Random things that can make your life easier!

Hey, friends! This post is inspired by a quick hallway conversation I had with my studio leader at the gym last week. I have to thank her for it, because sometimes I need inspiration to keep the old blog running, you know?

And this is one I think you may enjoy (or at least relate to). I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments too. Here we go …

Four random things that can make your life easier

Leggings with side-drop pockets to keep your hands free

If you know, you know!

Most of the time, I think we shop for leggings based on fit and style, and that’s great and all, because you need your leggings to fit you well (please, do not wear ill-fitted leggings that require you to keep pulling them up). But I think something we all can benefit from is a side pocket on our leggings. It’s so helpful, especially if you spend a lot of time in activewear like I do.

The majority of my leggings have side pockets on the mid-thigh, and I often put my phone in there for walks or errands and more. There are times when I even slide my slim wallet in there, when I run into the store, if I don’t want to bring my purse or bag.

Then, when I wear leggings without pockets, I definitely miss the convenience of the pocket. Like I’m reaching for it and willing it to be there, and it’s not, and my hands are full, and I’m not pleased. Anyone else?

Also, love it when the pockets are hardly even noticeable like in the leggings I’m wearing below …

If something could potentially make life easier for you — something as simple as a side pocket on a legging — then I’d choose it every time. Three cheers for the designers that came up with this idea several years ago once pockets started appearing, because we need these pockets in our lives.

Here are my current favorite leggings with pockets, by the way. And you can find my other favorite workout clothes in this post.

Automatic renewals of frequently purchased consumable items to keep you stocked at a discount

I’m so late to the party on this!

But I finally signed up a couple of months ago for automatic subscription renewal for a couple of things I always buy from Amazon. Once you set it up, you get a small discount, and then you’ll get an email when your scheduled shipment is coming. You can accept it, or you can push it back. And this is a simple thing that truly makes life easier.

I’m currently automatically renewing my women’s prenatal multivitamin, as well as my special Nutrafol hair-supporting supplement. I should probably add a few other things on there as well, because I don’t like running out of things, and I love saving a little money.

Fun fact: Beautycounter actually has an auto-replenishment program that a lot of my loyal folks have signed up for their most-used skincare items, so they’re getting these easy benefits too.

I love that the automatic renewals give you a bit of a discount and also take away at least one step of the reordering process for things you often buy.

Good items to auto-renew? Vitamins, supplements, pantry staples, pet food, beauty products, toilet paper and more.

Yes, you can do this on Amazon with a lot of products, and a lot of other websites offer it too. So if auto-renew isn’t in your life yet, give it a go!

Prepared response/canned template emails or text shortcuts on your phone to save you time

Okay, some of you may not need this, but I sure do. Hear me out …

Have you ever set up canned responses on your cell phone or in your email? Basically, if you find yourself writing the same text or email over and over again, you can create shortcuts to make it easier to paste the response, rather than going back to find the last time you wrote it and copy/paste it, which can be cumbersome.

I have email templates I use for quite a few business-related things, and it truly saves me time and makes life easier. If you use Gmail, simply go to create a new email >> then scroll to the bottom three dots >> click and select “Save as template.” Then, when you need the response, all you do is open a new email and find the template you made. Easy as pie!

Email templates are a huge part of my efficiency in working for myself. But you can also use this type of thing for everyday communication in text.

On your cell phone, you can create keyboard shortcuts, which I actually don’t use, but I know a lot of people that do. I’ve always planned to set these up, but haven’t, and this may be my motivation to do so.

If you’re always texting, “on my way” you can create a shortcut to make that appear by typing “OM” or something simple like that. To create a text shortcut, go to Settings >> General >> Keyboard >> Text Replacement. There are also instructions in this post.

If you’re not using shortcuts or canned responses, I know it may seem like a big effort to get them up and running, but if it makes your life easier on the backend, it’s worth it.

Repeating meals on certain days of the week to save decision-making brainpower

Friday night is sushi night. Sunday night is pizza night. Monday night is now chicken apple sausage and veggie fry night. Tuesday night is veggie burger and eggs night. And so on. And we’ve had this routine for a while.

I’ve always been a creature of habit, and repeating meals makes my life so much easier. It means I often have similar items on my grocery-shopping list, and it means I can take some of the planning and thought out of “What should we eat for dinner tonight?”

I know some people fight this, because they want to eat what they feel like eating, and I fully support following your heart. But this post is about random things that can make your life easier … repeating meals and having certain nights for certain meals for you and your family makes life easier. Without a doubt. You can even create an official layout for the week and save one or two nights for take-out or eating out. 

And if it’s a Monday, I’m probably eating this …

(I’m still wearing this chunky Apple watch strap on the daily, by the way.)

Repetition and consistency are two of the hallmarks of having a healthy routine too, so meal repeating is something a lot of fitness/nutrition coaches recommend, so there!

That’ll do it for my list of random things that can make your life easier. I hope you enjoyed!

And if you have any tips on how you make your own life easier, please leave them in the comments of this post below! Have a great day, friends! 🙂 

Other posts you may like …

• My current favorite workout clothes that I always wear to teach classes
• Small and realistic ways to take care of yourself as a busy lady
• These are some of our regular daily and weekly routines

Questions of the day for YOU …

What’s something that makes your life easier worth sharing with the group?

What’s an invention you wish someone would make to help you out?