Simplify Your Life

Last week I posted about how to unwind and de-stress after a long day. Today, I’d like to share with you the simple changes I’ve made in my every day life, to help stress less during the week!

Plan your meals (my number one recommendation!) 

I like to eat healthy, and I’ve found I can do this best if I cook at home, using all healthy and fresh ingredients. To use ‘fresh’ ingredients requires a weekly trip to the grocery store. Every weekend before I head to the store I plan out my meals for the week, so I know exactly which ingredients I need to buy. This not only helps me to save money on groceries I don’t need or can’t use, but also makes for very fast and efficient grocery trips!

A sample ‘menu’ for this week looks like this:
Monday – Beef stew

Tuesday – Southwest Chicken Salad

Wednesday – Salmon

Thursday – Chicken sausages and whole wheat pasta

Friday – Slow cooker chicken tacos

I know exactly what I need to buy each weekend and I can also prep my meals the night before (example, chopping up veggies or mixing sauces) so I can make them that much faster the next day. I’ve also become a fan of my slow cooker. Nothing beats coming home from a long day at work and having dinner prepared already!

I keep a magnetic notepad on my fridge with the weekly menu, as well as an ongoing shopping list so I can add things as I run out through the week.

Family Calendar

My husband and I both use Google Calendar to help us keep up to date on events and each other’s schedules. I’m sure there are other free calendars that are available as well, but Google Calendar works well since we both use Gmail.

I place events on his calendar that he needs to plan around, for example, ‘Dinner with Mom and Dad on Sunday at 1pm.’ We both have smartphones, so it makes it easy to check our calendar on the go and make plans. It’s also helpful to add to each other’s calendar when we’ll be traveling for work, so I know not to cook dinner for him or he knows not to expect me to be home.

Plan your outfits

Don’t you hate when you get the feeling ‘ugh, I have nothing to wear!’ It happens to all of us, and I’m sure it’s just because we are searching for a last minute outfit. I like to pick my outfits out the night before. This way I can steam them if they have wrinkles, choose accessories, nail polish and makeup to match. This shaves off at least 15 minutes of my morning routine…15 more minutes I get to sleep!

What are things that you do to help simplify your life? Please share!

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Disclosure: Compensation was provided by Sprint via Glam Media.  The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative of the opinions or positions of Sprint.