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Game Changing Ways to Automate Your Entire Life

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The average person makes 35,000 decisions a day. Oy! With all of the stimulation of modern life (news, social media, the buzz of email and text notifications) coupled with daily work and family responsibilities, it’s a wonder we get anything done at all. One surefire way to feel less overwhelmed is to find ways to reduce and automate your daily decision-making.

I’ll be transparent with you, even as an organizing expert who’s built a life and career around minimalism and simplicity, I still find it challenging to remember when my quarterly taxes are due or the car needs to be serviced. I just found out after nine years of owning a home that we’re supposed to be regularly cleaning out our gutters and checking and changing heating and cooling filters. WHO HAS TIME FOR THIS.

I’m honestly amazed at how many balls adults are expected to keep in the air (which is why I went easy on myself when we learned our kids’ passports were expired days before our trip to Europe).

With so much constantly competing for our attention, it’s up to us to constrain our choices and prioritize in advance what we want to spend our precious time and energy on. Automating the things that are important can help reduce decision fatigue and ensure you save time and energy for the things that matter.

Read on for a roundup of quick tips on to help you automate and simplify some key aspects of your life.

Household Responsibilities

It took Jordan and me years to tire of the daily “who’s doing what?” check in and start clearly delegating our household chores and responsibilities. We’ve done our best to divide and conquer after I had a meltdown where I may have shrieked “I NEVER WANT TO TALK ABOUT WHAT WE’RE DOING FOR DINNER AGAIN.”

To streamline our process, we all have clear jobs now: I stock the house with household supplies, groceries, and snacks and handle all things having to do with planning, organization, and social events. Jordan does ALL the cooking, pays the bills, and oversees a million other things I’ve lost track of. The girls are in charge of feeding the dog, dishes, and packing their own lunches, and we are each responsible for our own laundry. I knock mine out every Sunday and Jordan and I take turns with the sheets and towels.

Try it: Consider how you can automate household responsibilities. You might want to consider a single “get it done day” or assign each day a few small tasks. I personally prefer to batch everything for Sundays so I can feel more carefree during the week.

Home Maintenance

The New York Times has a comprehensive home maintenance checklist that made me feel very sleepy. If you want to take good care of your home, consider giving it a skim and adding annual or bi-annual maintenance appointments to your little black book. Ditto for your vehicle(s). I plan to get right on this now that I’ve learned all of the things we’ve been neglected for years. Better late than never!

Try it: Make a list of your key household maintenance items from deep cleaning to painting to home upkeep and repairs and schedule them on your calendar annually.

Meal Planning

I’m admittedly the worst at meal planning (see my guide for people who hate meal planning here) so I’m always on the lookout for great ideas to simplify this dreaded task. I’ve spoken with a lot of parents who swear by a weekly collection of themed nights (Monday is mediterranean, Tuesday is taco night, etc.) and my friend Naomi (a busy ER doc with three boys) has been able to streamline her grocery list into a repeatable online delivery order. She clicks a button and everything she needs to feed her family for the week arrives on her porch the next day. If eating the same thing on repeat feels like a snooze, you can also try setting up a meal swap with friends or neighbors. We teamed up with our neighbors to take turns hosting dinner every Wednesday. It’s been great to have a built in social plan and know that we don’t have to think about dinner every other Wednesday. Two birds, one stone.

Try It: Experiment with themed dinners, automated grocery, meal kit, or farmer’s market box delivery, or even a meal swap within your local community. You might also want to keep a note on your phone that includes all of your household and pantry staples so you can restock or re-order easily.

Social Plans

Rain or shine, every Tuesday at 7pm I meet my friends Laura and Caitlin for dinner. We order takeout (usually sushi) and fill each other in on the details of our lives. Caitlin hosts, and Laura and I bring wine and fancy chocolate. We’ve been doing this for years now and it’s one of my very favorite rituals – and a simple way to prioritize our friendships. No more texts back and forth trying to coordinate dates, times, and locations – Having a weekly plan ensures that we see each other consistently and without any of the headache of dealing with planning or logistics.

Another example: My friend Tiffany and I live a bridge apart, so we meet once a month for lunch. We both travel a lot, so she suggested instead of trying to sort out a regular date, we just check our calendars and schedule our next date at the end of lunch before we say goodbye. It takes about two minutes, and spares us from the draining email back and forth.

Try it: Who do you want to see more of? Whether it’s date night with your partner or social plans with your best friends, consider how you can automate and simplify your meet ups and social events. You can even automate your annual holiday parties and gatherings.

Fitness

The only way I work out is if I schedule it. Period. End of story. I walk every single morning as soon as I wake up, and now I’ve also scheduled two weekly yoga classes on repeat. I used to search for classes each week when I was tired and then give up because it all seemed too complicated. Having weekly classes scheduled ahead of time ensures I get up and go. Bonus: I get to know the teachers and repeat students which adds more accountability and support for working out.

Try it: Whether you want to start small like me with a daily stroll, enroll in classes, or train for a marathon, solidify your fitness schedule in advance and schedule it in your calendar.

Finances

In an effort to reduce paper clutter, I’ve signed up for digital invoices and auto-bill pay for everything under the sun. When we’re really on track, Jordan and I review finances and pay bills together and also schedule an annual “tax date” in February so we can prep taxes for our CPA well before the April deadline.

Try it: When it comes to finances consider setting up auto bill pay, an annual tax date, and anything else that will keep you on track.

Wellness and Self Care

Oof… this one tends to really get lost in the shuffle, but might be the most important of all. Scheduling annual physicals, dentist appointments, gynecology exams, etc. is no one’s idea of a good time, but alas, they must be done. I’ve started scheduling annual or bi-annual reminders in my calendar so I’m cued to take care of business. You can also automate personal appointments like haircuts, facials, manicures, or facials.

Try it: Do a quick audit of the health practitioners you see and make sure you have appointments or reminders set up. Ditto for the fun stuff like your bi-monthly pedicure or quarterly trip to get your eyebrows waxed or your highlights refreshed.

While it may seem like a drag to do all of this pre-planning, and scheduling, automating your life can actually free up more time for creativity, spontaneity, and freedom. Have you found constructive ways to streamline and automate your life? Please share in the comments below.

Photography Credit: Vivian Johnson 

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14 comments on “Game Changing Ways to Automate Your Entire Life

  1. Powerful post.

    I love check lists. Martha Stewart has a ton of them too.

    The personal ones are something I need to be accountable for. I want to start a tracking list so I’m accountable to the all might check mark (love making check marks). Thank you Shira for all you do!

  2. thanks a lot shira for your great and simple ideas.
    i just discovered you in this planet online and i´m so happy to learn and know that things can be planed so be have more time for ourselves.
    organization is key and a virgo woman like me knows it lol
    a hug full of energy, cecilia from lima, peru in southamerica.

  3. Hi shira
    I really enjoy your blog and especially this post. I have managed to automate a weekly local 5k walk with a best friend, I have a morning a week i wild swim. There’s a list I’ve made in my notes on my phone of meals I know I like and enjoy, with a couple little extras for when I need to have a treat. This means I know what time to protect in my diary and also means I have less decision fatigue if I’m overwhelmed for any reason?! I have an area in my closet that has sensory comfortable clothes for when I need a ‘uniform’ and don’t have the energy to get creative with my outfits. And then there’s the fun stuff for when I can manage and want to dress up.
    These little but strategised changes have helped make every day life manageable for me and allows me to focus my time and energy into other things. I love it 😍

  4. Thank you Shira for your amazing tips. Every Sunday my husband and I attend Money Church, which is use sitting together in the living room with our coffee and looking at our money, weekly calendars and getting on the same page for the week/month. It’s fun and helps us start the week feeling calm and collected.

  5. Great topic and reminders to batch up the routine tasks in daily living! I was also wondering (and looking for) if you have found any apps, programs, documents, on Apple/Mac to batch up your tasks that would help you streamline and track tasks?

    1. I’m not big into apps but I like Structured for planning my day and the good old fashioned notes app for checklists!

  6. Shira, like you, we live in a tiny craftsman bungalow with very minimal closets. Where do you all keep luggage? Thank you!

    1. We put in a long shelf on the top of our daughter’s closet which can fit all four of our suitcases. They’re the smallest carry-ons from Away so don’t take up much room! Xx

  7. Thanks so much for sharing these tips! One of my preferred things to do when it comes to wellness and self care is to book my next appointment when I check out (similar to your social plans tip). For medical appointments that are father out, I’m usually able to plan around them, but if not, having something already on my calendar prompts me to reschedule. For personal care appointments, it helps ensure I get the times and providers I want. As an added bonus, if I have a provider who also likes to plan ahead, they often reach out as they open their book, so I’m among the first to get those coveted holiday appointments.

  8. Love this post! I am addicted to Google Calendar so I have a separate calendar for reminders for house items (cleaning as well as maintenance), pet stuff (heart worm medication, annual vet visit, when to refill her meds), all my medical stuff including eye doc and dentist, plus there’s an automatic one for birthdays if you include that information in your contacts. My city also has a sign up where you can get a personalized calendar reminder (in outlook, google, ical, etc formats) for your trash and recycling pickups which is helpful for odd events like Christmas tree recycling or large brush pickups as well as keeping track of which week is recycling since it is every other week pickup. I also have a 3-year monthly paper spiral-bound calendar that I update as things come up and then transfer to the applicable google calendar when I get a chance (much as I love the convenience of online calendar, writing stuff down with pen and paper is still nice).

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