Three Ways to Simplify Your Life
School has started and, hopefully, you have a routine established. Unfortunately, you have so many things to do, you may still feel stressed. With our busy lives, we need to look for opportunities to streamline and simplify. Here are three simple ways to do just that!
Clothes
You can only get control of your clothes if you know what you have and what you need. Block off a few hours to examine and try on every article of clothing. If it doesn’t fit, you don’t love it, it is out of style, or needs mending (and has for at least 6 months) it needs to GO! Now, make a list of the clothing you need and compare it to what you have left in your closet. If you need two pair of black pants and you have 10 pair, get rid of 8 pair of black pants. If you need two pair of navy pants and you only have one pair, then start a shopping list that shows what you need to complete your planned wardrobe. This way, you can do targeted shopping, purchasing only the items you need. It’s best to stick to a certain style or color palette so items will mix and match more easily. Keep your shopping list with you so you can avoid impulse buys. If you find something that is not on the shopping list, it can come home, but it is time to invoke the 1-in, 1-out rule and get rid of something else in your closet.
Hang items in groups so that the items are easy to find. Some of the more popular schemes are by color, by type of item, by outfit, and short sleeve/long sleeve.
Cosmetics
Does your cosmetics drawer look like a bomb went off? Could you find your favorite red sparkle nail polish in less than 30 seconds, or would you have to buy another bottle because you can’t find the bottle you know you own?
The best way to rein in the out of control makeup, cosmetics, and hair products is to corral them in containers. The containers don’t have to be fancy or expensive; they just have to be functional. You could even use shoe boxes or food storage containers – and decorate them, if you choose.
Lay out all your cosmetics and discard old, dried, or unused items. Sort the items you are keeping by category – nail polish, lipstick, eye liner, etc. Place items in the containers so that the items are easy to find. If you have more items than will reasonably fit in your containers, you may need to do more purging. Add a label to the container describing the contents.
Pre-packed Snacks
When your children come in from school, it would save you a lot of time and money if you had pre-packaged snacks ready for them. Sure, you can purchase snacks at the store, but they are expensive and not necessarily what your children should be eating. Instead, purchase some snack-sized baggies and package your own individual snack bags of pretzels, grapes, cheese, carrots, or other tasty and healthy snacks. Keep non-perishable items on a specific shelf in the pantry and perishable items in a specific drawer in the refrigerator so your children can help themselves. You might even consider enlisting your children to help create the snack bags as a fun activity.
These three tips will help you find what you need when you need it, save money by not buying things you don’t need, and use your time more efficiently. Have an organized day!
