Simple Ways To Make Your Life Easier

Sometimes the simplest thing can help you accomplish so much more. Like tying your shoe the right way! Sounds silly, right? I thought so too, but humor me for a minute. I found a video of the very first three-minute TED talk in 2005 where Terry Moore told his audience that many of them were actually tying their shoes incorrectly…as he had been doing until about three years prior!

As it turns out, there is a “strong form” of the knot used to tie your shoes, and it can make your life the teensiest bit easier because it won’t come untied as often as the “weak form” of the knot.

So, in honor of Moore’s statement that, “Sometimes a small advantage somewhere in life can yield tremendous results someplace else,” here is a list of things you can do to gain a small advantage here and there:

• Sleep in your workout clothes: Do you exercise in the morning to get yourself going and to stay healthy? Sleep in the clothes you workout in. Eliminate that extra step and save a few valuable minutes.
• Lay your outfit out the night before: I try to do this as much as possible. It’s one less thing to think about when you’re running out the door. Save some time in the morning by deciding what to wear before you go to sleep. You can try on as many options as you please without cutting into your morning routine or running late to work because you can’t decide what to wear.
• Check the weather: Sure, the weather report isn’t always accurate, but checking the forecast before you go to sleep will give you some idea of what to expect when you wake up. I’m obsessed with an app called “Dark Sky” — it will tell you down to the minute when it’s going to start raining. That way you’re never caught without an umbrella again.
• Prepare breakfast the night before: Making breakfast takes time in the morning, but you can save a few minutes by preparing the basics ahead of time. Schedule your coffee maker, gather key ingredients and keep them refrigerated, anything that doesn’t need to wait until the morning. One of my favorite tricks is to make fritatta muffins over the weekend and heat them up in the morning before work. If you bring your own lunch to work, prepare lunch the night before too!
• Make a list of things you need to get done before leaving the house: If you need to remember to do something important before heading out to start your day, make a list the night before. Make sure you put it somewhere you’ll see it! Use sticky notes on your bathroom mirror, leave note by the front door, or even set reminders on your phone to go off a few minutes before you normally leave.