Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning,
Speaker 1: This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's
Speaker 1: tip is about one simple way to make life easier.
Speaker 1: Avoid anything with special instructions. So I am all for
Speaker 1: the little touches that make life feel special, but you
Speaker 1: want to make sure that anything requiring special care is
Speaker 1: truly worth the effort. For ordinary stuff, it is wise
Speaker 1: to go as low maintenance as possible. So when you
Speaker 1: are shopping for clothes, check the tags to see whether
Speaker 1: an item will require dry cleaning, or ironing or hand washing.
Speaker 1: If so, you might want to move on. Even with
Speaker 1: work clothes, you can often find dress pains, ants and
Speaker 1: tops that don't require special instructions. Just wash cold and
Speaker 1: tumble dry low. The goal should be to make laundry
Speaker 1: day easier rather than more complicated. As for dishes, if
Speaker 1: it can't go in the dishwasher, think long and hard
Speaker 1: about whether it needs to be in your house. If
Speaker 1: you are buying furniture or rugs, go for ones with
Speaker 1: performance fabrics that wipe clean easily, or go for ones
Speaker 1: that are colorful or interesting enough that they don't show
Speaker 1: a bit of dirt. If you're cooking a weekday dinner.
Speaker 1: Don't choose a food that will be ruined by an
Speaker 1: extra minute or two in the oven, and don't choose
Speaker 1: something that will require a trip to another grocery store
Speaker 1: for a random ingredient. Choose house plants that aren't fussy
Speaker 1: about when they are watered or that require an exact
Speaker 1: amount of sunlight in order to thrive. I would also
Speaker 1: think long and hard about kids' activities that are going
Speaker 1: to require driving long distances at inopportune times, or that
Speaker 1: move around a lot constantly. Reworking the family schedule with
Speaker 1: special instructions is no fun. If you have a naturally
Speaker 1: complex life, like lots of kids or a job that
Speaker 1: changes day to day, then you want to develop good
Speaker 1: routines that make everything else as automatic as possible. Anything
Speaker 1: with special instructions is by definition a deviation from the routine.
Speaker 1: It means you can't just throw your clothes in the
Speaker 1: washing machine and then in the dryer. It means you
Speaker 1: can't just put it all in the dishwasher and be
Speaker 1: done with it. So in general, avoid special instructions. Ask
Speaker 1: how to make life easier, and don't make life harder
Speaker 1: unless there is a really good reason Tuesday's outfit probably
Speaker 1: isn't it. In the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening,
Speaker 1: and here's to making the most of our time. Thanks
Speaker 1: for listening to Before Breakfast. If you've got questions, ideas,
Speaker 1: or feedback, you can reach me at Laura at Laura
Speaker 1: vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartMedia.
Speaker 1: For more podcasts from iHeartMedia, please visit the iHeartRadio app,
Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.