Sarah and I got together right before Thanksgiving, so we were able to record this episode together in person! This week, we talk about little life hacks — small ways to make the rest of life easier. We take turns sharing some of our favorites, from buying an extra if you like something, to various keyboard shortcuts.
In the Q&A, a listener writes in asking about activities for teens and tweens — what are some things this age group will be excited to do with the family? This definitely gets challenging as the kids get older! (Though Starbucks probably features prominently…)
Please give the episode a listen! And please consider joining our Patreon community. Next week Thursday (12/19) we’ll be hosting our annual goal-setting workshop. Sarah will lead us in various exercises to figure out the upcoming year. Membership is $9/month (and you can quit at any point).
This episode is about tips to make the rest of life easier. As a result, I have written down the actual list of tips that you and Dr. Sarah Hart-Unger have come up with, where you can tell me what you think of the summary that I wrote, Ms. Laura Vanderkam.
1. Default to a single airline if one has multiple airports around where one lives.
2. Wash everything together on cold.
3. When running low on something one uses regularly, replace it with at least two. Also, If one has an item that one truly loves and it is the sort of thing that might wear out, like, go ahead and buy more of it, because at some point they’re going to stop making it. This tip can be questionable if one lives in an apartment that is smaller than a certain size, and I’m not sure what Ms. Shira Gill from the previous episode will think of this tip.
4. One can buy gift tags for someone and then save and reuse and repurpose them year to year.
5. If one just wants to procure one’s orders, ordering ahead on the mobile app is like the best thing ever. Appears to be applicable to Starbucks, American Airlines, Marriott Bonvoy, other hotel chains, et cetera.
6. For people who get cold a lot: a). Switch on the seat warmer in one’s car, b). Use two towels when getting out of the shower, and c). Purchase hot hands in bulk for one’s pockets.
7. Text expansion. An example would be EPIC the Electronic Health Record software. This tip does not appear to be useful for both Ms. Laura Vanderkam and Dr. Sarah Hart-Unger though.
8. If one is in a holiday mood at some point other than December, one thing that one can do is get old December editions of magazines in libraries. “Better Homes and Gardens”, for instance.
9. If one has sports that are going a little bit late when we’re plating dinner for everyone, just plate his/her dinner too and have it set as a plate to be heated, versus having to like go back in and get it out and get the serving spoon again.
10. If one needs to remember anything in one’s life, one should set an alarm like on one’s phone. One can also write things on one’s hand.
11. Embrace repetition when it works. This is a fine balance. We want to avoid always repeating everything everyday and making past years just fall into memory sinkholes. At the same time, there are certain things where like if we know something works, to just like stick with it and make our lives easier. Examples of things that Dr. Sarah Hart-Unger repeats because she loves them: Signature dish; wearing scrubs; vacation destinations.
12. Set the next date. This applies to basically everything. Doctor’s appointments, book club, check-ins with one’s teacher, a date with a friend, really anything that one does that one wants to do again.
13. Consider putting socks by the door. Dr. Sarah Hart-Unger pointed out that she hasn’t done it either though.
14. Avoid diluting liquids – which in this case refers to beverages – by putting in blocks of the solid phase – also known as the ice that is made – of those same liquids.
Now, I also know a company called “Vicks” that made a commercial that is about a med that it makes, “NyQuil”, which the company claims to address cold. Specifically, they claim that one will take NyQuil so that one can sleep with the cold. I don’t have the need to take NyQuil, so I have no idea about its effects. I think I’ll need to ask Dr. Sarah Hart-Unger about its effects. I’d also like to see how effective NyQuil is to make COVID patients sleep with COVID.
I also suspect that you’ve already mentioned this one in one of your past episodes, Ms. Laur Vanderkam: Charging one’s devices at night before one goes to sleep. I wonder what you think of it.
Yes to separate loads of laundry!! I grew up with a hamper for everyone after my mom had memories of sorting laundry daily for her parents and her 6 siblings. I briefly tried doing my kids laundry together when my secure was a baby and couldn’t believe how long the sorting took, even with clearly different sizes. Plus separate hampers makes it easy for someone to do their own laundry whenever they want!
@Amelia – yes to people being able to do their own laundry! My husband and I now each do our own and can choose whatever rhythm works for us. There’s really no reason for adults to combine this.