Life doesn't have to be work, work, work, from the second you wake up to the second you go to bed. Try these eight anyone-can-do ways to simplify your life:

 

article continues below ↓

1. Choose 10 meals. If you don't like having to come up with a different meal idea for each night of the week, why not come up with 10 standard ones you just rotate? Put the work upfront into thinking through a variety of meals such as:

 Day 1: Chicken dish
 Day 2: Pasta dish
 Day 3: Fish dish
 Day 4: Vegetarian dish, and so on.

Once the initial planning is done, you'll never have to think about your meals again. Shake it up every 11th day and go out to eat, or order in.

2. Sign up for automatic payment. More and more companies these days are allowing you to automatically debit your bill payments from your checking account. No more worrying about making out a check and having to drop it in the mail.

3. Use what you have. If you have a crafty hobby, chances are you have crafty supplies piled high in your closet. Make it a point to put a halt on buying yet more supplies, and instead use up those you already have. This applies to hobbies such as quilting, scrapbooking, card making, knitting and more.

4. Focus on an area each day. Rather than worrying about everything you'd like to organize and/or clean in your home or office, choose just one area each day and focus on it for a minimum of 15 minutes, and a maximum of one hour. This will help ensure you don't feel overwhelmed and will also give you a rewarding feeling that you worked on something that has been on your mind.

5. Take three. Take a look at your to-do list and choose three tasks to work on today. Try to choose at least one A Priority, one B Priority, and you can toss in another A, B or C Priority as your third choice. Don't work on anything else on your list until you've completed all three of these.

6. Avoid unnecessary overload. Fill the dishwasher as soon as you're done eating, go through your mail on a daily basis, empty your email inbox each night, fold clothes as soon as the dryer cycle ends — in other words, if you don't delay on most tasks, they will never get out of hand.

7. Take off your shoes. If you want to spend less time vacuuming, don't wear your outside shoes inside your house. Of course, this applies to anyone else in your house and visitors. Less dirt and dust will be tracked in, which means less cleaning is necessary. Plus, you'll prolong the life of your carpet.

8. Kick back. Everyone needs time to simply kick back and do something relaxing, even if it's for only 30 minutes each day — and I wholeheartedly recommend an hour whenever possible. Schedule this time on your calendar. You are the only person who can control how your time is spent.

 

About Maria Gracia

Maria Gracia, owner of www.getorganizednow.com and author of the book, Finally Organized, Finally Free can help you organize your home, your office and your life.