Simplifying your Life (so you can get more done!)

We are all super busy.

Between doing what it takes to maintain our home, wrangle our families, paying the bills, and then for some of us – growing our business – there are a TON of things in life that we “should” be doing.

I had a little revelation over the past few months. And I’m sure this is elementary to many of you. What can I say? I’m slow to catch on.

If something is not simple, I won’t stick with it.

Now, that’s not to say that the task itself is a breeze, but I simply do not have the focus to do 1000 things well in a day. I can pick a couple to do well. And quite frankly, the rest of my day had better be super simple to allow that focus!

If you are diving into the world of social media for business, you may have quickly realized that it eats a LOT of time! Putting out quality content regularly and maintaining relationships with your people is time and focus-consuming.

Now, I’ve written several articles on simplifying that process here, and here.

But today I want to take a different approach, and talk about ways to put the REST of your life on autopilot. If we only have the bandwidth to focus well on a few things, let’s not have it be laundry! Unfortunately, laundry still has to happen….

And so, to quote one of my favorite people, Amy Porterfield, “Let it be simple!”

Here are a few of my absolute favorite ways to automate some “life” stuff.

1. Grove Collaborative

For all of your household, toiletries, and personal care products, Grove Collaborative is a win. All of the products available here are natural, organic, or good for your family and the environment. (And, if you don’t care about those details – their products are really fun too!)

You can order once, or even set up your order to ship every month automatically. Prices are good for the quality of products, but they also have sales and discount codes regularly, which make it even better.

My favorite is the “month of diapers.” I have a little one that requires a certain brand of diapers, or else she breaks out in a serious rash. I can come to Grove Collaborative and simply add a month of diapers and wipes to my cart, and set it to auto ship each month. (Because there’s nothing worse than realizing you just used the LAST diaper in the house. Right?)

My tip: Spend a little time creating a great cart of items that you need about once a month. And then set it to auto ship each month. Not only have you saved time (no running to the store), but you’ve saved mental energy and focus (no figuring out each month what you need to get at the store!)

2. Walmart Grocery Pickup

If you have not discovered Walmart Grocery Pickup yet, you need to!

The way it works is this: You log in to your account and make a cart of groceries. You select a pickup time for the location closest to you. Then you show up during that hour window. You park in the spots for grocery pickup, and they bring your groceries out to your car and load them up.

You don’t even have to get out of the car.

I was a skeptic at first, but it has proven to be a GAME CHANGER in my life. The prices are not any higher than if you were shopping in the store yourself, and you pay NOTHING for the service. (A personal shopper and loader for free. Sign me up!)

Also – they get your produce out of the bags and show it to you. So you can know that they’re not just giving you the gross fruit from the bottom of the pile.

Honestly, I hadn’t bought groceries at Walmart in years, but I am now a loyal customer. I haven’t even entered a grocery store in months. And with 3 kids, that is time and sanity saved.

Check their website to see which Walmarts close to you have this service. This is another site where you could order the same cart of groceries each week, should you choose.

3. Amazon “Subscribe and Save”

If you are an Amazon Prime member, their “subscribe and save” option on products is amazing!

Here’s how it works: You search for their subscribe and save options, and here you’ll find that you can subscribe to about any toiletry, vitamin, or food product. You select the item and subscribe, with a discount for subscribing to receive it regularly. You can pick how often you’d like to receive it. And then you check out.

Amazon will batch together the items you are planning to receive each month, and give you a day that they will always arrive. For example, if your day is the 5th of the month, you will receive an Amazon box on or around the 5th with everything that you’ve subscribed to.

This is another great way to automate shopping for toiletries and household items!

4. Stitch Fix

Ok, maybe this one isn’t exactly necessary, but it sure is easy and fun.

We all need good-looking clothes, right? So let it be easy!

Here’s how it works: You create an account and set up your profile. Here you fill out sizing and measurement information, as well as your style preferences. They show you examples of styles and you select if you like them or not.

Then you pick a day to receive your “fix.” A personal stylist will look at your likes and preferences and will select 5 items for you. They come in a beautiful box. You try them on and have 3 days to decide what you’ll keep. You send the rest back for free.

The styling fee is $20 when they send your box, but then they take $20 off of whatever you purchase, so it all works out. Also, if you buy the whole box, you get a 25% discount! You can also select here to receive monthly fixes, where you will get a box once a month automatically.

I love that you can pick your own price ranges and styles. And then the stylists there make you look way more hip than you actually are by sending the most FUN clothing.

Like I said, it’s probably not on par with oxygen as far as needs, but it’s super fun and you get to look on trend without even entering a store. And, once again, with 3 kids of my own that is HUGE!

These are just a few ways I have found to make the other parts of my life super easy. If there is only time for so much focus in life, let’s choose to put that focus where we want, and let the rest be EASY!