15+ Ways To Make Your Life Easier In The New Year

So these aren’t resolutions. They’re just small steps that you can take to simplify your life and make positive changes this year. If you’re looking for a resolution, though, we have a list of 5 Healthy New Year’s Resolutions To Make that you might want to check out too.

Ways To Make Your Life Easier In The New Year

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Set up Amazon subscriptions

We order so much from Amazon, just like most people do. A lot of that, like vitamins and floss picks, are repeat purchases.

And for a while, any time our vitamins would get low, I’d order more. That works, but once I figured out Subscribe & Save, my life was changed forever.

I did a little bit of math on how many vitamins come in a container, how many we take per day, and then set up a subscription so those vitamins come to our door a day or two before the bottle is empty. Same with floss picks.

You can set it up for so many things, like food items you pack for lunch weekly, face cream you use daily, on and on.

Sure, it’s easy enough to just order things when you need them, but having things autoship is just brilliant. Plus, you usually get a discount on subscribe and save orders, so you’re saving money too.

Set a laundry schedule

A laundry schedule is something I started when we moved into our house, and it has been a huge help.

On Mondays, I do my regular laundry. On Tuesdays, I do towels. On Friday, Pete does his laundry. We make sure to follow this schedule every week and it helps to keep us on track. It also assures we don’t get super behind on laundry.

Of course, there are a few extra loads thrown in, like when we have company or need to wash the sheets. But I make sure to never miss Monday and Tuesday. And if I don’t need anything done on Monday, that’s when I’ll wash the curtains or bathmats.

I know some people have kids and more laundry than us, so just add another day during the week and keep those your laundry days. By knowing you have days off from laundry, it keeps the whole task from getting overwhelming.

Bonus tip: Laundry doesn’t have to be expensive. Our Simple Tips To Save Money On Laundry will help you save.

Meal plan

Cooking at home can save you some money. So, at the start of a new year, people say they’re going to cook at home more. But, the thing about that is you actually have to decide what to cook for dinner. And then you have to grocery shop for those ingredients.

Doing that on a daily basis really takes up too much time.

So you need to meal plan.

At the beginning of the week, make a list of everything you’re going to cook for the week, then write down the ingredients you need. Pick them up the next time you’re grocery shopping. That way, you have everything you need when it’s time to cook.

And, while you’re planning your meals, go through your coupons and cash back apps to see if you can get a discount on anything this week. That way, you can save more money.

Bonus tip: If you’re looking for new recipes to try, we have a ton of recipes on Drugstore Divas to choose from.

Bulk cook

For a long time, I was making 2 Ingredient Dough Bagels every Sunday. I would make a triple batch, which was enough bagels for the week. Then, in the morning, breakfast was already ready. We didn’t have to think about what to have, look for ingredients, and cook. Just grab a bagel and that’s it.

I’ll also bulk cook other breakfast items too, like chocolate chip pancakes or egg cups and freeze them so they’re ready when we want them.

You can do that with other meals too, like soup or burgers. Make more than you need for dinner that night and then freeze the second portion. You can have it for dinner in the future when you need something easy.

Set your coffee maker

Pete leaves for work before I do. What he does, which is the best, is he will set the coffee maker to be ready for me when I wake up. That way, all I have to do is pour a cup. In the long run, it only saves me a few minutes in the morning, but those are critical minutes before my brain starts working.

If you don’t drink hot coffee, even better. You can make an entire week’s worth of cold brew coffee. Then, all you have to do is wake up, pour yourself a cup, and you’re ready to go.

Get a robot vacuum

I got myself a robot vacuum a few years ago and it was a game changer.

It’s amazing. The one thing I never have time for is vacuuming. So now, it doesn’t matter. I just run the robot vacuum and all I really have to worry about is bringing it upstairs when it’s done downstairs. It’s so easy. And it leaves me time for anything and everything else.

You can program the vacuum too so it can run on is own. I haven’t done that yet, but that would be a huge help if I worked outside of the home.

Bonus tip: We also have an automower, which I describe as a robot vacuum for the lawn. It’s so incredibly easy to operate from a mobile app and saves us so much time because we (and by we, I mean Pete) don’t have to mow.

It’s expensive, but it’s worth every penny.

Set birthdays into your Google calendar

I’m really good at remembering people’s birthdays. It’s just one of my things. So I can pretty much assure I’ll be able to text everyone happy birthday throughout the year.

But I don’t expect everyone to be that good. And Facebook doesn’t always have everyone’s birthdays. And, believe it or not, not everyone is on Facebook.

So what you should do is set everyone’s birthdays into your Google calendar. Then, set an alert for them. On that day, your calendar (or phone, if you have them synced) will remind you it’s someone’s birthday. It’s an easy way to assure you don’t miss anyone’s birthday, and you won’t have to fill your head with dates either.

Time block

I work at home, so it’s super easy to get distracted. I’m working and then the doorbell rings. Or the laundry beeps. Or someone texts.

I get distracted and then it takes a few minutes to get back on track. And losing all those minutes really adds up during the day.

Time blocking is a huge help with me staying focused. I’ll set an hour for work, an hour for cleaning, time for a lunch break, and then 20 minutes or so where I can just sit and take a break from all that. (Okay, it’s not exactly like that because I work way more than I clean, but you get the idea.)

Giving myself an actual time block where it’s okay to get distracted actually helps me to focus during the time when I need to be working or cleaning.

Just say no

I know. That’s the slogan from the 80’s about avoiding drugs, but it can also be your way to avoid things you don’t want to do.

You can say no to things, and that’s okay. No is a full sentence, by the way.

I think we all get into a bad habit of saying yes to things when we want to say no. If you don’t want to go out one night, then say no. You won’t lose your friends if you say no sometimes. I wouldn’t say no all the time unless you’re going through some stuff because that might start to result in less invitations, but sometimes, no is okay. Sometimes, you have to take care of your mental health. And staying in may do that.

And it’s not just going out. Sometimes, you can’t help a coworker with a project because you’re working on your own. Or you can’t babysit because you have something else going on. Instead of spreading yourself thin and stressing yourself out, it’s okay to set boundaries and say no sometimes.

Take walks

I love going for walks. They’ve always been my favorite way to work out. But they’re a great way to take a break and destress too. If you’re getting yourself stressed or worked up about something, just pause and take a break.

But, instead of taking a break to eat ice cream and watch TV, take a walk and get some fresh air. That way, you’re stepping away from whatever you’re doing, which is good for your mind, but you’re also doing something good for your physical health as well.

And, if you’d rather not walk because it’s a little boring, go for a run or bike ride or exercise. Whatever you can do to get your body active is best.

This helps if you are trying to make a decision too. I just heard something that said if you’re getting stressed over a decision, step outside. It helps your mind focus and decide on things.

Bonus tip: There are a few Apps To Earn Rewards For Using Your Fitbit, so you can make money from incorporating regular exercise into your daily schedule. That’s a good incentive if you ask me.

Reply right away

I remember being young and learning the word “telecrastination.” It was when you would wait for the phone to ring twice before you answered so you didn’t look desperate. I understand it, but it’s sort of ridiculous. 

Today’s equivalent of that is waiting a while before you reply to a text or email because you don’t want to be the person who replies instantly.

But you know what? That means you are stuck thinking about that text or email until you actually do reply. That’s an unnecessary burden to carry in your brain. Just reply and move on with your day.

And, honestly, if you don’t reply right away, there’s a very good chance you’ll forget to reply at all.

Make your bed as soon as you get up

Making your bed seems like such a futile chore. You’re going to sleep in it that night again, and then have to make it again, so why not just stop the cycle and have an unmade bed. I used to buy into that theory, until I heard the commencement speech from Admiral William H. McCraven that went viral.

You can read the whole thing here, but one of his pieces of advice is to make your bed every morning.

Part of what he says about making your bed is: “If you make your bed every morning you will have accomplished the first task of the day. It will give you a small sense of pride, and it will encourage you to do another task and another and another.”

Know your price points

Knowing my price points makes my life so easy when I’m grocery shopping. It makes me really good at The Price Is Right too because I know what things cost and I know exactly how much I’m willing to pay for things.

So, when I’m in the grocery store and I see something on sale or on clearance, I can quickly decide if it’s a good deal.

If it is a good price, it goes in my cart. If it’s not, it doesn’t. I don’t sit there, wasting minutes of my day, going back and forth, trying to figure out if I should buy it or not.

And if I do sit there for forever, I just put it in my cart so I can move on with my life.

Clean the things you don’t want to clean

I hate cleaning the bathroom. Hate it. I would just completely avoid it if I could. But I can’t. So instead, I clean it weekly. That way, it’s not completely unbearable when I actually do have to clean it.

But, of course, I don’t agonize over it either. I power clean the bathroom in 10 minutes and call it a day. Then, when it’s time to deep clean, it’s not that bad.

Bonus tip: To help with your cleaning, we have our Ultimate Guide To Spring Cleaning. There are tips by room (the bathroom, living room, bedroom, guest room, laundry room) and then generic cleaning tips.

Don’t limit your social media time

There are a ton of people who take social media breaks because they think it’s good for their minds. Maybe it is, if your timeline is filled with toxic friends. If that’s the case, though, just unfollow or mute them.

Honestly, social media can be fun.

I love scrolling through Instagram and seeing what people are up to. If you do too, then just let yourself enjoy it. Go on Facebook, scroll, and enjoy. Don’t make yourself feel guilty about going on, and don’t restrict yourself to a certain amount of time (or none at all). That will actually get you to focus an unhealthy amount of time on social media. You’ll be spending more time thinking about it than you’d actually spend on it in the first place.

Order out

I cook pretty much every meal at home. I work at home, so that means breakfast and lunch as well as dinner. It gets to be a lot.

Sometime, you just have to order out. Or, what I do, is just buy a frozen pizza for dinner.

Don’t worry about finding the healthiest option or feeling guilty that you’re not making dinner from scratch. Sometimes, you just can’t. You don’t have the time or the energy. And that’s okay. “Fed is best” goes for adults too.

Instead of beating yourself up, just remind yourself that the easiest thing to do today is to have someone else cook your dinner for your family. You can cook for them tomorrow.

Bonus tip: If you just don’t have the spoons to cook or to go get your take out order, have it delivered by DoorDash, Goldbelly, or Instacart.

What ways to make your life easier in the new year are you going to start? Let us know in the comments.