Best life hacks

These Life Hacks Are A Total Game Changer

Best life hacks
Photo by Paul Hanaoka on Unsplash

Is there anything better than learning from each other to make life a little easier? A recent discussion in the online community had everyone sharing their favorite life hacks and little things that can make a big difference in your day or week. We got so many amazing responses we had to share. There are so many great ways to streamline your everyday to save time, money and energy. Here are some of our favorites. Feel free to chime in below with yours.

The Best Life Hacks

Meal Prep

Meal planning and prepping was a major favorite. So many shared that planning and prepping meals for the week is so helpful in eliminating midweek stress when our schedules are the busiest. Whether it’s packing lunches the night before the next work day, using a programmable coffee maker or making double batches of a dinner recipe so you can freeze it for lunches or another dinner later on when you’re just not up for cooking.

5 Minute Clean-Ups

We often designate one day a week to do all the cleaning in our house and this just causes stress and overwhelm. Not to mention it is just impossible with children and other responsibilities to dedicate an entire day to cleaning. There are too many tasks to keep up with it all– from laundry, to vacuuming, to cleaning bathrooms and the kitchen, the list goes on.

Save yourself some time and energy by doing a little bit each day. A friend of mine spends 5 minutes a day cleaning her bathroom after a shower and cleaning the kitchen after every meal so that dirt, grime and dust don’t build up over time making the work take hours. Her 5 minutes a day add up to an hour or more over the course of a week and make her big deep cleans unnecessary or much easier and manageable.

“Have one day at the end of the month to do monthly things like change air filters, clean dishwasher, washing machine, stove etc.”

-Leslie

Post Bedtime Sweep

My husband and I started doing a post bedtime sweep and it has been SO helpful. After putting our son to bed, one of us tackles the kitchen and the other tackles the living room or we team up and do both together. We put away toys and tidy laundry, blankets, pillows, etc. in the living room and clean dishes, load/empty the dishwasher and wipe down tables. This sweep only takes 10-20 minutes and always makes me feel so much better relaxing on the couch and unwinding knowing things are tidy and clean.

Order Groceries Online

Ordering groceries online for delivery/pick-up was another favorite. I just started doing online order and pick-up groceries this past month and I don’t know why I didn’t utilize this service earlier! I saved so much on groceries over the past month, not to mention time and effort. I meal prep and do my order on Thursday evenings and pick-up Friday mornings. It is so nice going into the weekend knowing we are set on groceries and I don’t have to give up a weekend morning to the dreaded grocery shop. Doing this online has helped me only get the essentials and not be tempted to grab things off the shelf we don’t need. I 100% recommend ordering and picking up groceries, especially with little ones it will make your life SO much easier.

Sunday Meetings

My husband and I started doing Sunday meetings recently and it has been another great way to head into our week feeling confident and prepared. Several of my friends are doing this with their partners as well and it seems to be a universally helpful weekly routine. During our meetings, we look at the calendar for the week, we plan daycare drop offs and pick-ups, discuss meetings, responsibilities and events. It’s also helpful in meal prepping and having easy dinners planned for the busier days.

Stock Up on Cards, Gift Wrapping & Gifts

We have a bin of gift bags, wrapping paper and tissue to reuse for gifts when the event arises. It is so nice not to have to go out to the store to buy gift bags and wrapping paper on the day of an event when you are rushing around. One community member said she stocks up on greeting cards and gifts to use for planned and unplanned gifting.

Use the “Reminder” and “Notes” Function on Your Phone

“I use the Reminder function on my phone a lot to outsource things that could slip through the cracks if life gets busy: paying the rent, sending out a birthday card, picking up my dry cleaning.”

-Rebecca

“I use my notes app to keep track of thoughts, ideas, my CRL links. I have so many notes, lol, but I am SO forgetful and this helps me remember/remind myself of all the things that run through my mind all day.”

-Jess

Another friend of mine organizes all of her favorite recipes in the notes app. This makes it easy to access at the grocery store or while cooking and is always easy and accessible to share with friends!

Use Charts to Organize Family Schedules

“My 7 yr old has a chore and homework day by day chart that means I don’t have to remember what is due each day. Everything goes on the family calendar in the kitchen. If it isn’t there then it isn’t happening.”

-jen

No Dogs in the Bedroom

“The dog (who we love dearly but not her shedding) is not allowed upstairs the house so I only have to battle the dog hair in the downstairs rooms.”

-jen

“No dogs in the bedroom (I know I’ve done a 180!) but the amount of hair and cleaning has drastically reduced, plus no ticks, GROSS”

-jess

Travel from Saturday to Saturday

“Personal travel from Saturday to Saturday so you have Sunday to recover and Friday night to prepare.”

-emily

What life hacks make your life easier? Let us know in the comments below.

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14 responses

  1. Katie

    I have a kind of strange request! Could there be a blog post about Kelley? Maybe a little bio and then a casual Q&A? Right now, I’m kind of ashamed to say whenever I come to this blog (in Jess’ name) I’m disappointed when, increasingly, the posts aren’t written by her. I really go to blogs every morning to parasocially connect with someone I don’t know personally, but have come to FEEL like I know over the years (I definitely realize how weird this sounds!). Because I don’t feel like I know Kelley, her content doesn’t interest me as much, despite the topics being interesting (like today!). I hope this doesn’t come off as rude, but I really want to hear from people I know some background on, and of course, would love more from Jess! Sent with nothing but love, have a wonderful Wednesday 🙂

    1. Jess

      Hi Katie. Yes and thank you for this request. I don’t think it’s a weird request it totally makes sense, I sort of forget not everyone knows Kelley like I do! I should probably also do one for Caylin who works with me on CRL every Friday. I also want to mention, even though some of the posts have Kelley’s name on them, I am in the background and involved with EVERY post that goes up on the blog, even if my name isn’t on it. That said, I have a big backlog of posts coming from me too (on the fashion and home front). Thanks for being here and appreciate the feedback. xx
      Jess

      1. Katie

        Thanks so much for the comment back! I look forward to get to know Kelley and Caylin more, and read your posts coming up!

  2. Nathalie

    Life hack: throw junk mail in trash outside before even bringing mail inside the house.

    1. Jess

      good one! I should add unsubscribe from all catalogues too!

    2. Kelley Boymer

      Genius! I’ve just started going through mail as it comes instead of letting it stack up for weeks. This will make it even more streamlined!

    3. Anne

      Better yet . . . Throw junk mail in the recycling bin.

      1. Kelley Boymer

        Yes, good call!

  3. Jessica

    I store my toiletry bag inside my carry on and keep it packed with my travel sized toiletries at all times. When I pack for a trip all I have to think about is my cosmetics and I’m good to go! If I use something on a trip completely, like dry shampoo, I buy a new travel sized item when I get back from my trip and throw it in my travel drawer when it arrives. It’s hard enough figuring out what clothes to pack, this takes one less thing away to stress about.

    1. Laura

      100% this. Getting a good battery powered travel toothbrush (travelsmith) and a second mouth guard was game changing. They’re always in my toiletries bag with travel sizes of toothpaste, cleanser, moisturizer and dental floss ( trial sizes from the dentist!) plus a small pill case with advil, tylenol and melatonin. It’s so helpful to just not even worry that I’m missing a foundational item when I’m not at home.

      1. Kelley Boymer

        Yes to this!!! Such a great hack. One less thing to stress about when traveling. Thanks for sharing 🙂

    2. Kelley Boymer

      So many great ideas for traveling! I need to borrow this hack from you, it sounds like a game changer when traveling can be so stressful!

  4. tara

    The week gets so busy and sometimes I just find myself shoveling something into my mouth because I’m a little hungry but need to read the mail and am not really conscious of what I’m eating….so I put a small container in a corner of the snack drawer that has snacks of about 80-100 calories and pick one up when the feeling hits. Some are prepackaged, some I make myself in small ziplocs bags. I do this during my meal prep on Sunday and it has helped me stay on course during the week to watch what I am eating!

    1. Kelley Boymer

      Love this! Having little snacks to go is a great way to be mindful and intentional! I will have to add this to my Sunday routine. Thanks for sharing 🙂

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