Lifestyle Hacks: 25 Things to Do This Year to Make Life Easy
In this post: If you’re looking to make life simple this year, these lifestyle hacks are perfect for you, with 25 things to do this year to make it easy.⇒
My word of the year is EASY.
I’m all about making it easy.
Maybe it’s a result of the disarray of the recent past or the things I learned by the interruptions to my normal schedule. Or maybe it’s just that I’m getting older and more tired.
But I just want it to be easy.
I’ve always found that being organized in itself is a path to more ease. It becomes easier to find things, easier to know how to approach each project, easier to stay on task because you know where you are headed.
Lifestyle Hacks
So today’s list is a combination of small tasks that will keep you organized, quick wins that will cross off long put-off errands, and ideas to ensure you add some leisure to your life.
One of my most popular posts has been ‘10 Things to Do in January to Keep Your Organized All Year’. This post is kind of a part 2 to that one (yet it can be undertaken at any time during the year) and with the focus on EASY.
Planning
1. Plan your goals for the year – for the home, for your work, for your leisure time. Break them down by cost and bite sized steps, then put them on the calendar.
2. Time block your schedule. If it doesn’t fit on the calendar, it will never fit in your day.
3. Create or revamp your morning routine and follow it daily until it’s a habit. Add in anything you find essential for your health and well being. End with a trigger for the task you want to do next. Want to work out daily? End your morning routine by putting on your sneakers.
4. Use a food diary preemptively. Plan your food for the day BEFORE you consume it.
5. Give up at least one task this year. Either delegate it, omit it or pay someone to do it.
Organizing
6. There’s no storage problem that can’t be solved by the right containers. Measure it, plan for it and put it away. Then breathe easier.
7. Keep a clock in the bathroom. It will keep you from taking those too long showers that wind up making you late. (Oh, is that just me?)
8. Bring in your donations. If you clean out a closet and then leave the trash bags in the hallway for a year, you haven’t really solved much. At least keep them in the trunk of your car for easy drop off when you have time.
9. Review your subscriptions – both digital and paper – and eliminate anything that doesn’t excite you when it comes, especially if it stresses you out when it arrives in your inbox or is added to the stack on the coffee table.
10. Check food and drug expiration dates often. I am sometimes amazed at the year on some of those bottles! There’s no reason to keep something that is expired. You won’t take it or eat it anyway. If you throw it out, now you know you need to replenish it.
Decluttering
11. Keep a box for your keys by the door. Drop them in the box as soon as you walk in.
12. Use a deep and pretty decorative bowl in the family room or kitchen for chargers, plugs, wires and the like. ALWAYS keep these things in the same place. Never search for them again.
13. Clean out your purse and wallet once a month. It will take 5 minutes if you do it regularly.
14. Squeegee the shower door after every shower. It makes cleaning the shower so much easier.
15. Have a trash can with a liner in every room. Empty them weekly.
Technology
16. Clean out your digital files. Put photos into folders that make sense so you can find them easily. Go through your email and adopt a zero inbox policy.
17. Back up your technology. Do it today. Do not wait for a crash and to lose everything before you come up with a system. Make it easy. Choose a service or app that backs up automatically. If it’s something you have to remember to do, you won’t do it.
18. Have a list of your passwords all in one place. Update them regularly. Keep them in alphabetical order so you can actually find them.
Leisure
19. Pick a media project that you enjoy and track it so you’ll be sure to prioritize it. Leisure activities can tend to fall by the wayside. Watch one movie or documentary per week, read 2 books a month, discover a new podcast each season, or whatever brings you joy. Just keep a little spreadsheet or list, as a means to be sure it happens.
20. Have a leisure time bucket list. Try to do at least one thing from your list each month.
Shopping
21. Track all of your spending using a spreadsheet. Enter every. single. thing. you buy. Then check your bill against it at the end of the month. This is way easier than keeping a wad of receipts in your wallet, I promise. And there are never any surprises when the bill comes.
22. Go for quality in your purchases so you are forced to buy less. You’ll wind up with nicer items and less to clean out. They‘ll last longer and add a little luxury to your days.
23. Always keep a backup in reserve. Of everything. Buy multiples of your favorite products that you know you continue to use. Keep your old sneakers or computer, in case the new one needs repair. One caveat. Keep only ONE of the old things. Despite what my hubby thinks, no one needs 20 pairs of old beat up sneakers or every phone they ever owned. One backup will do.
24. For products you always use that you know you will keep, throw out the packaging. It will be much easier to store, especially if you buy in bulk.
25. Take notes now for next year’s holidays. What worked, what didn’t? Do it while it’s fresh in your mind. Did it make life easier shopping online? Do it all the time. Did you find a recipe you loved? Keep it in the file. Would something have been better with a little tweaking? Write that down too.
I’d love to see your ideas of things to add to this list! Please put them in the comments. Let all make an effort to make life easy!
Resource Guide
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More Organizing Ideas
Ha! My first reaction to the title of this post was Hire a maid! But then after reading a bit I thought maybe you could just move in here and organize my house but on second thought maybe I should move in with you since your home is so lovely I could just sit and relax!
Seriously, I do a great number of the 25 ideas but I no longer bother with spreadsheets and tracking spending. I did so much of that all my married life that I have a standard budget technique now so that I know all my bills are covered and I can spend the rest. It’s a bit different when you are retired. I’ve kept a Christmas journal over ten years now and I can tell you just how many pounds of prime rib I needed to feed the entire family. It’s been a great resource and the only problem is that I completely filled the first book so need to refer back to the old one.
I don’t have my word of the year yet, my source is buried behind the Christmas tree which will come down this week. I use a stack of grace cards and choose one at random each year. It is astounding how apt each of them has been, I do hope this one is encouraging. Last year’s was surrender which the entire world did. Happy new year, Lory. I do hope 2021 is easy!
I just love that idea of the grace cards! How fun it would be to see what comes up… 🙂 Although as a control freak, I like to select my areas of focus… 😉 Maybe next year’s word should be letting go… HA!
,My word for 2021 is PURPOSE. FOR ME THAT MEANS SETTING GOALS, BEING OF SERVICE, ACHIEVING MEANING TO MY LIFE.
pur·​pose | \ ˈpər-pəs \
Definition of purpose: 1a: something set up as an object or end to be attained : INTENTION
b: RESOLUTION, DETERMINATION
I moved last year and am finally becoming settled and organized..so happy about that!! I spent money like water fixing the place up. That’s over; I have no walls left to decorate, haha. I’ll just move stuff around now!! I love French country and have collected for years so I’m all set.
I set up a budget…I call it a MAP, Money Allocation Plan and am tracking every bit of spending on a spreadsheet so I can see where the money is going. I know it will be a big job, but it’s something I’ve always wanted to do and it will direct my spending.
Good health is key and I feel better than I have in a while so physical health is also in my plans. I am in the process of adopting a coton de Tulear dog and will be volunteering at the rescue shelter as well so am excited about all that.
Lots of good ideas and I am already doing some of them or will use some of them this year. Thanks
Sounds like you’re all set and ready to go! Wishing you the best for the coming year!!
I am actually thinking of choosing a word a month ~ Has anyone else tried this??
I don’t know. What would your January word be?
Excellent post! Pinned it and will refer to it again so I can refine some of my routines.
Oh, that’s awesome!! Thank you!
I love your organizing tips Lory. You always show me some new way to reimagine my routines! 🙂 Thanks so much and Happy Organized New Year!
Thanks, Barbara!!
I love your organization ideas. Can you tell me where you got the white desk shown in the picture above idea #16? Thank you so much!!
Thank you! And great eye. That’s brand new in a space I haven’t even revealed yet… 😉 But yes, it’s from Restoration Hardware Baby. No, I don’t have a baby, but I needed a small desk… lol!
Great list! Thanks for sharing!
I keep notes on my phone for almost everything! Christmas gifts I buy each year, how much I spent – especially for the grandsons. The minute they open their gifts they look at the others and COUNT how many the other one got! I also have a page for Christmas decor that I want to be on the lookout for in September of the following year, if I haven’t found it on clearance. I also keep note pages on books I want to read, movies/binges I want to see. I keep this during the Emmy’s and Oscars because I surely haven’t seen them in a theatre…even before Covid! I have a list for Costco shopping, bucket list travel destinations…everything!
Oh yeah, we can hang out together! LOL… 🙂 All great ideas!! I have the book and movie lists too, and when I first stopped working full time, I actually created a spreadsheet by aisle for groceries! Now I document a lot of things with photos (favorite products) and keep them in a folder on my phone. Comes in handy when you can’t remember the exact color you use for concealer or whatever.
Great read to start my year. Sounds as if we have the same husband. Now how to organize them…
LOL! So glad the post resonated with you!
I am retiring in a few months and have added a few of your items to my 25 Things to do when I retire list. Thanks for such beautiful ideas and decorating. I sense your warmth and kindness in all your posts. Happy 2022~
What a lovely thing to say! Thank you!! Congrats on your retirement… 🙂
I love this post with all of the great tips. Thank you for sharing.
Every January I go through my closet and remove what I don’t want. I turn the hanger hooks away from me. As I wear an item I turn the hanger to face me. Next January I see which clothing items I haven’t worn and I remove them. Then I repeat what I did the previous January.
I love that idea!
A very inspiring blog today !!
Merry & Happy everything !
First of all, thank you for putting these ideas in a list format. I Love Lists. I also use a bullet journal that I like to keep these lists in. My question… Is there anyway these lists can be made into a printable copy? Right now I copy and paste, which I could still do..However, I really would like to give you credit in my notes. ( I copy and paste that also.) Thank you for your great ideas (and lists). Becky
Thank you so much! Unfortunately, I don’t know how I would make this printable. I would probably do the same and copy and paste… 😉
Great list. For #10. I learned something from a food bank. Take a Sharpie and put the expiration date in bold ink. We tend to keep spices for years.
The other thing is if you are older and live alone, do you have enough supplies if you became homebound or didn’t drive any longer ? I, for one, do not like ordering online. No patience for mistakes. I give my grocery list to a helper, so I have learned to make an̈ organized list by isle from the store’sweb page. No impulse buying but I use BOGO sales a lot.
I agree about dating everything because lots of things expire before we use them. I think whatever system works well for you is one worth using, whether it be a helper or an online order… 🙂