Imagine what it would feel like if your entire life got significantly Easier. Not because you won the lottery or you suddenly learned how to teleport, but because you made small changes to your day-to-day lifestyle that had a big effect. Life has the ability to get complicated or messy, but you can improve certain aspects of it to make things easier. To do so, follow these time-saving shortcuts to aid in the improvement of your productivity and to maximize your happiness.

Create a Cheat Sheet

If you constantly find yourself looking up the same information, try making a cheat sheet for a quick reference. Whether it’s tracking phone numbers, saving passwords, documenting steps on how to complete a task, or writing down recipes, organize separate cheat sheets and put them all in a planner. You’ll spend less time searching for the information and it will cut the preparation time of those tasks significantly.

Plan for Your Day the Night Before

This tip is pretty common, but you wouldn’t believe how many people skip over it. Planning for the day the night before can result in a good night’s sleep and you’ll allow yourself additional time to get ready in the morning. Check the weather and lay out your outfit the night before. Try meal-prepping for a few days so you can grab your lunch and go. Review your calendar each night to see what you have going on the next day and prepare to pack anything you need. By planning things out the night before, your days will be much easier, resulting in a decrease in daily stress.

Mark Things Optional

Create a second “optional” calendar on your computer and put anything that isn’t mandatory on it. It can be a club or volunteer meetings, a work party, leisure activities, etc. These are the events that you “ideally” would like to attend, but don’t necessarily have to if you’re too busy. You can hide the “optional” calendar when you just want to see the mandatory one and allow yourself to view it when you have some extra time in your schedule. By following this shortcut, it’ll make life so much more manageable.

At-Home Try-Ons

Don’t have time to go to the mall to try on clothes? Schedule an at-home try-on! More and more companies are now offering to send clothes to your home to try on and send back if they don’t fit you. Companies like Stitch Fix will personalize styles and sizes for you and send it right to your doorstep. There are even formal wear companies that allow you to schedule free home try-on to ensure you’re finding the right fit without going to the tailor.

Set Up Your Pantry and Refrigerator So You Can See Everything You Need

One of the difficult parts of cooking is finding all of the ingredients. Make cooking easier by organizing your kitchen in a way that makes ingredients easier to find. Organize your cupboards with items that go together and in a way where everything is laid out in front of you. For example, have a cupboard with oils, cooking sprays, and salt and pepper right by the stove. Having everything systematically set in your kitchen will make both cooking and cleaning up a breeze.

There’s an App for That

When someone says there is an app for everything, they’re right! Don’t have time to clean your house or tend to your garden? Do you have separate to-do lists scattered in a bunch of different places? Want to track your finances but don’t know how? There’s a downloadable app to answer all of those questions. Go here to check out a variety of apps that were created to make your life easier.

Stay in the Know

It can be hard to stay up-to-date and educated on what’s happening in the world when you’re busy. Sometimes there’s not enough time to watch the news every day or read lengthy articles. Luckily, sites like theSkimm allow you to quickly read and ‘skim’ through current events happening around the globe.

Disconnect

An important rule of thumb is to only give your email to those that you want to hear from. Just because every store asks for your email to send you coupons doesn’t mean you have to give them that information. Be stingy about who you give your email to so that when you check your email, you can read the messages you actually care about quicker. Another great way to disconnect is to unfollow or unfriend Social Media users who you don’t know or those who you find yourself constantly scrolling past. It’ll make your feed personal, more interesting, and limit your sifting-time through social media.

8 Shortcuts to Make Your Life Easier