One Small Thing That Makes Life Better?

[NoisySnail]

What small thing did you start doing that makes your life better?

Doing a big decluttering years ago and keeping the house like that since.
Not trying to own stuff. Only buying clothes when kids need it. Thinking what we actually need.
House looks tidy easily. So it's very easy to clean.
We realised we were saving lots of money to do things we like.
It was the biggest life changer. Its bliss.

Exercising.

Liquid iron supplements.

A regular bedtime.

Switching alcohol for bedtime tea.

Drinking lots of water during the day.

Eating less chocolate has helped my skin loads.

Using AHA and BHA on the tops of my arms to get rid of the unsightly red bumpy bits (keratosis pilaris).

I defo trained mine not to come and find me before 7 as I found that first half an hour to myself just set me up for the day. Youngest was 4 and knew what the clock looked like for 7.

Great post.

deleted fb and twitter
regular exercise

I just want to sit in my garden again and listen to the birds but the weather here has been shocking. Just 10 mins in my lunch break is all I want.

Growing things from seed. It’s a little miracle.
An animal to care for. They teach me about living in the present and loving unconditionally.
Exercise every day. Not always strenuous, but something.
Being alcohol-free. Best thing I’ve ever done for myself.
Always be learning. Art class, yoga, learn a language, but be curious.

Losing 23lbs since Christmas - I changed jobs from high stress to relatively low stress & it's made a world of difference to my mental wellbeing giving me the space to focus on my own physical health & weight. I feel SO much better.

Dh brings me an amazing coffee in bed every single morning- we have a bean to cup machine & he's a morning person. It sets me up.

Having food in the fridge & being able to cook a delicious homecooked meal for us every evening (unless we're out)

Taking an evening class in a subject I'm passionate about- I didn't have the headspace before but do now. And I'm totally loving it..

On short, for me I think it's about getting a better life / work balance. It's making such a difference.

Lovely post OP.

⭐Learning a language- Italian in my case. I didn't learn it at school so it's a blank slate. Loving learning about food and culture.
⭐Taking swimming lessons - I've reached Butterfly stroke and I'm so pleased I'm learning something new
⭐Early nights
⭐ Getting out of my comfort zone in work and taking staff development courses
⭐Checking in with my feelings to nip any anxiety in the bud
⭐Reconnecting with an old school friend (thank you Karen)
⭐First cup of coffee and fresh new day ahead (mostly decaf, occasional caffeine as a treat)
⭐Friday evenings - family home and relaxed
⭐Making my garden look pretty
⭐Weight training - doesn't make me bulky just so strong and I love the endorphins

I unfollowed all parenting accounts on Instagram. A lot of them were really lovely but I was just so overwhelmed with advice that it was getting in the way of having a natural relationship with my kids.

So many things not to say, so many ways you should say things that felt totally unnatural and scripted, it was as if I was playing a part rather than actually being their mum.

You are very sensible and I imagine you feel better for it.

I work therapeutically with parents and an outcome of a consultation is often ‘let’s put the books and social media aside for a while and focus on just being ourselves and having fun with our kids, whatever that looks like.’

I second getting a less stressful job. Not an option for many and it wasn't an easy task for me either. I started at the same time as a lovely colleague who has 3 young children including a baby and sone other life complications. We found ourselves almost babbling nonsense to eachother when we had a catch up couple of times a week because we were so astonished how enjoyable the work was now the stress has come down and how the work life balance was a revelation! We were giddy for quite a while.
Another colleague was offered a similar move and I pretty much strong armed her into taking the offer. How your job affects you is everything really.

I hear you and raise you a pot of tea!

Calculators and electronic cash tills! I can't deal with numbers, they've always flattened me and at school I was always being shouted at by the math teachers for getting them wrong no matter how much I tried really hard to get them right!

THANK YOU to Charles F Kettering who invented the electronic cash till in 1906 and Pat Haggerty, who invented the electronic calculator in 1965!

Oh yes! PG Tips is my favourite!

Using a retinol eye stick twice a day.

Always making time for myself, and jumping into bed for an hours nap any time I fancy it.

Drinking gallons of cold water every day! I've got 4 reusable lidded bottles on my work's desk that I'm always guzzling from and always refilling them, and at home there's 2 on my bedside table, again always drinking from/refilling!

Women are supposed to drink about 11 1/2 glasses a day and 15 1/2 for men, I'm female but I drink about the men's amount!

I just LOVE cold water!

I need to do this

15 minutes of yoga every day.

Reading every night before I go to sleep, even if it's just a couple of pages.

Baking my own bread (Taming Twins no knead bread recipe) it is really easy and there's no crap in it. Plus it makes me feel all homely.

Nivea firming gradual tan body lotion every other day and normal body lotion on the days in-between. Takes 10 minutes out of my day but my skin is always soft and has a healthy glow.

Using my teapot daily rather than for special occasions. I also take a thermos of tea to bed with me so I can have one in bed before I have to get up for the day.

Homemade soup most lunchtimes, just comfort in a bowl.

13.5 tog Coverless quilts on every bed.

Also - feed the birds. Sit and watch them with a teapot of tea every day.

Sorry, quoted the wrong poster!

@MrsTartanTeacosy any recommendations for sources of soup recipes? I know lots of different food sites where they could be found but if there were lots in one place it'd be very welcome!