There are some little things that are little enough that they don’t quite merit their own post, yet could be immensely helpful to some of you out there. Each of the 5 things below have helped me in big and little ways, and I want to pay it forward. Hopefully, at least one of them can help you too!
Tracking expenses: Each month on one of my favorite blogs, Mrs. Frugalwoods posts her monthly expenses broken down into many categories. For a couple of years now, I have wondered how she separates her grocery costs from her home stuff costs. Then finally, she mentioned in an off-hand comment on a recent post that she runs her groceries through the self-checkout lane and her home stuff through the self-checkout lane separately. For some reason, it never occured to me to do 2 transactions! I have now done it a few times myself now and it really helps me track my spending better.
Keep from sending emails before they’re ready: When sending an email to someone (especially for work), I write the email and make sure it’s good enough before I put in the recipient’s(‘) email(s) to ensure that I don’t accidentally send the email before it’s ready. There have been countless typos caught this way!
Remember names: To help me remember someone’s name, I make sure to repeat it after them.
Example exchange:
“Hi, my name is Bill.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Bill.”
This method isn’t foolproof by any means, but it helps me remember names more times than not. And, because I use a script, I don’t have to think about the words I’m saying. I just have to think about the other person’s name.
Saving precious moments in the morning: To save a few seconds in the mornings (when it seems that every second counts), I dish up Way Pup’s food the night before when I put his bowl away after dinner. His food bowl is kept in the same container as his food, so it’s easy for me to scoop his food into the bowl the night before and leave the full bowl sitting in the container overnight, ready to grab in the morning.
Once Way Pup was weaned, I started prepping his food to save time in the mornings.
Multitasking while on the phone at work: One day a couple of years ago, a mentor and I were talking about needing to care for our nails and she casually mentioned that she files her nails during phone calls. She’s insanely busy (as in, she’s on the right end of the productivity chart I shared in this post), so she doesn’t really have time to set aside specifically for something as relatively minor as filing nails. She found that the time during phone calls works perfectly – it’s relatively mindless so she can focus on the call, it’s quiet so the speakerphone doesn’t pick up the noise, it keeps her hands busy so she doesn’t start multitasking too much, and she’s able to keep her nails at a manageable length. Now, that’s one of the ways I keep my nails looking nice(r) and stay focused during work calls.
Keeping ponytails in place when working out: I don’t know about you, but my ponytails and buns tend to fall down when I exercise and it drives me absolutely nuts! A super simple tip I found is to use 2 elastics to hold up your hair. It works every time and your hair won’t fall down or out!
Those 2 elastics will hold that ponytail up no matter how long or how far I run!
Are there any little things you’ve come across that really make a difference in your life? Please share your tips!
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Any Little Way 