reducing chaos

Happiness.

 
The last six weeks have been all about reducing chaos in this house, which also meant using the time before grad classes started again to accomplish the chaos reduction rather than blogging, Facebooking and all sorts of time wasting fun.

So if you recall, one of the Happiness Project rules I adopted was no one else should have to participate in my project and I would only focus on the things that I could actually control. The first project was getting rid of those things that had the ability to turn a good day bad.

First I unsubscribed from email lists. Opening my email inbox every morning to 40 emails of sales, deals and quotes for my day sucked up time and added annoyance. Especially when I never actually take advantage of the sales.

Next I moved stuff in the house where it made sense. We had Henry's bibs stored in his dresser on the other side of the house from the dining room. Now they are in our hutch steps away from his highchair.  I reorganized the kitchen with the same idea in mind, moving the double boiler I only use at Christmas time to a high shelf and cleared a place next to our plates for Henry's rather than stacking the on top of each other and having to move the whole tower each time.

I got rid of excess clothes taking a car load to Goodwill, threw away the old toiletries that had expired and recycled old magazines. Our Tupperware situation was dire and I had been wanting to switch away from plastic anyway, so we spent the money to get nice glass and stainless steel containers.

I bought Rubbermaid totes to replace our cardboard boxes for Christmas decorations. I got a new phone charger so I was no longer propping the cord up with books so it'd be at the right angle to actually charge. Serious happiness roadblock.

It's all the things I wanted to do but never actually got on the list. It's definitely taught me to take the extra five minutes to think more logically through my organization and be comfortable with spending money when it makes the small things easier.

When the small things are easier, the big things seem to feel less big.

the most helpful websites

Tripadvisor
Awesome reviews of hotels, attractions and tours. My favorite feature, though, are the forums where you can find really specific advice and stories down to which bug spray to buy if you're staying in a cabana in the middle of the Belizean jungle. (To the family reading this: We're totally staying in American-style resorts with sterilized water and no-bug/snake/alligator bubbles around them)

Farecast
OK, it's actually a Bing site now but I refuse to conform to that nonsense. It's a regular old flight price search, but it's best feature tells you whether you should wait to buy or if fares will be going up soon and you should book it now. Handy.Or just buy your flights on Wednesdays. It's the cheapest; fun fact.

Daily Mile
Easy way to track my mileage and other workouts, and then send them directly to Twitter so I can be showered with awe and praise. The map works well to figure what distance I ran and calculates my pace, calories burned and how lame I am compared to everyone else running in KC. Tip: If your time sucked, then just put your impressive mileage and leave time blank. They'll never know.

Calorie Count
I don't use this much because I'm not counting calories at the moment. But when I feel like I've gotten into a gorge-myself-silly mode, I use the tracker to get myself in line. Seems to be the best I have found because it has all the foods and brands I normally eat.

Google Documents
Maybe not really a website per se... but I've used it for work task lists, project plans, wedding guests list, thank you note tracking, Christmas lists and budgeting. It comes in at a close second to my love of Google calendars.

Yelp
We love it! I never go to the dentist, eat at a restaurant, shop or subscribe to a service without checking for local reviews. Plus it's a great way to get back at a business who treats you like garbage when using your free massage coupon.


Retailmenot
Never buy online without visiting this site! There are others, but this one seems to be the most up to date with coupon codes, discounts and sales. I rarely buy something without finding at least a 10-percent off coupon, which is good because I'm cheap.

Which websites make your life easier? Share the love!