Skip to content

Top Navigation

Real Simple Logo Real Simple Logo
  • Food
  • Home
  • Life
  • Health
  • Money
  • Style and Beauty
  • Holidays & Entertaining
  • News
  • Shop

Profile Menu

Your Account

Account

  • My Account
  • Join Now
  • Email Preferences
  • Newsletters
  • Manage Your Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Help
  • Logout

More

  • Give a Gift Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Free Organizing App this link opens in a new tab
Login
Subscribe
Pin FB

Explore Real Simple

Real Simple Logo Real Simple Logo
  • Explore

    Explore

    • 7 Best Places to Buy Vegetable Seeds Online

      Because there's never been a better time to start a vegetable garden. Read More Next
    • 7 Must-Read Books by Black Authors

      Grab a cup of your favorite beverage and prepare to dive into a new title. Read More Next
    • A Guide for How to Measure Your Ring Size at Home

      There are three common ways you canĀ measureĀ your ring size right at home so you can finally get your ring measurement right, for good. Read More Next
  • Food

    Food

    See All Food

    9 Cheeses You Can Eat Even If You're Lactose Intolerant

    Not all dairy is created equal.Ā 
    • Recipes
    • Real Simple Cooking School
    • Cooking Tips & Techniques
    • Shopping and Storing
    • Kitchen Tools and Products
  • Home

    Home

    See All Home

    Easy Homemade Carpet Cleaners to Tackle Every Stain

    Made with products you probably have on hand
    • Organizing
    • Cleaning
    • Decorating
    • Gardening
    • Home Improvement
    • Quick Fix
    • Real Simple Home
  • Life

    Life

    See All Life

    10 Captivating Podcasts for the True Crime-Obsessed

    If you’re hungry for stories of true crime, download any of these podcasts to get your mystery fix on the move.
    • Family
    • Entertainment
    • Technology
    • Wedding Planning
    • Travel Ideas
    • Adulting
    • Get It Done
    • Waste Less, Live Better
  • Health

    Health

    See All Health

    30 Healthiest Foods to Eat Every Day

    • Preventive Health
    • Mental Health
    • Health Coach
    • Crisis Coping
    • Fitness & Exercise
    • Sleep
    • Healthy Eating
  • Money

    Money

    See All Money

    11 Small Ways You Can Help Stimulate the Economy

    Your dollars may be worth more than you realize.
    • Money Confidential Podcast
    • Saving Money
    • Money Made Simple
    • Spending
    • Money Etiquette
  • Style and Beauty

    Style and Beauty

    See All Style and Beauty
    • Clothing
    • Skincare
    • Shoes
    • Hair
    • Clothing Care
    • Makeup
  • Holidays & Entertaining

    Holidays & Entertaining

    See All Holidays & Entertaining

    PowerPoint Parties Are the Socially Distant Party Trend You Have to Try: Here’s How to Host One

    Presenting a new way to party together—virtually.
    • All Holidays
    • Easter
    • Gifts
    • Mother’s Day
    • Passover
    • Entertaining
    • Father’s Day
    • Home for the Holidays
    • Come Together
    • Hanukkah
    • Halloween
    • Thanksgiving
    • Christmas
    • Valentine’s Day
  • News
  • Shop

Profile Menu

Subscribe this link opens in a new tab
Your Account

Account

  • My Account
  • Join Now
  • Email Preferences
  • Newsletters
  • Manage Your Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Help
  • Logout

More

  • Give a Gift Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Free Organizing App this link opens in a new tab
Login
Sweepstakes

Follow Us

  1. Real Simple
  2. Life
  3. Life Strategies
  4. Time Management
  5. 18 Time-Saving Tips

18 Time-Saving Tips

By Amanda Hinnant; additional reporting by Laine Siklos and Winnie Yu
Updated January 24, 2018
Skip gallery slides
Save FB Tweet
Credit: Meredith Heuer
Ingenious ideas from (and for) busy women everywhere.
Start Slideshow

1 of 18

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message Print

Designate a Space for “In Use” Cups

Credit: Meredith Heuer

Create a special spot on the kitchen counter where everyone can put half-filled coffee mugs that need to be reheated, water glasses to be used again later, or sippy cups that can be refilled. At the end of the day, put everything that's still out into the dishwasher. It cuts down on kitchen clutter, and it also avoids shouts across the house of "Are you done with that coffee yet?"

1 of 18

Advertisement
Advertisement

2 of 18

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message Print

Presort the Family Laundry

Credit: Michele Gastl

Clean laundry is only half the battle―it still needs to be sorted and put away. Save those steps by keeping washer-and-dryer-safe mesh bags (27-by-36-inch mesh bag, $8, stacksandstacks.com) in each kid's room―one for lights, one for darks. Throw the bags directly into the washing machine and dryer, then hand them back to the kids. If they're old enough, they can do their own folding.

2 of 18

3 of 18

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message Print

Minimize Trips to the Garbage Can

Credit: Meredith Heuer

While preparing a meal, keep a big bowl on the counter. Put all your chopping, cutting, and peeling discards into it, then make one trip to the garbage instead of 10.

3 of 18

Advertisement

4 of 18

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message Print

Make a Quick Breakfast

Credit: Meredith Heuer

Put all your fruit, milk, silken tofu, or yogurt in the blender pitcher and store the pitcher in the refrigerator overnight. (You can even prechop a banana. It will brown, but that will not affect the flavor of the shake.) In the morning, set it on the blender and press the button.

4 of 18

5 of 18

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message Print

Put the Kids to Work

Credit: Deborah Jaffe

Tired of hearing "What's for dinner?" and "That again?" Turn over the role of meal planner and cook to your family. Ask each person to choose a night that suits his or her schedule (some family members may need to make a few meals each week), fill in a dinner menu, and add the needed ingredients to the grocery list. Make the rules simple: a different menu every night, and only one pasta dish per week. Everyone's food issues (allergies, picky taste buds) must be addressed. Every menu must be healthy and include vegetables. Include a dish-duty sign-up, too.

5 of 18

6 of 18

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message Print

Prepare Sandwiches for Dinner

Credit: Pernille Pedersen

When in doubt, whip up a peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwich for dinner to save time. Make it with natural peanut butter, real fruit jam, and whole-grain bread. That way it's "real" food, unlike many of the additive-laden prepackaged meals so widely available now.

6 of 18

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

7 of 18

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message Print

Keep an Everything Datebook

Credit: Meredith Heuer

Buy a weekly calendar. Jot down all the traditional things―school events, birthdays, appointments. But use it to keep track of nontraditional things, too. Write down bills that come through the mail and mark their due dates six days ahead. Plan weekly dinner menus and write them on the calendar. Use it to also record the kids' long-term assignments. That helps prevent those evenings of racing around to do everything at the last second.

7 of 18

8 of 18

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message Print

Never Miss Another Birthday

Credit: James Baigrie

Send out birthday cards once a month. Receiving one early is better than not receiving one at all.

8 of 18

9 of 18

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message Print

Have a Shredder Ready

Credit: Burcu Avsar

Stow a small paper shredder near the mail to destroy credit-card offers and "checks."

9 of 18

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

10 of 18

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message Print

Try a Double-Duty Dustbin

Credit: Lucas Allen

Empty your bathroom garbage can and use it as a bucket when you wash your bathroom and hardwood floors. Rinse it in the tub, then fill it with white vinegar and water. Both the floors and the garbage can are clean when you're done.

10 of 18

11 of 18

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message Print

Start a Recipe Chain Letter

Credit: Justin Bernhaut

Planning menus and getting the ingredients together for a quick meal after work can be time-consuming. That's where the recipe-exchange "chain letter" comes in. Have friends send you their favorite easy-to-make recipes, then you forward them on. In addition, keep a few cookbooks at the office and download recipes from the Internet to a folder on the computer. Photocopy or print out the ingredients list while at work and then buy groceries during lunch or on the way home.

11 of 18

12 of 18

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message Print

Squeeze Now, Use Later

Credit: Meredith Heuer

If you have leftover lemons and limes from a cocktail party, squeeze them and freeze the juice in an ice-cube tray. Once they're frozen, store the cubes in zippered plastic bags and use them for recipes that call for fresh lemon or lime juice. (One cube equals about one tablespoon of juice.)

12 of 18

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

13 of 18

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message Print

Keep an Ongoing Shopping List

Credit: David Prince

Whoever unwraps the last bar of soap from the four-pack or scrapes the last spoonful of mayo out of the jar should be responsible for writing it down on the shopping list.

13 of 18

14 of 18

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message Print

Time-Stamp Your Photos

Credit: Monica Buck

When you get your photographs developed, label the envelopes before leaving the store. On the top of the envelope, jot down the date, subjects, or activity. It's easier than trying to remember the details later. Or take it one step further and throw out―right there in the store―any flattering, uninteresting, or unclear photographs.

14 of 18

15 of 18

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message Print

Get Ready for Morning the Night Before

Credit: Formula Z/S

Set out everything you can―dry breakfast ingredients, clothes, backpacks and bags, and lunches―before going to bed. It means fewer things to think about when you wake up and you're getting ready to leave the house.

15 of 18

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

16 of 18

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message Print

Create a Beauty Station

Credit: Bob Hiemstra

Hang a mirror by the door, along with a basket filled with last-minute primping tools. You won't have to run all over the house looking for brushes, barrettes, sunscreen, hand lotion, or various makeup essentials: It's all in the basket.

16 of 18

17 of 18

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message Print

Start a Day-by-Day Shelf System

Credit: Maura McEvoy

To get out the door more quickly each day, dedicate baskets or shelves to specific days of the week. When you remove things from your bag at night, place each item on the appropriate shelf or in the correct basket. Designate a certain spot for everyday items―like your wallet, transit card, and cell phone.

17 of 18

18 of 18

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message Print

Organize Your Hand-Me-Downs

Credit: Meredith Heuer

Keep a "future bin" in the kids' closets for hand-me-downs you get from others and anything that's too big for them right now. Purge their closets once a season. Put removed items in one of three places: a younger sibling's "future bin", the charity bin, or the trash. Many charities, such as Goodwill, call quarterly to let you know they will have a truck in the area, so you don't have to load your car and make an extra trip. When they call, leave the bin out front for pickup, and they'll hang the receipt (for tax purposes) on your doorknob. This is also a good time to get rid of any toys that the kids have outgrown.

18 of 18

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Replay gallery

Share the Gallery

Pinterest Facebook

Up Next

By Amanda Hinnant; additional reporting by Laine Siklos and Winnie Yu

Share the Gallery

Pinterest Facebook
Trending Videos
Advertisement
Skip slide summaries

Everything in This Slideshow

Advertisement

View All

1 of 18 Designate a Space for “In Use” Cups
2 of 18 Presort the Family Laundry
3 of 18 Minimize Trips to the Garbage Can
4 of 18 Make a Quick Breakfast
5 of 18 Put the Kids to Work
6 of 18 Prepare Sandwiches for Dinner
7 of 18 Keep an Everything Datebook
8 of 18 Never Miss Another Birthday
9 of 18 Have a Shredder Ready
10 of 18 Try a Double-Duty Dustbin
11 of 18 Start a Recipe Chain Letter
12 of 18 Squeeze Now, Use Later
13 of 18 Keep an Ongoing Shopping List
14 of 18 Time-Stamp Your Photos
15 of 18 Get Ready for Morning the Night Before
16 of 18 Create a Beauty Station
17 of 18 Start a Day-by-Day Shelf System
18 of 18 Organize Your Hand-Me-Downs

Share options

Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message Print

Login

Shop | Real Simple Logo

  • Smart Watches
  • Leather Watches
  • iPhones
  • Coffee Makers
  • Clocks
  • Clothes Racks
  • Shoe Storage
  • Dry Shampoo
  • Makeup Organizers
  • Home Gym Equipment
  • Shop More Next

Real Simple may receive compensation when you click through and purchase from links contained on this website.

Real Simple Logo

Magazines & More

Learn More

  • About Us
  • Subscribe this link opens in a new tab
  • Help
  • Media Kit
  • Content Licensing
  • Sitemap

Connect

Follow Us
Subscribe to Our Newsletter
Other Meredith Sites

Other Meredith Sites

  • 4 Your Health this link opens in a new tab
  • Allrecipes this link opens in a new tab
  • All People Quilt this link opens in a new tab
  • Better Homes & Gardens this link opens in a new tab
  • Bizrate Insights this link opens in a new tab
  • Bizrate Surveys this link opens in a new tab
  • Cooking Light this link opens in a new tab
  • Daily Paws this link opens in a new tab
  • EatingWell this link opens in a new tab
  • Eat This, Not That this link opens in a new tab
  • Entertainment Weekly this link opens in a new tab
  • Food & Wine this link opens in a new tab
  • Health this link opens in a new tab
  • Hello Giggles this link opens in a new tab
  • Instyle this link opens in a new tab
  • Martha Stewart this link opens in a new tab
  • Midwest Living this link opens in a new tab
  • More this link opens in a new tab
  • MyRecipes this link opens in a new tab
  • MyWedding this link opens in a new tab
  • My Food and Family this link opens in a new tab
  • MyLife this link opens in a new tab
  • Parenting this link opens in a new tab
  • Parents this link opens in a new tab
  • People this link opens in a new tab
  • People en EspaƱol this link opens in a new tab
  • Rachael Ray Magazine this link opens in a new tab
  • Ser Padres this link opens in a new tab
  • Shape this link opens in a new tab
  • Siempre Mujer this link opens in a new tab
  • Southern Living this link opens in a new tab
  • SwearBy this link opens in a new tab
  • Travel & Leisure this link opens in a new tab
All products and services featured are selected by our editors. Real Simple may receive compensation for some links to products and services in this email on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice. Real Simple is part of the Meredith Home Group. © Copyright 2021 Meredith Corporationthis link opens in a new tab. All Rights Reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited. Privacy Policythis link opens in a new tab Terms of Servicethis link opens in a new tab Ad Choicesthis link opens in a new tab California Do Not Sellthis link opens a modal window Web Accessibilitythis link opens in a new tab
© Copyright . All rights reserved. Printed from https://www.realsimple.com

View image

18 Time-Saving Tips
this link is to an external site that may or may not meet accessibility guidelines.