What one thing do you do to increase quality in your life?

[Springhasspung]

What one thing do you do to increase your energy, or improve the quality of your day, I'm trying to steal little ideas that could make my life with two dcs under 5 and a busy DH tips are appreciated!

noddy how do you get to the non feeling guilty at saying no stage?

just say it often enough ?

I think I was so exhausted with only saying yes that I had no choice but to say no iygwim. I realised after a few times that it didn't make people like me less or indeed stop them asking me to things etc and so i stopped feeling bad. You have to realise it is simply a request and you can answer what suits YOU. once the get over the initial shock no one really cares.

Time saving:

• Cleaner
• Don't spend more than half an hour on the ipad - just switch it off and put it in a drawer

Quality:

• commute to work ( or part of the way) on foot
• exercise
• having 15 mins sitting at my desk with a coffee every morning planning my day
• read in bed every night - transported to another world.

thanks nods, ive started saying no alot more recently

Someone may have said this already but buy good bedding and/or a good bed.

We invested in a 100% goose down duvet and pillows and decent soft cotton bedding and it is like sleeping under a fluffly cloud and I am ridiculously in love with it.

It wasn't cheap but we get the benefit of every day and it was the best money we ever spent.

Agree re bedding. Would never spend as much on anything else!

This is a fantastic thread. I feel as though my life is in free fall at the moment but some of the tips on here are free or cheap and others give me something to aspire to.
Any chance of getting this moved out of Chat so the thread doesn't go?

Marking space as also have 3yo and 1yo.

Also after talking to friend who has 3under 6y she says a fizzy multi-vitamin drink every day has rid her of colds for 3winters. 3 days without a cold is good by my standards, so have adopted in hope desperation

Do the washing iup before I leave of a morning not saying it's still clean on my return I like to come home to a clean kitchen if nothing else.

• Pets;
• Enough white goods (just got a dishwasher and a tumble dryer, and now the place feels "sorted" all of the time);
• Good, healthy food every night, even if it's soup;
• Doing something kind every day;
• Not automatically agreeing to everything;
• Reading every night;
• Volunteering;
• No online shopping unless something is needed or I'm working on my Amazon reading list;
• Exercise!

Keep the house clean and tidy and have a cleaner (I ama slightly OCD).
Tidy up before kids bedtime, so kid free time is good time with OH.
Early nights.
Wine, and I'm afraid I think I'm never inside 14 units.
Clothes, have some cheap, nice stuff that you can wear when with kids, doesn't matter if they puke on it, but it's newish. The. Gets demoted down the wardrobe.
Cup of tea, iPad when / if children napping at same time( currently in such a miraculous state)
Babysitter- with - new baby and a toddler we aren't yet able to get a nught out, but soon, so soon.....!

This is brilliant thread, thanks OP.

Another couple of thoughts:

• never take electronic media to bedroom (or if essential turned off)
• mindfulness: take a few minutes each day to notice something (ideally something nice and/or interesting!) eg, walking along and seeing how the light shines through the trees or how far the green and buds have changed with the season, or the pattern of pastries in a shop window. I hope I'm explaining this okay...
• pick something important and try to organise your day to appreciate it. Mine is my daily cup of coffee: when I was home full time I'd put baby for nap, sit 3yo with saved up game or tv for 10-20m, make coffee and sit down to enjoy it, maybe check emails or Scrabble, but not multitasking. I looked forward to it so much and felt so recharged by this simple space making. Now I have a special part of my commute put aside.

Oh, and occasionally ask family or friends to do specific things....maybe somebody could do you a helpful summary of this thread! (Am currently off work I'll so will do myself if I get to bottom of paperwork to do list rather than surf MN)

Oh, and try and go to the loo in peace and have a long shower. I love the days I can shower for more than one minute.

For those who want to declutter, google a lady called Tsh Oxenreider or get a copy of her book One Bite at a Time its 52 projects to start you on the way. Shes American but Ive found her advice great.

Also recommend weekend walks as a family. We are walking our way through a series of books called Kiddiwalks. These are fun and cheap.

I have a weekly sheet with regular activities already printed on it. I then write on any special events e.g DS1 needs indian costume and 1, DH GP 5pm and then plan meals based on what we have on. I use the slow cooker a lot and always do a double batch so I can freeze half. New recipes at the weekend only. Also having a programmable oven to come on at a certain time and temperature (and learning how to use it) has enabled more home cooking.

I get up early to exercise, involves less procrastinating and is a good way to start the day.

Finally do something creative/make stuff allows some time for yourself and is fun.

Aaagh, sorry about the weird punctuation!

I like this thread.

I think the house being tidier and less cluttered etc, would enable me to enjoy things more.

Things like:
Playing with the kids
Being outside (walk, run, sitting on my balcony for breakfast)
Exercise (want to try Pilates, get back into swimming and karate)
Meeting friends

So for me, it's a couple of things I need to do first, then I can chill. I'd love to be able to do more for other people, but seem to be only just keeping myself above water at the moment. Perhaps I'll make more of an effort to do little things that might make someone smile.

I like the weekly activity sheets thing abgirl. Somewhere (filed neatly of course ) is an old pheonix trading family weekly planner pad I used to use for menu planning, but I might start using it for weekly activities like you do....fab ideas, keep them coming!

I have the dubious gift of getting very happy about little new things. Starting back at work in January, for example, was genuinely cheered for me by stopping on the way to buy a nice new mug!

Similarly, can always be perked up by ordering some Petit Marseillais stuff, and, rather sadly, feel happier about getting up when I've got one of their shower gels to use.

I am quite lucky in how much I can be cheered by little things, I think.

I completely agree theoriginal - buying a new £2.79 nail polish in Boots in a crazy new colour cheers me massively. Simple things, and all that!

LaQueen - I recently read an interview with Franca Sozzani in which she said that she never wears any clothes in the season for which they were designed. True marker of style over fashion .

I always use having visitors to stay as an excuse to replace things like chipped plates and buy decorative things for the house I have had an eye on. Having regular visitors is a great impetus for making small improvements to Hotel Bonsoir which we then carry on enjoying!