I’m not sure how life gets so busy but no matter what I do, I feel like we are working more, playing less — and feeling the results of such an overscheduled existence with constant feelings of stress and chaos.
While we cannot create more hours in the day, there are, of course, lots of ways to maximize our waking hours so that we have more time (and energy) when we do have down time from the busyness of our lives.
I feel like I work more and play less — and my down time is spent recharging my batteries rather than enjoying the fun activities of the season!
Try a few of these stress-busters and time-savers today to see if it helps you live a sweeter, simpler life!
Scheduled Daily Spruce-Ups: By the end of the work week, my house looks like the back of Mr. Sanford’s truck from the old sitcom “Sanford and Son.” I’m not kidding.
By the end of that same week, I am equally disheveled and tired and in need of a recharge, which is not exactly the recipe for a successful cleaning session!
Instead of jamming all of your cleaning into one exhausting day, dedicate each day to some cleaning chore in the house.
For example, Mondays are sinks and surfaces — give them all a wipe down so they are sparkling clean to start the week.
Tuesdays are dusty spaces — buy a dusting glove to keep those dust bunnies at bay!
Wednesdays are one of two vacuuming days to keep the house feeling and looking clean, while Thursdays are the day to declutter all the things that are left on the counters and staircases.
Friday is freshen up Friday and I make sure that the pantry and fridge are cleaned out and trash is removed from bedrooms.
This way, by the weekend, I am ready to vacuum (again), mop floors and tackle big ticket things like laundry and grocery shopping!
Bring your kids or roommates into the routine by assigning them a room!
Cleaning is a must in your house but when you automate it into your daily routine, it doesn’t take such a chunk of your weekend leisure time away!
Declutter now to save time later: I often tell my kids that an uncluttered brain is one that learns better — and tend to find that when my house is clutter-free, my mental state is much improved.
A simple strategy to declutter for good is to simply take five minutes a night to declutter a room.
Tackle one pile at a time, de-cluttering your house space by space.
Keep a bin at the foot of the stairs to collect any piles that linger downstairs and another bin at the top of the steps. Pick a room each night and de-clutter it for five minutes.
On Friday night, put things away and be prepared for your Saturday cleaning routine to go much smoother.
Even if you do not have time during the workweek to put everything away properly, having a place to put those piles helps eliminate a lot of mess that would otherwise make your house look a lot messier.
Keep it simple — just get a bin or basket from your existing belongings and see how it goes!
While you are at it, take a vacation day and spend the day really purging the things that are taking up too much space in your life.
Use the extra time to run things to your local Goodwill or shelter — and donate what you can.
Smart Shopping: One of the silver linings to the COVID pandemic was my discovery of online grocery shopping — and the expansion of stores offering pick-up services!
I loved how easy it was to order what I needed (grocery shopping in one’s pajamas is about the best thing ever) and then doing a series of stops the next day.
What used to take up about half of my Sunday afternoon was now accomplished in about a half-hour with my phone — usually with my feet propped up with a good Hallmark movie on in the background.
I plan meals around what is on sale anyway — and it not only streamlines my day but saves me money on those impulse buys that I was prone to get when I shopped in-store!
While I still have to shop in person for some things, I have shaved a ton of time off what was otherwise a very time-consuming chore.
If picking up items is a hurdle, consider delivery services to save even more time!
Schedule Now So You Don’t Forget About It Later: Our lives are so busy and it is very easy for the small details to fall through the cracks!
Automating some of the daily, weekly and monthly work of your life can truly add up to some serious simplification and stress reduction.
Set up all of your bills to be automatically paid each month — most credit cards and other companies will accept automatic payments and many banks offer bill paying services as part of their fees.
Have paychecks direct-deposited to save you that extra trip to the bank and consider using a grocery pick-up or delivery service for your weekly or bi-weekly food needs.
This helps simplify life and save money because I am not buying things that weren’t on my list nor am I using excess gas and mileage shopping at multiple stores.
That extra couple hours I get on the weekends can be spent doing something that makes my heart happy, like reading a book, spending time with my kids or just watching an old movie on cable.
Making little changes that take steps out of your daily routine like setting up automatic timers to water your plants or turn off your lights, signing up for automatic bill pay options or getting off junk mail lists can be an easy way to simplify life and give you more time to enjoy those waking hours!
(Editor’s Note: Kristine George is a freelance journalist who resides in Easton.)