10 Tips to Make your Life Easier and More Efficient

Last Updated on September 23, 2020 by Ellen Christian

If you’re looking for tips to make your life easier, keep reading. Like most moms, I spend a lot of my day on the run. I run several home-based businesses, two blogs, and a part-time job. My schedule varies wildly from day to day and I’m never quite sure what I’m going to be doing where or when. This requires a great deal of organization or I will just completely lose my mind and not accomplish anything that needs to be done.

Tips to Make your Life Easier

Don’t give up hope. There are lots of clever ideas to make life easier even on the most hectic days. Here are a few tips to make your life easier and more efficient while on the go.

Family calendar

Have a family calendar where each member is responsible for putting all of their commitments. We have ours on the refrigerator. All my work commitments, my daughter’s work schedule, my son’s football games, my husband’s doctor appointments, etc. are all written on the correct spot as soon as we know about them. Check the calendar for tomorrow every single night after dinner so there are no surprises when your son tells you he needs 48 cupcakes that day for a class party.

Healthy choices

Pack healthy snacks in individual portions and keep them in the refrigerator at all times. When I’m hungry, I want a snack now so I grab several to take with me in the car while I’m on the go. If I don’t have something ready made for me to grab in the refrigerator, I will stop for junk on the road. Get little tubs and fill them with carrot sticks, grapes, trail mix, pretzels or whatever else hits the spot and is easy to snack on.

Use a planner

Always carry a planner or notepad with you on the road. Now that I have an iPad 2, I make sure to carry that with me and use the notepad app. You never know when you’ll need to jot down a phone number, address, reminder to add something to your calendar, a question to ask your husband or anything else that you’ll certainly forget if you don’t write it down.

Use a busy bag

When kids are little, pack a busy bag to spur of the moment runs out. Ours always had things like coloring books and crayons, matchbox cars, board books, or any other *new to them* toy that would keep them occupied for a few minutes.

Be prepared

 

Keep a first aid kit and box of wipes in the car. I can’t tell you how many times I have been out with the kids and needed a band-aid, a Tylenol or wipes to clean off dirty faces and hands. Not having your own means you have to find a store to buy it in which makes you even more behind schedule than normal.

Use the Crockpot

Have a few favorite Crockpot meals for those days that you have to be gone all day. Put it in the crockpot in the morning and you won’t be tempted to hit the pizza place on the way home. Great money saver and time saver as well. This Crockpot macaroni and cheese is one of my favorites.

Combine errands

Combine your errands so you accomplish as many as possible at once. No need to run out every single day especially with the price of gas the way it is. Do them all at once and try to limit trips to twice a week. You’ll get so much more done if you don’t have to leave home every single day.

Use a list

Make a list of things you absolutely must accomplish. Put the most important at the top and work your way down the list each day. Cross off each item as you accomplish it. What you don’t get done that day, move to the top of the list tomorrow.

Don’t forget the coffee

Make sure you start the coffee the night before. Running out of coffee is an emergency in my house. Without several cups of coffee in the morning, I don’t function. If I don’t function, nobody functions. By remembering to start the coffee, make your lunch and prepare for the day the night before, you can eliminate emergencies.

Focus on self-care

Take time to breathe. If you are stressed out and running around like a lunatic, you will forget something. Take a deep breath. Start at the top and proceed in a logical and semi-sane order. You need to care for yourself before you can care for others. Learn how important it is to pencil in fitness time.

What are your tips to make life easier and more efficient on the go? How do you make sure that things run smoothly and stay on course? I know I can always use more tips to make your life easier!