Wednesday, February 8, 2023
We are at that point where many people have abandoned resolutions now. Maybe it’s time to re-evaluate some of the routines in your life? I am constantly trying to do things more efficiently.
What’s Working for me right now:
You have heard many of these things, but I want to tell you what I am still doing that is working.
I am washing my hair every other night. I still take a nightly shower. I also take a quick morning shower. Yes, I like to shower. My Dry Bar shower cap is amazing! I never thought I could love a shower cap and never even had one until my late 40s!
Doing my personal laundry and some light cleaning tasks on Thursdays. I feel great getting a few things done before the weekend.
Doing grocery pickup and not going in the store. I had to go in the store Saturday and it was not pleasant. It took way too long at the checkout and I picked up way too many impulse items.
Doing grocery pickup on Wednesday or Thursday so I go into the weekend fully stocked.
Not checking email after hours or on weekends. Just not doing it. I am so much happier and it’s even made me a better teacher because my batteries are re-charged and I can be fully present during my work hours. If you are a teacher, don’t “@ me” as the kids say. There are very few “true emergencies” in my line of work. I respond as soon as I get to school if I got a message after hours.
My new Shark cordless stick vaccuum. I am using it in place of the broom and dustpan. It’s great and maybe even the best on hard floors.
Here are some posts I wrote if you are feeling stuck:
Just click on the red font and it will take you to the post. As you can tell, I love to talk and write about life hacks.
Set Yourself up for a Great Weekend
What I don’t really do, but I think would be great: Pasta on Monday, Mexican on Tuesday, Asian on Wednesday, etc. Some sort of dinner routine.
Great idea I heard on Lazy Genius podcast:
A listener said they always have breakfast for dinner on Sunday nights and they cook extra for their breakfasts throughout the week. I thought this was a great idea. Work smarter and not harder and breakfast for dinner on a Sunday night sounds like a nice treat – especially if you weren’t able to do a big breakfast in the morning.
What’s working for you right now? It can be the smallest thing, but it might help me or someone else!
Amy
Coffee and Cocktails at the Casa 
The best advice ever is to not check work email after hours. I don’t even have it on my phone, only my work lap top, when I am done, I am DONE! Great post Amy!
xo,
Kellyann
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Yes! Yes – your day is done when you close that work laptop! I love that. This is why you are so mentally healthy!
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I love the idea of breakfast for dinner on Sunday. That’s usually a Thursday night thing for us haha
Grocery pick up on Saturday continues to be life changing for me. Last Saturday, Travis picked it up and put it away while I was running errands with the kids. it was like a I had a grocery fairy! Haha
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Isn’t that great? Or, you could do a big breakfast and do the breakfast prep in the am and do Soup Sunday! Soup and Sandwich Sunday! Sandwich Sunday! Why do I love alliteration so much? Please tell me! There you go with that Perfect Travis again! Ha!
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I love alliteration too!
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Great minds think alike on the same topic for today’s blog posts! I loved this. One thing that I do that works for me right now is to come home and to get busy immediately. I am up and down all day long, but I don’t walk around very much, so I like to come home and do things. I usually get here and immediately let the dogs out, and I’ll go outside as well, if it’s nice. I refresh their water and love on them, then I vacuum and straighten the pillows and blankets they messed up during the day, then I do anything in the kitchen that needs to be done for dinner prep, and I fold some laundry. I used to do all that in the mornings, so I do it in the afternoons now. I just keep going, then I eat dinner, clean up, wash my face and get comfy and either read or watch a show with Todd afterward. I went to bed at 8:45 last night, which was great since I was so tired!
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I thought that was funny! I do that, too. I do some tasks, walk Ernie, and then sit down for a bit before I get back up again to start dinner. You sound way more Energizer Bunny than I do, though. Just you wait! Ha! Some days I literally feel that I have been run over by a steamroller due to the talking to 150 kids a day, the patience required, and all the extra admin tasks required.
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Amy, these are such a great things that many of us could benefit from and many I do as well including doing laundry on Thursdays! Just makes like more enjoyable and in a way, seems like less work!
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Thank you! That’s funny that you do that, too. Doesn’t it help so much to get it out of the way. I think it also helps not to let it build up – you could say that about so many areas of life – to handle things as they come up and not let them build up.
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Love all of these “life hacks!” Thanks for sharing 🙂
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Thank you! I love a life hack!
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So much goodness in one post. I always check emails outside work hours. A habit I should stop! And I have just started a weekly meal plan on my fridge! It’s already stopped everyone asking me what’s for dinner and helping us save money only buying what we will actually use. That’s what’s working for me!!
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Thank you! I love this topic as you can tell! If it works for you and doesn’t affect you, that’s ok. But, it did really affect me and it was never good news in my inbox – it was one more thing I had to do or think about.
Love that simple hack that really helps!
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These are great tips! I have been meal planning the past month and that has been working for me. I know that isn’t a new idea by any means, but I go through seasons of actually doing this. I organized some recipes so now I am going through them to try them to see if I want to keep or throw away some of these random papers I have of printed recipes.
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Thank you! I am so glad. That is so smart!
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Great ideas! I don’t check my school email at home, don’t have access to it on my phone. I’ve been traumatized one too many times by a nasty parent email. It’s not life or death! I will, however, check the email from my laptop on Sunday nights once a month to see if the a.m. faculty meeting has been canceled by some miracle, LOL. I try to put out some clothing options at the beginning of the week based on the weather forecast, to cut down on decision fatigue, thanks to your hack. I literally have 3 minutes to choose an outfit in the morning, and that’s stressful. Personally, I try to make the most of every minute; for example, if I’m waiting for the washer to fill, I’ll fold clothes since I’m in the laundry room. If I’m waiting for coffee to brew, I’ll wipe the counters or put dishes in the dishwasher. I also clean up behind myself, so I never gave a big mess to clean.
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Thank you! Nope! Do not do it. It’s never good news in your inbox. Ha!
Doesn’t that help a lot? On Sundays I pull out what I haven’t worn or need to wear and just that little capsule wardrobe really helps. I try to be efficient like that, too. Happy weekend!
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I’ve never tried a shower cap. Maybe such a simple hack could make a difference?
I do fully embrace the “decide once” mantra.
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It keeps my hair totally dry for my morning shower and that’s what I am after.
I love that concept. It really applies to many areas of life.
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10 minutes matter. It’s my mantra for 2023. I pick a couple areas to work on in my house and set aside 10 minutes to organize – purge – etc. My house has never been more organized. I’m slowly getting rid of things that don’t bring me joy. Yep i just Marie Kondo’d you. 😂🤷🏻♀️ I also do a weekly rotation of meals. Mondays are salmon. Tuesdays tacos. Wednesday’s Turkey burgers – Thursday potluck – fridays pizza – saturdays chicken Sunday we eat out. It works. Tony is a very simple eater. So makes it easy!
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Totally! I can get a lot done in that time. I am also trying to purge and be more minimalist! Automate what you can is what I say!
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