. We all now know what we should do should the worst happen. Not necessarily something to make life easier but something that makes us feel safer.

Thanks again. I’m new to mumsnet and I've tried to edit my post, but can’t see how to do that. Maybe it’s not possible?

Tap the 3 little dots at the top right of your post, bottom one is edit post. I've noticed it sometimes doesn't appear, don't know if you only get so long after originally posting?

I sign up to mailing lists because they often send offers. I unsubscribe to the ones that don't send offers though.

Yes, I think it’s about 10 minutes.

@ladybranstonpickle could I be very cheeky and ask for even a weeks meal plan? I find it so hard to do but really need to lose weight and can’t even start. Would it be easy for you to share a photo of it?? Sorry to ask just was so struck by your success - well done!

No…I have a double bed and a king size duvet so the top sheet isn’t seen.

I like this

I agree. I can't imagine men posting household tips in the same way

And some of these shortcuts seem quite convoluted. But, each to their own

My top tip is ruthless decluttering. It becomes a habit, and easier with practice

Completely agree - making the duvet easier to change is NOT going to change my life. No man alive would see that as life changing.

Planning my outfit for the next day and getting it out the night before. Saves decision paralysis in the morning.
Doing things in the same order in the morning when I need to be out the door. I’m less likely to forget something if I’m on autopilot.
Giving myself permission to do a load of laundry even if it’s not ‘full’ if it means I can get the things I want dry in plenty of time.
Buying a whole melon and portioning it out. I can get six pots for less than the price of one supermarket one. Plus, it’s one of the few fruits I enjoy and I’m more likely to eat it if it’s just ready to grab when I want it.

Post says one or two things that make your life easier. A lot of the things on here, would make my life a darn sight more difficult!!

This is absolutely genius

Was the name of the packing list app already shared??

I haven't read the whole thread yet so apologies if this has been posted already but these https://www.allthingssticky.com/products/u-wrap-clear-50mm-sticky-discs-250-disc-pack are a game changer. No more wrangling Sellotape or trying to find the end.

I save favourite recipes from tiktok or instagram into a folder so i can easily bring it back up when needed as i find it easier to follow along someone doing it than reading methods from recipe books.

I never thought of using these! I used to have one of these - https://mamageek.co.uk/review-scotch-pop-tape-handband-dispenser/ - and I absolutely loved it but they don’t make the refills any more.

Im stealing your tip and it is definitely something that will make my life easier!

Listening to a podcast or book while cleaning or ironing, Davinas menopausing is fab for anyone who is perimenopausal! Dana K White is great for decluttering tips.
If you are like me and go on a mammoth declutter and cleaning spree only to find when you get to the end it needs starting again then this tip is for you, I know how to clean efficiently and I'm great at decluttering, I just never managed to maintain my perfect!
If you are overwhelmed with a cluttered and dirty house, dot get tempted to start by buying storage boxes and nice smelling cleaning things ( and lets not forget the label makers!!) in the hope it will inspire you just start with your under sink cupboard or wherever your cleaning products are kept, there will be previous purchases that are unused! This should get you in the frame of mind to tackle a room.
Pick an easy room first and keep going (even if it's small amounts of time rather than in one go always go back to that room), dont get tempted when cleaning the window to do the other windows etc, , when it is decluttered and clean stand back and enjoy it! THEN (and this is the key to my tip) every day regardless of how much you need to start another go back to that room and make sure it's still perfect, it will take a couple of minutes to pick up an item of clothing or take an empty cup out or whatever, this way it won't slide back while you're tackling the rest of the house and you will notice the little things that turn a room from perfect to overwhelming and avoid you being back where you started without knowing how it got so bad! Then add another room, remember to go back to it as well and eventually you will be there., a little declutter in an already tidy room is so much more manageable. Then you can get a nice box or label maker! This is for the people like me who know who ther are and we'll done to those who are already there! I will never be naturally tidy but this system helped enormously!

I know its each to their own and people do things differently but i so so agree with this. I still print all mine ,although have now changed from albums to a photo box which holds over 1000 photos, with notes written on them where they were taken. I sometimes on a winters evening sit down with a few albums to look through and it gives me so much pleasure.

Some posters dissing this thread are being a bit harsh ... I think it's less about being a 1950s housewife but more realistic that at times when the lions share of Domestic Stuff falls to women, if we can make these these tasks quicker/smarter it gives us more time in the day and takes some of the chaos away (for me this is a biggie).

Also I quite like my surroundings to be clean, tidy and organised. But I'm still feminist as fuck