15 Systems That Have Simplified My Life

Today, I want to share with you some systems that have simplified things around the house and helped me keep my head straight and feel good. Some of these things are going to be family-centric, but not all of them so I think that even those of you who don’t have any kiddos can still get some nuggets you can use.

I have 2 daughters. They’re 13 and 15 currently, so they’re a little bit older. This is nice because they’re able to pitch in a little bit more and you’ll find that this applies to a lot of the systems that we use. 

Of course, everybody’s family is different – everybody’s living situation is different so take what you can, use what you can and, you know, leave the rest or tweak the rest!

Systems Vs. Routines

There’s a difference between systems and routines. Routines are actions that you take every day. You wake up, brush your teeth, go to the restroom, and get your coffee. They’re the things that you do every day on automation, the flow of your general day.

Systems are how things work – how you make things function. It’s the little engine and cog wheels that keep things spinning and working smoothly. And I think that systems are a great way to focus your time and your energy. If you’re wanting to be more productive or find more free time and just really simplify and feel better in your day, if you want an area to focus on, I think systems is a really great place to start. Here are 15 systems that we use inside of my home, that have simplified my life. 

#1: Reminders For Everything

I set reminders and timers for everything — like everything. I have been totally on board with the Alexa Echo Dots and especially the fact that you can attach them to your calendars. It’s like one seamless system. I think that this is a beautiful way to really collaborate with other people in the family and not make everything fall on me and my head!

If one of the girls wants to know their next orthodontist appointment, they don’t have to ask me. They can just go ask Alexa and the Dot is able to regurgitate that information. Nothing has to be totally in my head as long as I add it to my calendar. I think that this is probably one of the best systems and I know that it’s relying a lot on technology, but I mean it’s 2021! Most of the systems that we use nowadays are going to be somewhat reliant on technology and this is a really good one. 

It can also be used for timers. If one of us is cooking in the kitchen and somebody else comes in, we’re able to ask the Dot how much time is left so we can pitch in and help each other out. 

#2: Email Folders

The next system I use is email folders. My goal is always to get to inbox zero every single day. And for this, I love to implement folders because it’s really handy when it comes to things like emails coming from the school district. I can slide all of those notifications or any announcements or things that I need to tend to over into the appropriate folder. It’s easy for me to locate later without it taking up space in my inbox.

#3: The Five-Minute Rule

This third system (or general rule) is something that I’ve heard used a lot of different ways, any task that’s going to take me five minutes or less… I try to do it immediately. Unless there’s just some reason why I can’t or I’m on a break. If I’m taking a day off and am being strict with myself about it, then I’ll put those things off. In general, if it’s five minutes or less, I try to just get it done.

I hate having things constantly nagging at me. A lot of times, the buildup of all of these tiny little things nagging at you just makes you procrastinate even more and makes you feel like you have all of this heavy burden when, in reality, it wouldn’t take that long to take care of those things.

If it’s going to be something really quick- like responding to an email or adding something to the calendar so that I can throw something else away and not keep that physical reminder… those things that are going to be really quick to do, I do them ASAP.

#4: Batch Everything

Next, is that I batch everything. Everything that can be batched, I batch it. Whether it’s recording videos or doing laundry… if there’s a similar task or a similar location, I will try my best to batch those and do them all at the same time. I even batch my planning!

I think that when you can get your mind in that hyper-efficient focus mode to where you’re really just focusing on one theme, it really keeps you from burning and wasting your energy and it’s more efficient. This is one of those systems that have simplified my time in a major way.

#5: Scheduled Time For Tasks

Pretty much any standard task that needs to happen every day- we schedule it. The best example I can think of this is taking Charlie out. We each have our own scheduled time to take Charlie out. If somebody forgets, that person is able to be held accountable because they had the 2:00 pm slot. (We each have our own slot). There are four people in the house and four different time schedules. Also, this prevents Charlie’s care from falling through the cracks.

Many believe only uptight people can maintain that kind of a set schedule for every little thing. Actually, I find that it has the opposite effect. Because we have these set schedules and we’re all on the same page, we don’t have to be uptight about it. I don’t have to run around nagging everybody or getting irritated and frustrated because so-and-so’s not pitching in. It really takes away a lot of that tension. 

#6: Shoe Rack At The Door

Shoe racks by the door just save so much time and dirty floors, right? Every time people come in, we all know that we take our shoes off before we even enter the general floor area. Also, it makes it easier because it’s right there!

Whenever we go somewhere, we don’t have to look for our shoes. They’re not tumbling across the middle of the living room floor. It’s become a system now so we do it on automation. Also, each person keeps only 2 pairs out at a time (which tends to be plenty for any given season). So, they’re able to all fit nicely on the rack. 🙂

Our shoes might be different in the winter when it’s super rainy and muddy over here in Portland versus in the summer with flip-flops and sneakers. Keeping the shoes right at the entryway has been a really good system for simplifying and keeping down the floor cleaning. 

#7: Vacuum Timer

We have a robot vacuum and I have a timer set for it to go off and vacuum automatically at times when we are not readily awake and downstairs. Right now, I have it set for 7:00 AM because that’s after the girls have left for the school buses during the week but before I mozy downstairs to the living area – and it makes things so much easier!

The way that the robot vacuum technology has gone recently, it’s just only getting better. Ours was gifted to me by Ultenic and we call it Ultron :). It’s one of the systems that have simplified our lives. I’m really glad that we got it when we did because Charlie’s hair has been insane!

#8: Greenlight App

The eighth system is something related to the kids and I’ve mentioned it before. We use the Greenlight app for chores. We studied a whole bunch of different types of cards to be able to use with our kids to give them money (like a debit card without having to open a bank account for them).

This one we really liked because you can use chores along with it. Inside the app itself- the girls, myself, and Matt all have the Greenlight app on our phones. All of the chores for the week are listed in the app and the girls can check them off whenever they get done.

Every Friday, Matt and I go into the app and calculate how much money they’ve earned from each of those chores. That’s their allowance. I really like this system because it’s not just us giving them money every week. You know, I’d like for them to feel like they’re earning it and to get a sense of what it’s like out in the real world. You work for something, you earn that money, and then you get to use that money on things that you want.

#9: Divide Meal Duty

We divide meal duty and have actually been doing this for a while now. As I said, my kids are 13 and 15, so they’re able to take on more responsibility. As soon as they were old enough to start doing some things for themselves, I started letting them.

I found that when I give my kids more responsibility and treat them as capable humans. stand back, and support them as they need support, the more we’re able to function as a family unit to where we’re all contributing and we’re all respecting each other.

For us, it’s been a really positive experience of having more of a give and take relationship. We, of course, set the structure. We make sure that everything is provided for and that everybody is safe – but at this age in their life, we don’t completely carry them. They contribute something. They bring something to the table.

Actually, my oldest daughter is a better chef than I am. She is amazing! She makes some amazing pasta dishes from scratch.

We each have meals that we prefer to make and every week we ask everybody “what two meals do you want to make this week?” No matter whose turn it is to cook, we all eat dinner together at least five days a week. We enjoy each other’s company. It’s actually fun to spend time with them that way. 

#10: Pinterest Meal Boards

I keep Pinterest meal boards, divided by types of meals. There’s a board for instant pot recipes, chicken meals, a snack board, etc. When I need a recipe, I don’t have 10 to 20 different cookbooks, papers, digital files, etc. I have one spot to go. 

#11: Grocery List On Alexa

We also keep our grocery list in Alexa. This — has been a game-changer. We don’t make written grocery lists at all because we have the Alexa app on our phones to use at the grocery store. We just pull up the Alexa list and shop.

The big thing is that everybody is able to add to the list from any room of the house. Whenever I go to order food, I’ll tell everyone, “Hey, anything else that you’re running out of? Be sure to add it to Alexa, because I’m about to go do the shopping.”

#12: Amazon Fresh Deliveries

We do Amazon fresh delivery for our groceries and it’s just been insane how accurate this system has been. I say that because we used to be big Safeway shoppers (we still use Safeway, but only if we need to fill in things). But when we tried Safeway’s delivery service, they messed up our order every single time.

Amazon Fresh hasn’t messed up a single order! Plus we’ve saved money, ordering delivery as opposed to walking around all of the fresh baked cookies and chips that you just happen to walk by when you’re in the store. 

#13: Massage Exchanges

This one is specific to myself and Matt and it’s that is that we do massage exchanges – minute for minute. Usually, we go for like 15 to 20 minutes. Probably every other night I pop something on the TV and we’ll do our massage exchanges.

It saves money. And it’s good for your health and wellbeing. I think that it’s really a win-win to simplify, calm down, and relax. We do it at the end of the night before we’re ready to go to bed. If you have somebody there who you’re able to exchange that service, then why not?

#14: Google Sheets For Finances

Another one of the systems that have simplified things for us is that we have financial Google sheets for maintaining our monthly bills and spending. We just copy each sheet to the next month and then clear it out and re-enter the information every time. This is great because the formulas are already loaded.

We also use Google Sheets for my oldest daughter. She’s 15 with phone service. Because we have this robust chores and allowance system set up, one of the things that she saves up her money for is to pay $15 toward her phone bill every month.

This is one of those areas where we’re just trying to instill financial responsibility in our kids.

#15: Parental Guidance Tip

And the final thing in this list of systems that have simplified my life is something that we do with our kids when it comes to parental guidance. It can be really tricky raising teens, especially when they get to be 15 to 16 because you have to loosen the reins a little bit but still have to have some kind of parameters.

There is no one size fits all. There’s no book of rules. Everybody just has to find what works for them and their family and what they’re comfortable with.

So, something that we’ve started doing here is– when our oldest wants to watch a movie that’s rated R or a TV show that says it’s mature… we have her read us the parent’s guide on it. And if it has things in the parent’s guide, particularly in the sex and nudity department, that she’s not comfortable reading to us, then she, in our opinion is not ready to watch that.

I thought that that was kind of an interesting system that we’ve implemented in the household to simplify this daunting parental task. My youngest won’t take us up on it at all. If it has anything at all, like even mildly sexual in it, she doesn’t want to read it out loud. Which is great too. It means the system is working! 

That is all 15 of the systems that I can think of that have simplified my life as a mom, as a person, as a business owner, and as a human in this family of four simpler and makes my days a little bit easier.