In an effort to simplify my life and make our home easier to manage (more on how to simplify your home here), I’ve adopted some time-saving home hacks along the way. Here are some of my favorite ways to simplify your life:

EASY WAYS TO SIMPLIFY YOUR LIFE

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1. USE A ROBO-VAC

I did not understand the value this would create in my life until I tried it out for myself. Last summer, after much consideration, I decided to try out this Eufy robo-vac. (Do you see it cleaning my floors in the picture above?) I knew I could return it if I didn’t love it, so I figured it was worth the shot.

We have two dogs and five people living in a small home, so keeping dog hair, crumbs, and dirt swept up off the floor is a never ending task. And now, months later, I can say that my floors consistently look, feel, and stay much cleaner with Eufy on the job.

When I first got the Eufy, I would just turn it on when my floors looked like they needed a good vacuum, but I have been much happier with it since I programed it to clean my floors every morning at 8 a.m. Since it seems to be a bit random in it’s method of vacuuming, I think it’s the consistency of it vacuuming every day that makes the biggest difference in our home.

It takes about 1.5 – 2 hrs to go around my house before it heads back to its home base to charge. And I know that even if I get nothing else done that day, at least my floors were vacuumed! (Tip : Make sure all shoe laces, cords, and anything else that can get sucked into the vacuum are all picked up.)

2. ORDER GROCERIES ONLINE

Ordering some of our groceries online has also been a great way to save time and money. For one thing, when I create my online order, I’m only shopping for the things we need, so I don’t buy things impulsively like I do when I go into the store.

I can also check my pantry to see if I need something before adding it to my shopping cart, which prevents over-purchasing products. Of course, I need to factor in the cost of a delivery fee and tip, but overall, I save both shopping and driving time as well as money in gas and unnecessary purchases.

3. SKIP FOLDING KIDS CLOTHES

I haven’t yet been able to completely adopt this time-saving hack because I am a little type A and this goes against my natural instinct. But I’ve been practicing incorporating this into our daily lives.

Often, when I’ve opened a kid’s drawer, I’ve noticed that it doesn’t really matter whether I folded their clothes or not because everything just ends up shuffled around and tossed about. So why not just save some time and skip that particular chore?

Even younger kids can sort and put their clothes away in drawers, so if you skip the folding part, you can just hand the basket of clean clothes over to your kids for them to put away.

4. CREATE DAILY/WEEKLY ROUTINES

Having daily/weekly routines helps keep your home tidy, so jobs don’t build up, forcing you to play catch up later. Consider creating a weekly cleaning routine, like clean bathrooms on Mondays, dust and clean mirrors on Wednesdays, vacuum and mop floors on Fridays.

Here are some more ideas :

• Squeegee the bathroom shower glass after taking a shower.
• Run a load of dishes every night and put them away in the morning.
• Do one load of laundry from start to finish (including folding and putting away) every day.
• Make the bed in the morning.
• Before leaving to run errands, try to have the main living areas and kitchen picked up so you come back to a clean house.
• Clean/wipe down the counters after each meal time.
• Once a week, wash everyone’s bath towel and hang them straight back up. (No folding involved.)

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5. RESET YOUR HOME EACH EVENING

A quick clean-up of your main living areas (living room, dining room, and kitchen) in the evenings helps set you up for a successful morning the next day.

Put shoes away, straighten the couch cushions, put dirty dishes in the dishwasher to be washed, wipe down the counters, and make sure backpacks, lunch boxes, and keys are located and ready for the morning commute to work and school. We also like to have the coffee set up and ready to brew first thing in the morning.

Mornings can often be chaotic, but when you reset your home in the evenings, your mornings will run smoother. Dishes will be clean and ready for breakfast. Shoes, keys, and lunch boxes will be ready to grab on the way out the door. Not to mention, it just feels good to wake up to a tidy house.

6. REPEAT FAVORITE MEALS WEEKLY

Several nights out of the week, we have favorite meals that are always the same. For instance, Tuesdays are always tacos, Saturdays are always hamburgers, and Sundays are waffles topped with fresh strawberries.

On these nights, I don’t have to try to think of a meal, so it takes no brain power to plan for dinner. Other options might be Fridays are always pizza or Mondays are always scrambled eggs and bacon.

Just choose easy dinners that your family enjoys. This simplifies dinners so you only have to plan meals for a few nights out of the week.

What are some of your best time-saving hacks that help simplify your life?