To ask which small actions make your life better?

[Leypt1]

Inspired by the thread about practical purchases which have improved quality of life - what changes to your routine have sparked joy or made things much easier?

For me, a big one is doing as much as possible to get ready the night before office days. Before, getting up to go to the office was a massive slog and more often than not I'd give up (summoning the energy to leave the house has generally been an issue for me since the pandemic).

Now, I iron my clothes and lay them out (right down to socks/pants), put my lunch in a tupperware in the fridge, make up some overnight oats, and pack my work bag. Now I have basically no barriers to actually leaving the house. Sounds like the bare minimum, but it's what I needed!

Also pub quiz on wednesday nights - it's a tiny local pub, and now going regularly means we've made a big group of regular friends. We all bring our dogs and the dogs are friends too! Nice to have somewhere where everyone is happy to see you and knows your name.

We do school, nursery and work uniforms out ready for the next day and all lunches packed and made as well as a load of washing done overnight and all washing put away before bed and a 10 minute tidy up downstairs every night.

It takes all of 15 mins every evening but makes the mornings soooo much smoother!

I try to put into practise a saying I heard recently-
It's motion & not motivation that will make the difference, it works for me now as I used to spend too long waiting to feel the urge to declutter, do admin, decorate or whatever now I just get on with it (when not mumsnetting or course)😉

I put clean laundry straight on my bed, then I have to put it away before I get into bed. It has stopped it piling up and becoming an overwhelming task! Wish I'd got into this habit sooner.

Oh I love these threads!

I keep a very light handheld hoover upstairs so that I can zoom round with it once every couple of days and keep the upstairs as clean as the downstairs.

Keep cleaning products/cloths in the rooms you need them in and you'll be more likely to actually clean those rooms on a regular basis.

ALWAYS clean/tidy up the kitchen after dinner/before bed. It's a massive game changer for the morning.

I set my shutters on a timer and bought a bunch of Google Home speakers to dot around the house. I've gone from being incapable of waking up in the morning (pitch black room, standard phone alarm) to waking up before the alarm by sunlight and nice music. Once I'm up I pull back the duvet and open the bedroom window, leave it open until I'm ready to leave and it makes sure the room's getting a refresh. Couldn't live without doing it now.

Shower and wash hair in the evening : saves time in the morning and relaxes you before bed, especially if you shower to soundscapes and in dim lighting.

I got a water bottle for my birthday that holds 1 liter of water and it's the only thing that's enabled me to drink more water. I refill it once (so 2 liters total) and it being only 1L means it's not too big/heavy to carry around/put in handbag.

I do this too! Very annoying but works like a charm.

I have started reading again every day. I go to bed at the same time and the hour that I would usually spend flicking through the tv or scrolling my phone I now spend reading. I am sleeping so much better and I love it. I also joined our local library so now do not have an excuse.

I dont work full time

These are all great! And interesting to see how much of our sanity clearly depends on the home + family

I thought of a couple more - I've joined a virtual book club with my pals, we're reading a single 1200 page book over the course of the year. It encourages me to read and it's a nice excuse to catch up, since we're now spread across 3 continents.

We've also started getting up a bit earlier to have a coffee in bed before we get up. It's a nice, relaxed start to the morning and gives us time to cuddle the dog before the day gets away from us