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5 Little Things To Do Each Day to Make Life Easier

5 Little Things To Do Each Day to Make Life Easier

5 LITTLE THINGS TO DO EACH DAY TO MAKE LIFE EASIER

In this post I’m sharing 5 little things to do each day to make life easier. They’re simple routines and activities that I’ve found help me keep on top of my home and my life but which don’t take up much time or energy. They just keep things ticking along every day without me really thinking about it.

WHAT YOU DO EVERY DAY MATTERS

For a minimalist I sometimes feel my life is complicated. I have the challenges of a blended family, work a ‘day job’ running our family business alongside my husband and also run this website and blog too. I have a home to manage, kids to raise, a dog to walk, plus the usual obstacles and responsibilities of adulthood.

I’d love to take it easy some days, be able to work from home, or even just pop out for a coffee on a whim and just because I feel like it. However, usually work and kids mean everything needs planning and I’ve always got one eye on the clock for where I’m meant to be next.

That being said, I do still have plenty of wiggle room, a home that’s easy to manage and a fair amount of quality time for myself and my family. I can protect my needs as a Highly Sensitive Person and an introvert and my home is my sanctuary and place to restore balance to my busy body and brain.

Although it can take some pretty big changes if you want to simplify life, it’s not all about BIG changes. The little things you do every day count too, perhaps more so.

In the words of Gretchen Rubin, “What you do every day matters more than what you do once in a while.”

In this article I’m sharing 5 little things to do every day to make life easier.

HOW TO SET THE FOUNDATION FOR AN EASIER DAY

When I was brainstorming for this article, I came up with quite a long list of things I do every day – many of which make my life easier. However, I wanted to strip it down to the bare basics. The core activities and routines which, even if I were to do nothing else on that list, these 5 tips are what I would rely on to make my day go as well as it could.

There are many other ways you can simplify your life, declutter your home and make life easier, but these 5 little things are, for me at least, the foundation for a simpler, happier and less stressful life.

Have a read and see if my 5 make it into your top 5!

5 little things to do each day to make life easier

5 LITTLE THINGS TO DO EACH DAY TO MAKE LIFE EASIER

These are my top 5 suggestions for things to do each day to make life easier. Try them out for size yourself and see how they work. Give them time to see if they make a difference to you and your life. Over that time and with repetition, they might become habits that you do almost without thinking about and which enable you to get on with other things, enjoy an easier day, or just take it slow when you need to rest a little!

1. Establish simple routines and a regular reset

Keep on top of simple household tasks such as the laundry, washing and putting the dishes away after mealtimes, make your bed every morning and put your home to bed at night. These activities only take a few minutes but they also stop the mess and clutter from building up.

You might find this article helpful with 5 ways to make housework quicker and easier. These are easy tips to speed up chores and make managing and cleaning your home achievable with minimal stress and effort.

As well as keeping up with some simple daily routines, I also like to do a regular home reset, just before mealtimes, to stop the clutter building up throughout the day. This includes returning items to their proper homes, removing any rubbish and just making sure that each room looks neat and tidy enough for me to enjoy walking into it!

2. Identify the priorities of the day

Dale Carnegie said ‘an hour of planning can save you 10 hours of doing’. Now, I’m not suggesting that you would want or have the time to spend an hour planning your day but I do think a few minutes planning the priorities of the day first thing in the morning, or in the evening the night before, can save a whole load of wasted time and effort later on during your day.

Every morning I grab a notebook and pen and write down my 3 Most Important Tasks (MITs for short) for the day, crossing them off when they’re done. Any more than about 3 can be unrealistic if I have a busy day or I’m not feeling great.

I try to get the most important, urgent or difficult one out of the way first. Mark Twain likened this big, urgent or most difficult task to eating a frog. You eat the biggest frog first so it’s out of the way and not weighing heavy on your mind.

You can read more about MITs and frogs in my article on 20 best time management tips to simplify your life. Or, you might like to learn more about how to write a simple, effective To Do list to help you get the ‘right’ things done in the most efficient way possible.

3. Create a calm but helpful evening routine

Mornings are a rush for me with kids, school and work all pressing on my time so I do as much as possible the evening before. As popular as morning routines are, a great morning routine actually starts the evening before.

I lay out my clothes and (when they were little) my girls’ clothes the night before. All the decisions about what to wear and where to find it are made calmly in the evening instead of hurriedly in the morning. I also unload the dishwasher, lay out bowls for breakfast cereal and make sure all our bags are packed before I start to unwind for the evening.

What you do before bedtime sets the tone for how well you’re going to sleep that night. Declutter your bedroom, create a peaceful environment free from distraction. Avoid too much screen time in the lead up to bedtime and focus on calming your body and mind for better quality sleep.

Here are some tips on how to declutter your bedroom and how to create an evening routine that supports you through the night and into tomorrow.

4. Create a morning routine that works for you

Evenings might be the key to a better morning and tomorrow but I do find that my mornings set the tone for the rest of my day. If I wake up late and don’t get some peace and quiet time for myself then I usually find I’m frustrated and playing catch-up for the rest of the day.

A morning routine doesn’t have to be stuffed full of yet more activities and things to do and remember. It could be as simple as staring out of the window with a warm drink in your hand.

Create your own morning routine that sets you up for the day ahead. I’ve created a special Morning Routine Planner to help you do this if you’d like some ideas and guidance.

5. Reconnect with yourself and what you want

I’m a bit of a control freak but over the years I’ve learnt to try not to worry about the things I can’t change or might not happen and focus more on the here and now. Enjoy the little things in life, be more present in life and take time to reconnect every day with yourself and what you’re feeling and thinking. Busy life has a way of disconnecting us, pushing and pulling us in different directions.

Finding ways to stress and worry less has been key to a happier me, but it’s also important to be ok with saying ‘no’ sometimes. You don’t have to accept every invitation, say yes to every request, take your kids to every activity or party. Lean into the things that serve you and lean out of the things that don’t. Click here to read more about saying no.

Sometimes, particularly if life is busy, we need to make a conscious effort to press pause in our day, slow down, and take a breather. Look out of the window, meditate at your desk, take a walk around the block. The demands of your day will still be there afterwards but you might be in a better frame of mind and body to deal with them when you’re in tune with your own thoughts and feelings.

5 little things to do each day to make life easier

MAKING THIS LIST YOUR OWN

There are many other things that we can all do to make life easier, depending on our individual circumstances and responsibilities. You might have other things to add to this list which are more relevant to your own life or which you may find more helpful.

My hope with this article is that you think about making small changes which, taken as a whole, can have big, beneficial impact in your every day.

You don’t need to change career, throw away all your stuff or cross out everything in your diary to create more ease and less stress in your day and your life. Little things count too.

RESOURCES TO HELP MAKE LIFE EASIER

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I’m Antonia and on this blog I share practical inspiration to simplify your home, time and life. Follow me on InstagramFacebook and Pinterest! You can also subscribe to Balance Through Simplicity and receive regular simplicity tips straight to your inbox for free. Make sure you never miss an article plus you’ll get a copy of my free Declutter Starter Kit as a welcome gift!

Laura

Sunday 6th of August 2023

Do you know, I can't make routines work for me. I suppose technically there are consistent aspects to what I do morning and evening, especially when I'm working, but any time I try to convert them to a checklist, I immediately feel stressed, overwhelmed and tired. I suspect that adding a structured task ("check off all items on the list") to my somewhat freestyle rhythm throws it all out of balance.

It might be an ADHD thing, as in, I need to let my mind ping-pong, and sometimes my task initiation ability is at a low ebb. I know routines work for many people, and I'd never discourage someone from trying them out! They sound so lovely, even to me - end the day with a clean kitchen, wake up to a work lunch that's already made, you know the kind of thing. But some days I'm bone tired after work and my brain has turned to goo, and I have to accept that the most important things to do are shove some more or less healthy food into my face, and go to bed.

Nonetheless, your point about doing the little things is well taken. If I'm having a good task initiation day, I take full advantage of it - rinse the dishes as soon as I'm done with them, so they can go straight into the dishwasher once the current load is clean and dry. Throw on a load of laundry in the evening instead of waiting till the weekend. The more little things I can accomplish, the less will pile up next time I'm having a challenging day.

And yes - sometimes the best thing I can do is eat a frog! LOL

Balance Through Simplicity

Sunday 6th of August 2023

Hi Laura, this is absolutely valid and something I've heard before. Routines can feel too restrictive and overwhelming and the words we use to describe things are important. Perhaps rhythms feels easier and less pressurising than routines? I also think the point about routines is that they're much like habits. We do them without thinking about them so maybe that negates the need for a checklist to 'remind' us or that we can tick off. Thank you for sharing this important viewpoint.