A Few More Tips
To save time writing this final chapter, I decided to offer 10 people $10 each for their best time-saving tip. Here’s what they told me:
For me, the biggest thing is to do stuff while you’re doing other stuff. Like throw a load of clothes in the washer and program the dishwasher to start before you go to bed. The next day, you can put up the dishes when you wake up and you can dry the clothes while you’re working out or in the evening while you’re making dinner. When you finish, it’s done. The only real work is hanging the clothes and putting them up. Other people let it pile up to the point they’re overwhelmed, and that could have been avoided if they had just done it as they go. -Laura Vigil
To me, it’s easier to spray cleaner in the shower before taking a shower. Then right before you shower you scrub it and then spray it off while taking a shower. -Laura Vigil
My biggest tip is to have a place for everything. If there’s a place for everything, then you know where it goes. If it doesn’t have a place, it doesn’t have a place in your life – get rid of it. When I clean, I put everything back where it belongs. When I buy something, it’s because I got rid of something (that I’m replacing) or because there’s a space for it. And if I loan something out, I remember because I can see that it’s missing. -Iris Cohen
Iris used to get rid of stuff and then replace it. If she got rid of a white t-shirt because it’s dingy, she would replace it with another white shirt.
Now that I’ve lived through the two years of the pandemic, I realize that I don’t need a whole lot of stuff. But I’m scared to get rid of it because I may need it one day and I’ll have to go buy it. So I’ve stopped buying and bringing in more, but the next step is to get rid of stuff I don’t need. -Laura
I have more dresses than I need, but it’s hard to get rid of them. So often, we buy dresses for a special occasion but then don’t re-wear them. Still, if you wait long enough, you can wear them again and nobody will remember.
Photo book by year – Deanna
Instead of watching TV in the evening, I watch it on my phone while cooking and washing the dishes. When I’m done with the show, I’m done eating and my dishes are watched, and then I have time to read my book. If I sit on the couch and watch Netflix, an episode ends and, 8 seconds later, the next show is on, so it’s hard to get up. -Rocio Vigil
The other thing I do that always works for me is I have a plan before leaving the house so it’s a productive outing. If I’m going to Mom’s, I run errands in between on the way since I know I’ll leave her house late, so I knock things out on the way (oil change, etc.). -Rocio Vigil