💌 Time Well Spent: 100 Tiny Tricks to Sort Out Your Life
Hi Friends,
In the spirit of helping you free even more time this Fall, check out these 100 tiny tricks to sort out your life from Emma Beddington at The Guardian — with big thanks to Readwise for surfacing this in their weekly round-up! Here are my ten favorites:
✔️ 3. Try a triple list
The first of several list suggestions on this, er, list. “Every day I list three things I must do: one annoying task (eg, post letter), one uncomfortable one (eg, attend gym class) and one painful one (eg, no sugar). Having three of varying discomfort means I am more likely to do the lesser ones as a way to productively procrastinate on the bigger one.” Fionnula, reader
🌏 11. Monitor passports
Set a “renew passport” reminder for six months to a year before your and your family members’ passports expire, depending on your travel plans. Also keep digital scans of everyone’s passports somewhere you can easily find them.
🧺 14. Pre-sort washing
“I bought a laundry hamper with three compartments, then trained my household to sort by darks, lights and whites. Now there’s no more sorting through piles of washing. When one section is full, I just put that load on.” Anna, reader
✍️ 18. Consider your digital legacy
Make plans for your digital life after your death so your online accounts are in the hands of someone you trust. Apple users can designate a legacy contact for their Apple ID, and James Norris of the Digital Legacy Association has set up the My Wishes website, where you can create a digital will, free of charge.
👗 20. Do a passive wardrobe audit
“At the start of the year, turn all your hangers the wrong way round. By the end of the year, if anything still isn’t facing the right way, get rid of it: if you haven’t worn it for a year, you probably won’t.” Rebecca, reader
🌶️ 33. Alphabetise your spices
Quick, easy and actually useful. Who knew you had eight jars of cumin?
📲 49. ICE your phone
ICE stands for in case of emergency: you can add important medical info (allergies, blood group, health conditions) and an emergency contact on your phone so it’s accessible even from your locked screen. For Android users this feature is under “Safety and emergency” and in Apple it’s in your Health app.
🔁 53. Have a separate [recurring] bills account
“Open a new bank account, change your direct debits to that, and transfer the money to cover the month on payday. Everything that’s left is yours.” John, reader
💪 56. Try coffee planking
“Every morning I get up and make coffee for my wife and me. One cup takes one minute 18 seconds to brew, and every morning for the last 12 months I have planked for this period. Simple thing, using the dead time.” Anonymous reader
❌ 65. Say no quickly
If you have to say no to something (or want to – that’s allowed!), do it immediately. That gives the asker maximum time to find alternatives.
🩸 89. Sign up to give blood (if you can)
Signing up online at blood.co.uk (or here for the U.S.) takes five minutes, and nothing makes me feel more purposeful and worthwhile than giving a pint.
🤷🏻♀️ 100. Accept you’ll never get your life together – and that’s OK
Author Oliver Burkeman’s new book Meditations for Mortals is all about embracing “imperfectionism”. Allow yourself to imagine, he says, that you’ll never actually sort your life out. “Never fully get on top of your work, never become a really disciplined exerciser or healthy eater … always feel behind with email.” It might feel bad initially, “but then comes the sense of a heavy burden having been lifted. The pressure’s off.” If nothing else, we can all try that.
📘 101. For even more tips and systems like these to set your time free:
Ideapress and I have teamed up to bring you Free Time on Kindle for just $2.99, expiring soon! That’s 90% off the hardcover collector’s edition :)
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✍️ Write the Thing! First Wednesday of the next three months: Join us for the first co-working session on Wednesday, October 2 from 1pm ET to 1:45pm ET. This is guided co-working time (and moral support) to write what matters most: an essay, a newsletter, morning pages, an autoresponder, an invitation, an important email, a page of your book—whatever surfaces that would leave you feeling lighter ❤️
Might you also be interested in a NaNoWriMo accountability group for the month of November? If so, comment or reply and let me know :)
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027: Time Management for Mortals with Oliver Burkeman
Oliver Burkeman is asking us to reconsider what it means to "manage time." The conveyor belt of tasks is infinite, but our time most certainly is not. Instead, Burkeman says the most fundamental question is: “What would it mean to spend the only time you ever get in a way that truly feels as though you are making it count? And equally powerful: “In what ways have you yet to accept the fact that you are who you are, not the person you think you ought to be?”
Here’s to setting even more time free! 🥂
❤️ With Gratitude,
P.S. Extra Goodies Over the Paywall Rainbow 🌈💰
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