What would you give to make your life easier? With so many “life hacks” floating around online, it can be tricky to know beforehand what is helpful and what is essentially made for going viral and are, in reality, a waste of time?
Because life can be complicated enough on its own, it’s easy to become overburdened and feel overwhelmed. However, it is possible to make things significantly more manageable if you plan ahead of time and put some thought into it. From working, raising a family, studying, playdates, socializing, and more, never have our lives been more stretched in different directions. So finding ways to save you time and reduce the need to overcomplicate things is vital.
This post looks at some of the best ways to simplify your life and improve efficiency.
Online Banking
At times, going distal can be a massive benefit to people’s lives. Making sure you are signed up to your bank’s online banking services can save you time and worry. You can check your checking account, download a mobile wallet from Provident State Bank, and protect yourself against fraud all at the same time. If you find yourself spending a lot of time conversing with your bank, switching to a digital account and taking care of business online can remove the need to head to the bank as frequently and remove the hassle of performing specific banking actions.
Have A Lie In
When it comes to life hacks, waking up early gets a lot of attention. But research reveals that sleeping just 30 minutes longer than you usually do can significantly impact your productivity by reducing daytime sleepiness, weariness, and tension.
If you can’t afford to stay in bed longer, try going to bed earlier to get some extra rest the night before a busy day.
Automate Your Bills
Instead of wasting time wondering about when your bills are due, how much money you should put aside each month, and how your investments are performing, make use of what technology has to offer and set up automated transfers, bill payments, and investing activities to save you time and stress.
Utilize the potential of automation for savings, insurance, and investments, and watch your world change overnight. Remove the temptation to put things off and delay paying bills by getting payments set up to be delivered on time to remove the worry and allow you to manage your finances better.
Organize Your Budget
Whether you need to make savings or identify where you spend your money, having a budget or spending tracker can help you keep track of bills payments and spending. Maybe you need to make your money last longer and identify where you can cut back a little, or you need to get tough and stop your spending and create better financial habits. A budget can be the best way to do this in the future.
Change One Habit A Month
Deciding to make a positive change in your life is unquestionably a significant step. However, rather than overhauling one fundamental aspect of your life at once—for example, if you want to become more productive, you might decide to wake up earlier in the morning, put your phone away during the day, and stop multitasking—experts recommend tackling one thing at a time, with one new habit per month.
Find Your Golden Hour
A study conducted at the University of California discovered that most people’s attention span begins to decline from 11 AM and peaks between 2 and 3 PM, after which it decreases dramatically. By devoting this afternoon hour to your most important and most challenging work, you’ll be able to take advantage of your brain’s natural peak concentration capacity.
However, if this doesn’t work for you, keep track of when you are at your most productive and aim to get your most challenging tasks completed at this time.
Create Two Calendars
Firstly, you want a calendar that has all of your must-do tasks on. It seems a bit extreme, but it can be a life-changer! Think birthdays, anniversaries, doctor’s appointments, work meetings, and so on. Anything you absolutely must get done goes on calendar one.
Then create a separate one for those tasks you can reasonably afford not to do. This will be more of a social-type calendar. Drinks with friends, playdates, even catching up on the new Netflix show. Doing this can be especially useful if you find you have busier months than others and you need to schedule a break. This way, you can move around those not so essential recreational tasks as and when you need to to make sure you are at your best for everything you need to do without overscheduling yourself.
Organize Your Wardrobe
Plan your wardrobe by outfits. Put all the different colors together that you typically wear, including tops, bottoms, and shoes. When you come to get dressed each day, you don’t need to sift through mounds of clothing; each outfit is already paired together so you can grab, get dressed and go with little to no thought.
Drink More Water
Your body is around 60% water, and dehydration affects the performance of so many parts of your body. Noone’s body can function appropriately without adequate water intake. Consistent hydration can help you lose weight, reduce joint discomfort, flush out waste and bacteria, prevent headaches, improve skin tone, and boost overall performance. Drink at least 16oz (500mL) of water as soon as you wake up. Once you regularly start increasing your water intake to a consistent level, you will become more alert, and even notice your energy levels are rising.
Workout In The Morning
Exercising first thing in the morning boosts metabolism and keeps it elevated for hours. And because you exercise in the morning, you burn more calories all day. If you commit to working out in the morning, you’re less likely to be distracted. Plus, you won’t be too tired to exercise following a long day at work. Did you know that people who exercise in the morning are more likely to keep to their plans than those who exercise after work? Worth thinking about if you find yourself with a busy schedule post work!
The trick to making your life easier and more efficient is to make small, consistent changes you can stick to. Change one thing, then when you are comfortable with the changes, change something else and so on until you find that sweet spot that works for you.