From Chaos To Calm – We Need To Talk About 30 Happy Hacks Every Woman Needs

Life Hacks For Women

Do you love a good hack as much as we do? Whether it be a life hack for simplifying your day-to-day, a style hack, or just a happy hack that helps bring joy to your routine. Sometimes it’s the little things like saving time or at least making the most of your time that matter most. The first week of August was Simplify Your Life Week so as the month comes to a close, we thought we’d share some of the best life hacks for women to make life…well, simpler! These tips will help make simplicity a priority so you can say “no thanks” to chaos.

For some really great home organization hacks, you’ll want to check out this post next.

Happy Hacks

Let’s start with the easiest hacks of all – happiness hacks. The pursuit of happiness doesn’t have to involve BIG things (although it sure is great when it does 😉). Training yourself and your mind to find happiness in the little things allows for more frequent spurts of happiness. These are referred to as “glimmers” in this USA Today article. Glimmers are basically the exact opposite of “triggers”. It’s a moment that makes you feel grateful, hopeful, or joyful. In addition to being safe, calm, and satisfied. And, when you train your brain to notice them…they tend to appear more frequently.

So… while booking an exciting trip or winning the lottery are obvious (big) glimmers…smaller glimmers involve some seeking. In the current Special Edition of Real Simple Magazine, Ginny Graves describes happy living as a scavenger hunt for joy (glimmers) each day. Isn’t that such a cool way of looking at it? She says at first, finding joy is a daily practice that you do deliberately, but eventually it becomes much more automatic. Hence, you find joy in the most ordinary of days. And, most importantly, since our brains are wired to keep us in survival mode, seeking daily glimmers is a way to help combat our built-in negativity bias too. Here are 10 happy hacks that our team relies on to help find those daily glimmers. They are simple, yes, but, that’s really the whole point!

1. Buy yourself flowers. (Hey, it worked for Miley Cyrus.)
2. Crank up your music while doing any chore. And better yet, sing along to make a pesky task more enjoyable.
3. Remove something from your daily to-do list, just to make your life easier and give yourself some breathing room.
4. Text or call a friend just to ask them how they are and tell them you’re thinking of THEM.
5. Let go of guilt. If you are sorry, apologize and be done. Guilt is a toxic emotion to hold on to.
6. Ask for help or delegate a project. Many women have a tough time asking for help. Don’t be that woman!
7. Give yourself 10 minutes of quiet/alone time each morning. This could be a short walk, a quiet cup of coffee outside, or a quick meditation.
8. Go social media free for a day. Not as easy as it sounds!
9. Watch the sunset/sunrise.
10. Declutter – it’s a game-changer!

Style Hacks

We’ve shared oodles of fashion-related style hacks over the years. Here are 10 including a few classic favorites and some new must-dos that can make life easier.

1. When you’re going to be on your feet all day or you are just breaking in a new pair of shoes, Erin swears by this foot spray. Just spray it on your feet before you head out the door and wait for the magic!
2. If you accidentally set a stain on a piece of clothing by sending it through the dryer, or if you have a stubborn grease stain, squeeze enough Dawn dish soap on the stain to cover it. Let it sit, then run through the wash as normal. This is also great for oil stains.
3. Nobody loves those pesky yellow armpit stains on your white t-shirts. To get rid of them, make a paste of hydrogen peroxide and baking soda and add a little Dawn dish soap to the mix. Cover the area with the mix, let it sit, and wash as usual.
4. Do you ever get makeup on your shirt before even leaving the house? Slightly wet your clothing and use a toothbrush to apply a bit of shaving cream for quick removal. If it’s a stubborn stain, try adding a drop of rubbing alcohol to the shaving cream. This is supposedly a Kim Kardashian hack!
5. Sometimes those no-show socks just won’t stay on your feet and then you are pulling on them all day long. Our team member Joy highly recommends these as an easy fix!
6. Zipper stuck? No problem. Unjam your stuck zipper with a bar of soap or lip balm like ChapStick. Either should create enough lubrication to get it unstuck! Just rub it over the zipper and use liberally!
7. The next style hack is having double-sided fashion body tape on hand. It’s amazing for helping secure wrap-front blouses and dresses and plunging necklines. You can also use it to secure floppy lapels and to tape down your excess belt strap that sticks out. You’ll use more than you think!
8. Who has time for ironing? If you have a top-notch steamer like this one, it’s much faster and more efficient than dragging out the ironing board. And…it’s Team tested and approved!
9. You can also use your hair straightener for smaller wrinkles on shirts or collars or defined wrinkles from packing. This especially comes in handy when traveling.
10. If you need an all-over quick wrinkle fix, put a wrinkled piece of clothing in the dryer along with 2-4 ice cubes and turn the machine on for about 10 minutes. Viola!

For more of Erin’s tried and true style hacks, you’ll want to circle back to this post for some great reminders every fashionista should know.

 

Everyday Hacks

And finally, 10 random hacks that are useful for every day! Time savers, travel tips, and beauty tips too…

1. If your dainty jewelry necklaces are tangled, use two open safety pins (one in each hand) and gently pull in opposite directions. Takes a few minutes, but it works like a charm.
2. And, when traveling with your dainty necklaces and you want to avoid the tangles just mentioned, loop each through a separate straw and fasten. Alternatively, just wear your dainty necklace(s) on travel day so you don’t need to pack them.
3. Speaking of traveling, if you hate it when the sun shines through the drapes in your hotel room when you are trying to catch some extra zzzz’s, clamp them shut the night before with a hair clip or a hotel pants hanger with 2 clips.
4. This one works wonders! Adding bleach to a vase of fresh flowers keeps them healthy and they last longer! If you are a science geek…when microorganisms multiply in plain vase water, they block the flower stem and make it hard for the stem to absorb the nutrient-rich water it needs. This causes wilting and odors. The bleach fights that bacteria. Just a few drops will do the trick.
5. For adding a fresh scent to your home, put drops of essential oils on ripped-up cotton balls. Scatter them on the carpet or rug, then vacuum them up. OR, put drops of essential oils on your vacuum filter and vacuum as normal.
6. If you’re trying to minimize sugar or alcohol at night, create a special mocktail like sparkling water with fresh fruit or tea with half and half. It’s often just the ritual that you look forward to so just switch it up!
7. Use a photo cleaner app to help you clear out those thousands (OK tens of thousands) of screenshots, duplicates, and finger-happy photo bursts that are just taking up valuable space on your phone. There are many apps to try. There’s one called Get Sorted that makes it into a game (kind of) and helps batch your similar photos so it becomes easier to find the best/worst image. It even helps you determine which duplicate to keep and which to let go of, it sets a schedule, and helps monitor your progress.
8. If you have a tough time putting a clasped bracelet on by yourself, stick a piece of tape to the bracelet and your wrist on one side, and then it won’t move when you bring the other side to connect.
9. Dry shampoo is amazing for extending the life of good hair between washes. But if you spray it on at night before you go to bed, it has time to fully absorb. Just brush through in the morning. SO good!
10. For colder mornings and evenings, put your towel and/or blanket in the dryer before your shower or before hopping into bed. The added warmth is so lovely and helps warm you up quickly!

Do you have a favorite hack to add to our list? Pleaaase don’t keep that to yourself! We’d love for you to share it in the comments below.

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