Five Everyday Time-Saving Tips! (FF-013)

Originally Published: January 24, 2022

Revised: July 7, 2025

Time is one of our most valuable assets and something we can never grow or get back. To help you maximize your valued time, I’ve provided five everyday time-saving tips to implement into your routine (or continue doing with maximum efficiency):

• Take your clothes off right-side out.  

When doing laundry, do you find that you often are having to turn your shirts, socks, and/or pants right side out again? Then you likely take your clothes off by flipping them inside out as you remove them. 

Save time by consciously removing your clothes right-side out or fixing them as soon as you take them off. Your future laundry-doing-self will thank you!

• Put likes-with-likes when loading the dishwasher. 

Save time by loading the dishwasher by putting spoons in the same slot, similar size plates next to each other, glassware with glassware, and mugs with mugs. Then when you unload, your brain only needs to focus on a section rather than multitasking and having to think harder about what to put away.

• Place things in the direction it needs to go.  

Suppose you need to put something away in your bedroom. If you aren’t heading down the hallway (or up the stairs) at this very moment, place the object in a consistent place that will start to train your brain to act on autopilot that anything set there means it needs to move in that direction.

• Put things aways!  

On a similar note, always put things back where they belong – even if you do not feel like doing so!  

A place for everything and everything in its’ place. Even if you think you’ll use it again this afternoon, tomorrow, next week, it is always more efficient when you put things back in their home.  (Your wallet will also thank you since you won’t spend money on things you already own.)

• Lists.  

Finally, I recommend having a list for anything you do repetitively. For example, create a Costco / Sam’s Club list of the stuff you normally stock up on. When it is time to go, use a process of elimination technique to determine what you need to purchase. 

I also recommend a Vacation Packing List. The first step in packing for a vacation for me is printing that list. Then crossing things off as they make it into the suitcase. No need to reinvent the wheel. Check out the blog post: Getting Excited for an Upcoming Trip? (FF-003), which has a downloadable and ready to use Packing List.

The above list is just a flavor of some of the Time-Saving Tips you can use at home. 

Check out Sarah Speaks at to learn more ways to maximize efficiency and time!