Simplify your life in 2014

I’m sure that like me, you began 2014 with all the best of intentions.  Mine was to exercise more and generally take more care of myself – nothing unusual there then – but I have found that too many things were stopping me from doing this.  Quite simply, life is just too busy.  Perhaps the best thing to do for myself was to actually do less and worry about fewer things.  I have to think seriously about de-cluttering my life.

Turning to the internet as ever for advice, the top tips I learnt to achieve this are:

Be ruthless with your routine – is your diary full of post work commitments? PTA meetings, book clubs, catch up with friends? Then it’s time to have at least one night when you can just chill.  Get the children to bed early, put on your comfy ‘jamas and read, have a bath or watch TV.  Whatever you do, just do it because you want to, not because you feel you can’t let anyone down.

Take a good look at your Facebook “friends”…….is she just there because she knew your brother’s ex-girlfriend or something equally tenuous?  If so, delete!  Life’s too short to read status updates from people you don’t actually care all that much about; or to get bogged down with pictures of cute puppies roller skating. Don’t feel bad about it and it also gives you more time for the folk you do truly care about.

Sort out your bathroom.  Do you really need 4 anti-cellulite creams, 6 body scrubs and a shelf full of cleansers?  The answer is definitely no.  Think of all the time and money – not to mention space! – that you’ll save by just having one or two of each.  And, here’s a shocker, you may even finish each product too!

Take a long hard look at your wardrobe. Still got that ra-ra skirt and those stone wash denims because you just can’t bear to throw them away or you believe your daughter will want them one day.  The truth is that they are just taking up wardrobe space and you could clear them out. Try adopting a system on one in, one out and accept that your wardrobe has a finite amount of space, so that you must give something away every time you buy something new.

Back up your life.  Most of us now fully endorse a technology led life and our tablets, laptops and phones carry our whole life. However, one of life’s truisms is that at some point your technology will die and lose everything you cherish and have entrusted it with. To save yourself a lot of heartache buy an external hard-drive and use it

Sort out your undies drawer. Banish those horrible grey baggy articles that used to pass for white knickers and invest in some essential every day t-shirt bras, some matching sets and some good smoothing underwear.  Never again will you ferretting through your smalls draw like a terrier digging a hole for a bone – everything to hand will be ‘just right’ and VPLs will be a thing of the past.

Take control of your finances.  When did you last go through your back account and look at all the standing orders and direct debits?  You may well be surprised to see small amounts going out that you’re just not sure about. Things like forgotten magazine subscriptions or no longer needed warranties.  There may even be unnecessary charges on your bank account for things like ‘legal helplines’, ‘emergency home protection’ or even mobile phone insurance, all of which you may have through your existing insurance companies.  Examine every last payment and ask yourself is it necessary?

Early spring clean – perhaps not a full bottoming of your home, that can wait a couple of months, but how about just trying one room as a time and tidying as you go.  ‘Nuff said on that one…..

Get the whole family involved.  Remember, you’re not in this alone. Even the youngest of children can be encouraged to straighten their own duvets or put their own clothes in the laundry bin and older children can be ‘persuaded’  to help with chores  with the help of a bribery reward system. It took me years to relinquish control of ‘my’ kitchen and let my Hubby cook on occasion but I do now and I love my nights off from it all.

These are really just a few simple things that you can do to try and lessen some of the madness that seems to be going on around us at all times.  Just a few simple steps can make a big difference, so step away from Facebook and go and run yourself a nice hot bath.

Hang on!

Most of us will agree that ironing shirts can be the most time consuming and fiddly part of the ironing pile but that nothing beats a freshly ironed shirt.

Now think about this – you’ve steamed, pressed and maybe even starched that shirt and it’s looking lovely as you sweep it off the ironing board with a flourish. What do you do with it then?  Hang it over the corner of the door or even on the door handle? Drape it over the bed? Put it on the back of a chair? All of the above……….  I know that I certainly have in the past.  But one thing I have learnt as a Maid is that to keep your freshly ironed shirts as pristine as possible you MUST hang them up immediately.

If you don’t, I can almost guarantee that the shirt will fall off the door handle or that your cat will sit on the shirt on the bed………it’s the First Law of Laundry: if it can be creased, it will be creased.

So, if you want your shirts to stay wrinkle free, you should follow these simple steps to make sure that you don’t have to iron the same shirt twice.

Use a proper hanger IMMEDIATELY after ironing.  So not the door or the chair, but get a coat hanger and put your shirt on it properly (see below).  If your shirt is heavy, try to use a wooden or plastic hanger as a wire hanger may cause the shirt to pucker around the yoke and shoulder

Put your shirt on the hanger whist it is on a rail i.e. not with the hanger between your teeth or tucked under your chin (and admit it, you have done that before!)  Only if the hanger is on a rail can you position the shirt correctly.

Adjust the yoke of the shirt – that’s the back part across the shoulders for those not familiar with ‘garment-speak’ – and make sure it’s correctly aligned on the hanger. What you’re trying to avoid here is not having the shirt straight on the hanger and having one shoulder falling forwards and the other falling back, as this will lead to more wrinkling.

Once the yoke is situated correctly, adjust the collar so that it is turned down correctly and all collar buttons are fastened. Now fasten the shirt’s top button and when this is done, double check that the shirt is still hanging correctly across the shoulders, as all this button fastening may have pulled it around a little.

Now, here’s the super important bit, the step that’s crucial if you don’t want the shirt to crease whilst it’s hanging in the wardrobe – button every other button down the length of the shirt.  Fastening the top button is not enough, yes it will stop the shirt from falling off the hanger but it won’t stop it from moving around as you slide the hanger from side-to-side in the wardrobe.

Try and leave some space between your hangers too. If you’re anything like me and your wardrobe is packed to the gills, I know that this isn’t always possible.  If this is you too, perhaps you could try and have a clear out and pass on/sell some of your infrequently worn items?  Try and make some space and avoid cramming in as many hangers as possible as this almost guarantees your freshly ironed shirts are going to get all creased again.

And you know what happens if it gets all creased in the wardrobe………you’ve got to iron the blinkin’ thing again!!!

Of course, if you hated ironing the shirt in the first place and the thought of having to do it all over again, is enough to make you cry, then it’s time to give us a call or it's really easy to book online!