8 Ways to Simplify Your Life

Get out and enjoy yourself!  Spend more time doing the things you love with the people you love by automating and simplifying some of the regular tasks in your life.  I invite you to try a few of these ideas to so you can start enjoying the benefits of a calmer, simplier life.

#1 Simplify Meal Time with Fast, Easy & Healthy Meals
Every time you make dinner, double or triple the recipe.  Divide up the extra portion into containers, label and freeze them.  If you triple your meals everyday for a week, you will have two weeks worth of frozen meals that just need to be heated up and served.  It usually takes much less time to make more of the same recipe than it does to make different recipes at different times.  

You could then make a new (triple sized) recipe two nights per week and simply heat up and serve already prepared meals the remaining days of the week.  Your family gets the benefit of delicious and nutritious homemade meals, and you get the benefit of only cooking two nights per week.

#2 Reduce Your Junk Mail Automatically

Sorting, tossing and shredding junk mail (all credit card applications need to shredded) takes time and costs Mother Earth precious resources to create and distribute.  Catalog Choice is a FREE service that will eliminate up to 90% of your junk mail for you.  You can choose to allow certain items to come such as free catalogs that you like getting.

#3 Get Cheap Ink Cartridges Delivered to Your Door
When you are low or out of ink in your printer, instead of driving to your local office supply store, order your cartridges online.  Ink Jet Star (a small family owned company) will send you recycled cartridges containing the same new ink that you would purchase at the store at a cost of 50%-90% less, plus they will ship them free of charge.  When you use up the ink they will take your old cartridge and recycle it again for you.  

This saves you time, money, gas and helps protect our environment.

#4 Have Your Identity Protected Automatically
Identity theft is becoming the number one crime.  According to the US Department of Justice, last year, over 9 million Americans were victims of identity theft, at a cost of over $53 billion US dollars.   A growing number of those victims are college students and young children.  Four out of five victims have no idea how an identity thief obtained their information.

There is a service out called Life Lock, which guarantees to protect your identity.  The service is inexpensive (less than $10/mo.) and can save you hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars.  For more information about this service, which will automatically protect you and your family members, click on the Life Lock logo below.
 

#5 Simplify Your Email
There are 3 types of emails.
   1. Junk
   2. Emails that require an action or response from you
   3. Emails that you are simply interested in reading or using as a reference (but don't require a response or action).

Delete the junk and respond to action items immediately.  Store the ones you want to read or reference in a "To Read" folder. Make it your goal to clear out your inbox at the end of every business day.

Steps:
• Get good at using your delete button
• Do important action items immediately
• Don't feel obligated to respond to forwards, or to even read them. If you are interested in reading it but don't have time at the moment, simply store it in a "To Read" folder
• Never put any emails that require an action or response in your "To Read" folder
• Respond to personalized emails right away
• Stop responding when an interchange has served its purpose

#6 Get Your "Must Have" Essentials Delivered Automatically
Do you drink coffee or tea most days?  If you do, consider having it shipped to your home automatically on the same day every month.  There are several online coffee retailers that offer this service. My favorite is Boca Java.  They have a huge selection of coffees and tea’s including organic and fair trade varieties.  They are reasonably priced and you can easily log into your account any time to change what is coming in your next order and your delivery date.  Also, there is no contract.  You can stop delivery at anytime.

If you are in the market for a new travel mug, check out the Time Mugs. They are dishwasher safe (which many travel mugs are not), leak proof and have a clock on them.  

What other items could you set up on auto-shipments?  
For example, how about your vitamins?  I take an ounce of liquid vitamins in my orange juice every morning.  I have a one-months supply (1 bottle) shipped to my house on the same day every month.  A couple of days before I take the last dose, a new bottle arrives, automatically.  

The liquid vitamins I take are called Vibe, they are available for both kids and adults.  They are concentrated, made from whole food sources, easily absorbed, offer anti-aging and enhanced immune health.  If you are interested in learning more or getting a free sample, contact:

Tiffany Trana 
wttrana@hotmail.com




#7 Automate Your Computer Back-Ups

Mozy will automatically back-up everything on your computer every 3 days and save it to a secure online server that only you can access.  You can access it from anywhere in the world at anytime.

Benefits of using Mozy versus an external back-up drive:

• Bigger - There is no space limitation
• Safer - If your home or office burn down or flood you will probably lose your computer and your back-up drive.  
• Easier Access - You can access everything on your computer from any computer with internet, anywhere in the world at anytime.
• Hassel Free - It backs up your current info automatically

#8 Implement a Simple System for Mail, Bills & Receipts
The average American spends almost an hour everyday looking for lost papers, files, bills, receipts and the like.  YIKES!  What a waste of your time.  There is a simple system called The Fast-Filing Method that guarantees you will be able to find any paper or file in 30 seconds or less!  It's easy to set-up and easy to maintain.  The program even offers a "self-cleansing" receipt system! This program also makes recommendations about which papers to keep, how long to keep them, and when to shred them.  Check it out right now at:  www.ClearSimpleLiving.com/HomeOfficeFilingSystem  

More Tips on Automating, Simplifying & Outsourcing

The book, The 4-hour Workweek, is filled with great advice on living more and working less. I loaned my copy to a friend who claims it changed his life. He went from working 70 hours a week to 35 hours in about a month's time. This book is geared towards entrepreneurs.

For the 9-5ers, I recommend, Simplify Your Work Life, which teaches effective yet simple ways to reduce your time spent at work and produce more while you’re there.  It’s well written, easy to follow and easy to implement. 

If implemented, they will certainly simplify your life and add to your happiness.

I wish you the best possible life,

~Heidi