Little routines that quietly make life run smoother

[dongbibi]

I was chatting to a friend this morning and we realised how much the small habits matter more than the big plans. Nothing dramatic, just tiny routines that make the day easier without much effort.
For me it’s things like laying out school stuff the night before, doing a quick kitchen reset before bed, and keeping breakfasts very boring and predictable. It’s not exciting, but it means mornings are calmer and I start the day feeling a bit more in control.
It’s made me appreciate that I don’t need to overhaul everything to feel on top of things. A few small systems seem to carry a lot of the weight.

What on EARTH are you wearing that takes two ironing boards every week?
I haven’t ironed anything for at least 25 years!

Unfortunately both DH and myself wear full suits to work and then we have 4 Dc’s in school so you’re looking at 30x pairs of trousers for us all and then shirts / blouses blazers etc. we used to have less uniform and do midweek ironing but we decided this year to buy enough uniform for everyone for a full week and then just tackle it altogether on a Sunday!

@Thingscouldntgetanyworsewe are similar but only 2 boys (one is a cadet but he does his uniform) but only one ironing board! Happy Sunday 🍷

Same. The one thing that covid taught me is that not everything needs to be ironed and if it does well it has no place in our home. I used to spend hours ironing and now its washed, into the dryer and folded straight away.

I have 2 dishwashers (1 was left in the house when we moved in, which we were not told about so brought our free standing one with us).
Having 2 makes life so much easier. While one is on the other can be stacked, so no hand washing or piles of dirty plates etc. Also, when cooking, all the pots and pans and cooking stuff goes in one as I cook so the kitchen is clear when we sit down to eat. The other can then be loaded with the dinner plates etc. So kitchen sides are always clear.
I will definitely be replacing one when one eventually dies.

Are you all exceptionally messy? You can get more than one wear out of a pair of trousers.

I'm paperless.
Email Inbox has only current to-do emails, everything else is deleted or archived.
Google Calendar. Everything goes on it, I can separate out items to different coloured calendars to share with DH or just the DC or just for my personal items. All my next appts are made before I leave the nail /hair salon, dentist etc. I have my renewal dates set up for MOT, insurances, passport, driving licence, subscription end dates etc. It's easier to stay on top of everything.

Everything else is an app:
ToDoist: all my to do lists. Home chores, self care routines, admin, financial etc. Daily, weekly, monthly annual tasks.
Shopping list app (Softlist): Keep adding to it during the week.
Google Keep: this is my notepad. Lists, web links, notes. Stops scraps of paper dotted all over.

This year is going to be about building more good habits and routines.

We now take our vitamins with our evening meal so I put everyone’s supplements on their plates when I lay the table. We have managed it most nights.

This I love. You might also like Recipe Keeper if you meal plan. Syncs with google calendar so I never have to answer he question ‘what’s for dinner’. Creates shopping lists and can do an auto meal plan based on criteria.

Ooh I'll take a look at that, Always on the look out for improved systems.

My current meal planner is a customised landscape printed A4 list with freezer and cupboard stock list on one third of the sheet, our regular meals in the next third and days of the week on the last third. The other side of the sheet is our regular shopping list items.
This is laminated and stuck on our fridge so the family can tick off the shopping list with a whiteboard pen.
I meal plan on the other side once a week.

31 quick and easy recipes which makes meal planning really easy.

as many bills on Direct Debit as possible.

most basics (loo roll, dishwasher tabs, bin liners etc) on amazon subscription to auto deliver.

set days for tasks - Monday kitchen, Tuesday bathroom, Weds ironing, thurs order online shopping, fri change beds etc.

set clothes for next day out each evening.

tidy lounge before going to bed.

have list of chores to do on first Saturday of every month - read meters, deep clean washing machine and dishwasher, balance bank accounts, organise birthday cards/gifts etc.

Love this! Are you happy to share your meals please?

I found a problemt the other day with everything being paperless. I needed a printed copy of a utility bill for something and as was working from home I had to wait till I was in the office to locate and print said bill. Paperless is great otherwise.

Also and it is possibly a 'duh' thing but getting a sign for the hall door saying 'No junk mail' really helps here too. I am not getting special offers from takeaways that I would be swayed to order from spending way too much money or from places I will never buy things from like a local electrical place etc. Mine also says no canvassers and no religious groups just to have nobody unless invited at the door. I save time NO telling utility companies to go away.

We all wear clean clothes every single day and I honestly could not entertain otherwise.

Environmentally people should be wearing clothes several times, under wear excepted. School uniform here gets washed in terms of trousers and shirts daily as they cycle in them and they are unclean. Jumpers are worn twice if not dirty and blazer is washed fortnightly.

Adult jeans get worn for a week, trousers and jumpers 2-4 wears. Wool jumpers rarely get washed. They get hung and always are worn over a shirt or top so don’t touch skin.

Instead of throwing out old cushion covers, use them as liners on new cushions.
Helps bulk them out and stop feathers coming through as much.

Same here. Other than underwear I can't imagine ever wearing something only once before washing it. We have separate "outdoor" and "indoor" wear and change upon coming back into the house, so our "outdoor" stuff is only worn for a maximum of maybe 8 hours for a full days' work. Blouses/shirts will last at least two days of that, maybe 3 for shorter days. Only in Summer, for a full day, where it's sweaty would I wash a shirt/blouse after just one day. Trousers/jeans etc typically 5 days. We just hang stuff up separately, and rotate "used" stuff over the week so don't wear the same shirt/blouse two days running. Not only is it damaging to the environment to wash too often, it's also shortening the life of your clothes, so has a financial impact too in that you have to buy clothes more often.

So many good tips here. A few I've learned:

A box in the fridge for lunch related stuff. It's taken out in the morning, all the items for making lunch is there then it's put away again when the last person is finished. No more rummaging or telling me we are out of something that's actually there.

Buy about 20 birthday cards at a go and always have a stock.

A divided laundry basket for whites colours and darks. The Joseph Joseph one is brilliant, expensive but worth every penny. It has handles to lift out and bring downstairs and a handle on the bottom so you can shake it out. It saves so much bending and rummaging around.

To each their own. I was brought up wearing clean clothes everyday so I don’t know otherwise. My work uniform looks “worn” at the end of the day and I couldn’t wear it again the next day I just wouldn’t feel comfortable.

Badbadbunny

Not only is it damaging to the environment to wash too often, it's also shortening the life of your clothes, so has a financial impact too in that you have to buy clothes more often.

I think part of the "Ooh! I couldn't wear jeans twice in a row - it wouldn't be nice" thing is performative cleanliness, like back in the day when everyone in a row of terraced housing would wash their doorstep every day and woe betide the slattern who missed a day and whose step didn't "join up".

Two week rolling food menu programme with 3 that are batch cooked. Of the three I have about 5-6 different meals I’ll make double of on a rota.

kids didn’t used to eat these but they’re increasingly choosing to which makes it easier

Don’t ever buy any white clothes, so you never have to separate your laundry.

I was wondering what those bits on the bottom of my laundry bags were for!

I have a subscription for sanitary products (weareriley.com). Once every 3 months, this is to reduce packaging and it's all organic cotton and chemical and plastic free. More importantly I am always fully stocked up, I can be irregular and have had a panic many times running to shops. It's just one less thing to think about.

It doesn't have to be black blackboard paint. Any chalk paint is good.