Tiny Tip: Don't make your life harder.

Notes to myself to eliminate hurdles of my own making that make my life more difficult.

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Tiny Tip: Wash dishes like an assembly line to save time and water.

One action at a time, transferring completed dishes to their new location as you finish them:

Put on your dish gloves.

Scrape off excess food from each dish and stack them on the counter.

Rinse them off and stack them in the sink (on the disposal side if you have a double sink).

Turn off the water.

Use a brush to scrub off any remaining debris and stack them on the counter or in the other side of the sink.

Use a wet, soapy sponge to wash each dish, saving the dirtiest ones for last. Stack them in the sink as you go.

Turn on the cold water and rinse each dish off and place it in the drying rack, on a dish towel, or on the stove (this can work well for pots and pans.

Don’t stop there!

Rinse the sink and run the disposal.

Use the brush and/or sponge to clean any debris from the sink. Rinse the brush, sponge, and sink.

Wash and remove your dish gloves, then wash your hands.

It takes a long time to describe, but once you have the rhythm of it, it goes quickly and smoothly. You’ll save time, water, and energy.

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Tiny Tip: Keep items you frequently use nearby.

Have a trashcan and a box of tissues within arm’s reach anywhere you spend a lot of time, like your desk, your bed, and your car. Also keep multiples of small personal items like lip balm, gum, and Stimudents to stash where they’ll be useful.

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Tiny Tip: Before beginning a new activity, check something off your To Do list.

A To Do list is only helpful if you check it regularly, and make time to complete the tasks on it.

If your list is in manageable chunks, it can be easy to do something from it if you do it right after you stop an activity, when your brain is transitioning to the next activity. You can sneak in something from your list before you realize what you’re doing. You may not even remember that you took care of it until you look at your list later.

Find yourself wandering into the kitchen to get some water or a snack? Grab the watering can and water the plants. Find yourself repeatedly checking your e-mail? Read or reply to one of the messages you told yourself you'd get around to "later".

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Tiny Tip: Break your To Do list into manageable tasks.

The smaller the task, the easier it is to get started on and to complete. Larger tasks can be daunting, and are too easily procrastinated. Smaller ones provide ways to progress without getting overwhelmed. Plus they give you a feeling of accomplishment, which is a good motivator.

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Tiny Tip: Brush your cat every day.

It strengthens the bond between you, especially if it becomes a ritual.  It will help to prevent hairballs (which means you won't have to clean them up!).  It will lessen the amount of cat hair and dander in your home.  And it only takes a few minutes.

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Tiny Tip: After a meal, wash your plate and fork, even if there are already dishes in the sink.

Especially if there are dishes in the sink!  Don't add to the pile.  And while you're at it, maybe do one extra plate, bowl, spoon, fork, etc.  Bonus actions, in small amounts, will make a noticeable difference in the long run.

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Tiny Tip: Do fewer loads of laundry at a time, but more frequently.

If the laundry begins to pile up, it's not long before it becomes too overwhelming to tackle.  A trip to the store to buy socks and underwear becomes more appealing than approaching the monster.  The towels and sheets start to smell.  The pile begins to suck all the joy and beauty out of the room.

The way to prevent this is to do few enough loads of laundry at a time that it no longer feels like an onerous task.  Pick a laundry day.  Once a week is fine if that's what works for you.

On the first day, if your pile is already overwhelming, just separate out the clothing you most need.  Only choose a few loads worth.  If your sheets and towels are already gross, you've lived with them that way this long, so you can leave them be if another week won't hurt. Wash, dry, and put away the laundry you've chosen.

On the second laundry day, choose one or two loads of clothing from what you've worn since the last wash (e.g. darks and jeans, lights and delicates, etc.), then add some of the older unwashed clothes if there's room.  For your last load, choose either towels, sheets, or a pile from the monster.  Wash, dry, and put away the laundry you've chosen.

Repeat this weekly until laundry mountain has faded into nothingness.

When you're tackling the monster, ask yourself whether each piece of clothing is something you actually like, is in wearable condition, and fits you well.  If not, toss it.  If you can't bring yourself to do that, put them in a plastic bag, mark the date on it, and when you come back to it in 6 months or a year, if you haven't missed any of the clothes (hint: have you dug through the bag to retrieve them?), toss them.

Now that the laundry monster has been vanquished, you can set up a rhythm.  One week, do dark clothing, jeans, and towels.  The next week, do light clothing, delicates, and sheets.  Alternate.

Once you have this down, the new rhythm will keep laundry a manageable task.

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Tiny Tip: Use the things you like--don't save them.

If you have more than one of an item, and you like one best, use it.  Do you find yourself using the one you like least, hoping it will eventually break or wear out so you can get rid of it and start using the one you really like?  Don't deprive yourself of enjoying what you already have.  Get rid of the one you don't like.  If you really need it as a backup, then put it away somewhere else, so you don't automatically reach for it.

The life you're living is the only one you have.  Get what enjoyment out of it you can.

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Tiny Tip: Run the dishwasher when you need clean dishes.

You don't have to wait until the dishwasher is full to run it.  When you use the last fork, spoon, plate, glass, or whatever you go through quickly--run the dishwasher then.  There's no need to dig dishes out of the dishwasher to do by hand.

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Tiny Tip: Take the trash out before it overflows.

Taking the trash out before it is full can seem wasteful.  But waiting until it is full often leads to it overflowing.  And once trash is piling up outside of the can, it's unsightly and disheartening.

If you can, take the trash and recycling down on the same day each week or two.  Maybe alternate--trash one week, recycling the next.

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Tiny Tip: Don't make your life harder.

Life is already full of difficulties.  Don't put unnecessary hurdles in your way, and get rid of the ones that are already there.