#AMonthofFaves 17 Simple and Effective #LifeHacks We Used in 2017

These are some of the little tweaks we made to our life – #lifehacks if you will – that made things just a little bit easier to do.

❧ Tanya–

+ An Altoids tin makes an awesome case for earbuds. I stopped misplacing mine after doing this.

+ Garage door Keypad. I have boys that lose their keys ALL.THE.DAMN.TIME. Adding an outdoor keypad to the garage means no keys necessary to enter the house. They only have to remember the code to get in.

+ Speak quietly to force people to listen to you. WORKS EVERY TIME – whether at home or at work.

+ Buy multiple phone chargers and put them everywhere. Start with one for the car, one for the house – in the kitchen and bedroom and one at work.

+ Have a ELECTRONICS travel kit. See above – it will have spare chargers for your devices, headphones, USB cable and an extra battery pack.

+ Some things are just worth the money … i.e. wash and fold laundry service and cleaning service for the days when you just can’t even.

+ Microwave a bowl of vinegar to boiling and then wipe it clean. This works to soften hard stains.

+ Keep Post-It notes in your planner. On these go tentative travel dates, meeting notes and any other quick information that needs noting. Afterwards I transfer it to whatever section it needs to go in.

❧ Kim – 

+ Toy rotation to eliminate my 3 year old whining about being bored.

+ Shared Google calendar with my husband (plus reminders!) so he always knows what’s going on with everyone else.

+ Packing a cute lunchbox and sticking it in the fridge every day for my 3 year old’s lunch means that he thinks it’s so cool he actually eats all his food. Totally worth the effort.

+ Using the voice feature on my phone to record myself thinking out loud. I can’t tell you how many times a random idea/thought/reminder pops in to my head only to be forgotten by the time I get a chance to write it down.

+ Utilizing the grocery order and pick up feature means I don’t have to drag two kiddos through the store. I take my time ordering what I want online the night before and then pick it up on my way to take the kiddo to preschool. It’s free some places and $5 at the other place. I’ll gladly pay it.

+ Leave it in the car always: diapers, change of clothes, snacks, etc. I have a bin that I keep in the back of the car with everything I could ever need … just in case. Then I don’t have to carry a diaper bag around (and repack it every damn day) unless I won’t be getting back to the car for a few hours.

+ Always carry gum. Never fails to stop the “I’m hungry” whining from my 3 year old.

+ More than one book going at a time. I used to be a ‘one book at a time’ reader but I’ve found that having more than one book (in different genres or on different topics) going at a time has almost completely eliminated reading pauses for me. If I’m not feeling my current read, I just pick up my other current read, rather than just not reading anything for a few days.

+ Using a carabiner as a keychain. As a mom, I’m carrying a lot of crap all the time plus a carseat usually. I frequently set my keys down while buckling kiddos in the car, and then spend 20 minutes trying to locate them again. Now, I just clip them to my bag (so quick) and un-clip when I need them.

Share one of your most used lifehacks with us! And if you’re participating in #AMonthofFaves – add your blog post (or social media link) to the linky below.

(Photo by Thought Catalog on Unsplash)