Everyday life can be a bitch sometimes.  It can really get you down and it can feel like there is a never ending pile of stuff to do.  Here are my tips to help life run that little bit more smoothly.

1. Declutter during the ad breaks.  I hate cleaning. I have made no secret of that fact, so I tend to procrastinate about doing it all of the time.  I found that doing it in lots of small increments makes it feel like less.  So I get up during the ad breaks and clear a space. It’s amazing what you can get done in the space of an hour long TV show!
2. Write your shopping list in the notes section of your phone.  I always take my phone with me when I leave the house but I rarely remember to take a note if I have written it on a piece of paper.  Plus I usually have my phone with me when I am at home so I can add stuff to it as I think of it.
3. If your child wants to have an hour long bath, let them.  Seriously.  Mr 5 is his most happy when he is in the bath. It’s generally a quiet and calm time of the day.  I will even chuck him in the bath in the middle of the day if he is not in a particularly good mood.
4. Pay your bills weekly. This has been the best budgeting decision I have ever made. I love that I have little bills arrive now instead of trying to work out how I am going to both eat and pay my bills at the end of the month.
5. Make and freeze sandwiches.  Obviously this only words with spreads, but I make up a batch of sandwiches when bread is on sale so that Mr 5 will always have sandwiches for Kindy.  Especially on those days when time is not on your side.
6. Empty bottles can be used to separate eggs.  This one wasn’t created by me.  It’s hard to explain so I will give you this video.  It definitely works. It was a life saver while cooking all of the stuff for Mr 5’s party.

7. Have separate toy bins for different types of toys.  This one might seem like a no brainer but it really does save a lot of time, especially when getting little hands to help you clean up.  It’s easy to create a game out of cleaning up when you can tell your child that they have to put all of the cars in the red bucket, and not just boring old throw all of the toys in that toy box.  You can also make it a race for those competitive kids.

8. Use sticky notes to label cords when storing them.  The trouble with having lots of different devices with similar cords is that often you grab the wrong one, or you have to do a trial and error to find the right one.  Just write on the label what the cord is for, loop it over the cord and stick the two ends together. Voila you have a nice bright label for all of your cords!

9. Even simple routines can help.  At the moment I have a poster on my kitchen wall that outlines our routine.  It’s a straight forward wake up, do stuff, go to bed kind of routine.  It’s helped immensely and I do notice a difference when we don’t stick to it.  Routines aren’t for everyone, find one that works for you.

10. Get out of bed, have a shower, get dressed before your body realises what you are doing.  If I let myself wake up before getting ready then I find that it takes me a while to get going.  However if I get straight out of bed, straight into the shower and get dressed before I have a chance to realise what’s going on, then I am able to get on with my day a lot quicker.  I’m by no means a morning person, but it certainly helps to get me moving when I have stuff to do in the morning.

What do you do each day to make your life easier?  Have you tried the egg trick?

Linking up with Kirsty for I must confess!