Shortcuts to Guilt Free Living, Right Now, Part 2

Shortcuts are about streamlining and simplifying your life. Consider eliminating a phone line. That’s right; in this age of technology do you really need a cell phone, a home phone, and a work phone? Okay so you can’t eliminate work, but what about consolidating your home phone to your cell phone? You’ll never be stuck in a power outage, and you’ll have to check one less location for messages. Besides are you ever home to answer anyway? Many cell phone plans also include free long distance, so you’ll be saving money on that as well. While you are at it, consider consolidating your multiple email addresses. It isn’t necessary to have more than two unless you are playing with aliases. At the very least have all your email addresses forward to the same location. You’ll also want to be sure you have a spam washer/blocker in place to eliminate the tedium of wading through hundreds of junk emails.

Better living means hiring others to do what you don’t have to. Use a courier service to ease both your workload and personal errands. There are also concierge services (mentioned earlier in this article) that can help. It is often amazing how much time we lose running errands, just to pick up a prescription, get film developed, take care of shoe repair, and more. Explore ways that will save you the time and be a wise investment of your money. Once you put a dollar value on your time, you will suddenly realize that if it takes you an hour at $100, and you can hire someone to do it for $20, that you can’t afford *not* to hire someone to do your errands for you. And you’ll have your time back so you can focus on more meaningful work or play.

Better living is about celebrating this life we are in everyday! And when you really want to blow it out, do it the easy way. Avoid all the dirty work and hassle of a party. Hire a butler, party planner, or caterer. These talented specialists can do it all, from facilitating your food presentation and clean up, to actually bringing it all in and doing it for you. As a designer I often work with clients on party set up, décor and even refer the caterer and butler. Just ask! Don’t wait to have a party because it’s too much work. Know who to call to make it easier.

Sometimes shortcuts mean giving up something you might even enjoy, but just don’t have the time to do, like gardening or landscaping. While I do find it relaxing and fun, it also gobbles up an incredible amount of time. So consider taking the parts that aren’t as fun, like mulching, and hire a high schooler or college student to take care of basic landscaping. I’m not talking about the stuff that needs a trained eye, but essential weeding, mulching, mowing and laying of pine straw or bark bits can all be delegated. You can still do the pruning and planting if you have the time and inclination, but the rest can be farmed out. Think carefully about the mix of plants you have or want, and go for an easy maintenance, low care yard that’s big on impact. It doesn’t have to be difficult to look good.

When you’ve implemented some of the shortcuts, you should have more time to pursue your personal dreams and visions and to just relax and enjoy life. We only get one chance at this, so make it count and make it fun!