My life hacks

 

A new challenge asks what are our life hacks. Which tips do we have to make our lives a little easier? It is not the first time that a blog challenge takes this topic. I blogged about it 5 years ago already.  I guess it is valid to see if I have new points or not after 5 years: 

1. Marry a man who can cook and helps in the household.
   
   Seriously now that Jan doesn't travel any more in this pandemic I realise how easy it is when he's home and helping so much.  I've hardly cooked at all this year.   
   
   It sounds like a ridiculous hack and obviously finding a life partner is not something that you can force just like that.  But being able to split the workload and help each other must be the best life hack you canhave.  It does make a big difference. 
   
   
2. Presorting in different laundry baskets
   
   I still believe this one of our smartest moves when renovating this house: setting up the space in the closets for minimum 3 different laundry baskets in which we immediately presort all laundry. Even the children understand now that their underwear goes in the 2nd basket, most stuff in the first , towels and sheets in the last.  
   Doing laundry is easy and doesn't cost any time: one of the baskets is full: throw it in the laundry machine at the right designated temperature.   No extra time lost to sort.  
   
   
3. Make children help
   
   When we clean the house or fold laundry or we cut/wash vegetables for fresh soup or so, we all help.  Also the children get their little task.  Obviously at their age you can't count on them for a big part of the work and they need supervision. But every bit that is done is done, and at the same time they are not getting into trouble somewhere elsewhere. 
   
   So eg when we fold laundry, Jan and I tackle the big pieces and all underpants and socks are for the children. 
   
   
4. To do shopping list
   
   5 years ago I listed our Wunderlist app, but that has been replaced by Microsoft To Do. I still enjoy that it is free, online on any device and shared among people. As a result Jan and I both add things to our grocery lists and tick off when in a store. 
   
   
5. LastPass
   
   All my passwords are managed in LastPass and with the Chrome extension I can get them fill in my passwords where needed. 
   
   
6.  Setting up 2 computer screens at my desk.
   
   All of my team has had 2 screens all of their lives but I have always worked on one. At home I had invested in my own screen to work properly and ergonomically at home but we all received a new better one for homeworking and so now I combined them. Eureka. I couldn't work without it anymore. So practical to have things to look up and work on one, and have some overviews and conversation in a 2nd one.
   
   
7. Walking meetings
   
   In order to get enough  movement and fresh air, Jan has taken up the habit to have at least one outdoor walking meeting per day. I tested it recently and it's quite fun. If you know it is a one-2-one meeting that doesn't require screensharing but is more about talking to each other, you can perfectly do it on your phone with headset outside in nature.  
   
   
8. Food delivery and grocery shopping delivery
   
   We are in lockdowns. What can I say. We already enjoyed home delivery services before but are now really mastering it .   The joy of living in a city.