Happiness Hacks

One of my favorite podcasts is "Happier with Gretchen Rubin".  On the podcast they offer "happiness hacks"- quick ideas that make life easier or more pleasant.  According to Gretchen's Four Tendencies quiz I am a questioner, which in part means I am always looking for ways to improve something or make it easier.  So over time I have collected quite a few of my own happiness hacks.  Here are a few:

First off is the Drop Stop.  An insert that fit snugly between your seat and center console preventing crumbs, keys, phones, change, etc from slipping into the pit of darkness.

Along the same lines is that black mat I use under my kitchen sink.  My disposal gave me a few fits lately, dripping moldy and rotten water.  It happened twice within a short amount of time!  Gross!  To prevent further stench and avoid damage, I set out to find a solution.  I came across this shoe mat at Walmart one day and for under $5 it was the perfect solution!  It works like a charm!  I can set my dish wand on it and not worry about it getting the wood wet.

I love chapstick!  I apply is several time through out the day.  One way to ensure it's always available is to have located in several places throughout the house.  The two most important places I keep them are in my nightstand and in the kitchen windowsill.

For some reason we have a lot of socks in our house.  And so many of them do not have mates.  I'll never understand how that happens!  One way to minimize the problem is to have a sock bin.  I keep one on the dryer so as I am folding clothes I can toss singles in until the match comes through in another load.  Every few weeks I go through the bin and anything that hasn't been matched in a while goes to the trash.  No sense in keeping a single sock around!

There's not such thing as having the best of both worlds when it comes to sleep.  You can't be an night owl and an early riser- at least not for long before you crash.  The older I get the more I come to enjoy getting up and going to bed early.  I like to be up no later than 5:15, get my exercise done, pray, read and have a few minutes to myself before getting my kids up for school.  It's been a few weeks since I've been able to do this (too many late nights) but boy, it's my favorite way to start the day!

For the past year or so I have been treating myself to a manicure once a month.  It only takes an hour and the girl that does my nails is so pleasant.  Having nicely painted nails and spending an hour with Kasee brings me a lot of joy!  

I used to plan four weeks of meals at one time.  Sometimes it was easy and other times it was a real struggle.  I've changed my method to only planning one week at a time.  It actually comes out to only five meals because of date night (we call it freezer night because the kids get to eat anything that can be cooked at 425 degrees, haha!) and Sunday dinner at the Hatch's.  Taking smaller bites of this task has made life much happier!