profile

Hi! I'm Olly.

Reclaim You Week by Automating These 2 Super Time-Consuming Tasks

Published about 1 year ago • 6 min read

Happy Sunday! 

When I sit down to write these newsletters, I think about the habits and routines that have changed my life lately.

This week I read that one of the best ways to save time is to automate your simple and repetitive tasks. So I asked myself where a lot of my time is going each day and each week.

The answer was

  • Cleaning my kitchen (mainly doing dishes)
  • Doing laundry (managing the piles of clean laundry and dirty)

If you're like I was, these tasks are never ending and take SO MUCH TIME to manage.

So if you're constantly juggling too many tasks and you feel like you're spending way too much time:

  • being frustrated that the sink is always full of dishes
  • trying to find that favorite shirt but you don't know which laundry pile its in
  • arguing with your partner about whose turn it is to do the dishes
  • simply trying to keep up and manage it all

then buckle up, I'm going to be sharing my system with you.

Here's what we'll be covering:

  1. 6 Simple Habits to Transform Your Kitchen
  2. The 4-Step Laundry System to Make Your Life Easier
  3. How to Easily Implement These into Your Day

Let's get started...


Efficiency Habits: Automate These 2 Super Time-Consuming Tasks and Reclaim Your Week

🧽 Sick of Dishes Taking Up All Your Time? Try These 6 Simple Habits:

(Feel free to pick and choose from these habits based on your needs.)

1. REUSE as many dishes as possible during the day.

This one was a game-changer for me. My partner and I have an abundance of spoons and I used to use maybe 6 or 7 a day. One for my coffee, one for my cereal, one to scoop the ingredients out of a can.. the list goes on. Now right after I use a spoon, I quickly wash and rinse it, place it in the drying wrack, and try to use that same one later. Now imagine doing that with several bowls, plates, and cups you use throughout the day. Way fewer dishes at the end of the day!

2. Start your day fresh by putting away clean dishes.

I tell all my new clients to spend the first 30 minutes of their day away from screens and to instead do something that will set them up for the day. Spend 5 minutes of this time emptying the dishwasher.

3. Move left to Right:

A time waster when it comes to cleaning is deciding where to start and picking different spots at random. Start from the left side of the kitchen and move right. Start by putting everything that's out into its place or into the dishwasher for the first sweep. Then take a dish rag or counter sponge to wipe down the surfaces.

4. Have a sanitizer “rag”. Leave it in bleach water overnight. Wipe down the kitchen after each use.

I learned this skill in a cafe I used to work at and I decided to put it into practice at my house. It's been life-changing. Cut up an old towel into 4 or 5 kitchen rags. This rag will live next to the sink (mine hangs neatly folded over the faucet). Use this rag to wipe down surfaces after every meal. At the end of the night, wash out the rag and place it in a small bucket or large jar with water and a dash of bleach (4 teaspoons of bleach per quart of room-temperature water).

. Wring it out in the morning to start again!

5. Clean out your fridge on Sundays.

A great time to reset things is Sunday (today!). Try to spend 15 minutes cleaning out your fridge of soiled food and forgotten leftovers then. This will save you time during the week because you'll have a much clearer idea of what ingredients you do have when meal planning and food shopping.

6. Keep the kitchen counter as clear as you can.

This step is a lot to do with the idea that a tidy kitchen equals a tidy mind. Take steps to declutter by not storing things on the kitchen counter. Start by asking how often you use each item each day. Salt, pep, and olive oil can stay but question the rest. Everything in your kitchen should have a home and you should try as hard as you can to make that home on the counter haha.


🧺 Laundry Solved: How This 4-Step System Will Make Your Life Easier:

This is the system that my partner and I recently implemented. It saves hours of room cleaning.

Before we start:

  • You'll need 2 laundry baskets
  • Forget about having a designated laundry day

Step 1: Dedicate the first basket for dirty laundry. Dedicated the second to clothes that need to be put away like clothes you only tried on, clothes that can be worn again, and clean laundry, etc.

Step 2: Every evening (or every other) do 2 things: First, empty the dirty laundry bin into the washer. After a couple of evenings, when the washer is full - run it.

Step 3: The second task is to put away everything in the put-away basket. The system stops working when the baskets overflow.

I also suggest that my clients spend the last 30 minutes of their day screen-free. 5 minutes of this time is perfect for putting away the clothes in that basket. Like the items in the kitchen, each of these items should ideally have a specific 'home'.

Step 4: In the morning, take the laundry out of the washer, and hang it up or put it in the dryer. When it’s dry, add it to the put-away basket.

Repeat


Easy Implementation:

I just gave you a lot of information. My goal in this implementation section is to give you a daily routine that you can follow.

You can also take what habits you find helpful and build it into your own routine.

The following morning and evening routine will set you up to save HOURS in your week. No more long nights trying to keep up with the dishes and no more piles of daunting laundry taking hours to fold.

Daily Morning Routine:

  • Put away clean dishes/ empty the dishwasher (5 mins)
  • Rinse and wring out your counter rag and place it next to the sink (30 sec)
  • Set up your laundry to dry (2-10 mins)
  • After breakfast wipe down the counters (30 sec)

During the day:

Remember to:

  • Reuse as many items as possible leaving yourself with less to clean later.
  • Keep the kitchen counter as clear as you can by returning items to where they belong. Do this as you go!
  • Wipe down the counter after use (30 sec)

Daily Evening Routine

  • Move left to right returning items in the kitchen to where they belong & the dishwasher/ sink. (time shortened by day habits above)
  • Wipe down the counter for the night (30 secs)
  • Rinse out the counter rag and return it to its bleach bucket (4 teaspoons of bleach per quart of room-temperature water)
  • Add any dried laundry to the Put-Away laundry basket
  • Fold and put away the items in the put-away basket

After applying these 2 routines, you'll have systemized and automated two incredibly time-consuming and necessary tasks.

That's all from me!

Have a great week and see you next Sunday.

Olly J

Before you go...

Here are 2 ways I can help you with your productivity journey:

1) One-on-one coaching
I have a 12-week coaching program called the PEAK Performance Blueprint: Building Habits for Success that is dedicated to helping people wake up energized, achieve more, and become the best versions of themselves. Learn more here.

2) Peak Habits - 14-Day FREE Habit Challenge
Learn 3 habits and receive daily accountability to jumpstart your productivity journey in just 14 days. Join here.

19 Scott st. , Northampton, MA 01060
Unsubscribe · Preferences

Hi! I'm Olly.

Every Sunday, I send out a short email with new habits to be more productive, focused, and energized. Join others in the PEAK community and get that email delivered straight to your inbox every Sunday morning for free.

Read more from Hi! I'm Olly.

PEAK'S HABIT BUILDING NEWSLETTER Happy Sunday! This week's newsletter is for you if you have already created some beneficial and healthy habits but you want to implement them with more consistency. I'll be giving you a 21-day consistency-building sprint that you can copy and paste straight from this newsletter into your schedule to help you get back on track. If you're here for this week's habit, scroll down and you'll find a habit that will help you increase your productivity. 21-DAY...

about 1 year ago • 5 min read

PEAK'S HABIT BUILDING NEWSLETTER Tips + Tools: WORK-LIFE BALANCE Happy Sunday! Welcome to this week's newsletter. In this fast-paced world, juggling our professional and personal lives can be a real challenge. Many of us end up working long hours, feeling stressed and overwhelmed, and eventually burning out. This week we're talking about work-life balance and how you can achieve it. I've put together 5 tips to help you prioritize this balance in your life. Let's get started. The Ultimate...

about 1 year ago • 3 min read

PEAK'S HABIT BUILDING NEWSLETTER Mornings Routines: Creating a Morning Ritual that Sets You Up for a Great Day Happy Sunday! I hope this newsletter finds you well and ready for a productive week ahead! This morning, I'll be showing you how to create a morning routine that sets you up for the day, helping you feel motivated, energized, and clear. Let's get started. 1. Wake up at the same time every day: Having a consistent wake-up time can help regulate your body's internal clock and improve...

about 1 year ago • 2 min read
Share this post