I’ve noticed, through my work with numerous clients, and various companies and organizations, that we tend to make things more complicated by adding a lot of extra unnecessary steps to the things we do every day. The following are a few things you can do to “cut the fat” and simplify your life.

Sign up for automatic bill pay (at at least pay bills online).Most bills can be paid online - including land line and cell phone bills, utilities, and credit card payments. Most of these companies and others will also allow you to elect the “automatic debit” option, so your bills are deducted automatically (just make sure you have enough money in your bank account to cover the bills!). Paying bills online and/or signing up for auto pay saves you from having to write checks, use stamps, and remember to put the bill mail.

Focus on one area or project at a time. Don’t worry about everything big thing you have to tackle - because most likely, it’s probably a lot. Make note of your responsibilities and projects, keep the note(s) handy for reference, but save yourself from becoming overwhelmed by focusing on one issue at a time. Perhaps the most time sensitive?

Pick out your priorities. If you have a to-do list that is a mile long, pick out your top two or three priorities, and focus on those. You’ll feel a greater sense of accomplishment once you’ve gotten the most important things out of the way.

Don’t wear shoes in your house. This is something I was introduced to way back in my elementary school days. I grew up in a city where many of my Asian friends were first generation Americans. When visiting their homes, I (along with everyone else) had to leave our shoes outside. A few years down the line, my mother implemented this in our own home, mainly because it cut back on how often she/we had to clean the floors. All of this probably goes out the window if you have pets, but I never have. By not tracking what’s outside inside, you can definitely cut back on the amount of vacuuming and sweeping you have to do. You’ll probably be able to go longer between deep carpet cleanings as well.

Stop dry cleaning.Dry cleaning isn’t cheap. And when you factor in having to drop it off and pick it up, it becomes more expensive. Buy more machine washable clothing. The only things I currently own that supposedly need to be dry cleaned are a couple of winter coats - and since one is a few years old, I figured I’d throw it in the wash and see what happened - and it came out just fine. Also, you can use products like Dryel, and use your own dryer to handle some of those Dry Clean Only garments.

Use what you have. I have a client who is a perfect example of this. She is a big time crafter. She has so many crafting goodies, she could probably open her own store. It took a while for her to realize it, but she finally came to see that she had more than enough to do almost any project she could think of. We came across so many pairs of scissors, glue guns, craft paper, and embellishments during our project that there’s no need for her to buy anything more for a long time. If you have plenty of notebooks, stamps, office supplies, etc - use what you have before you fill up your space with more.

I thought my place was bad… Matt’s place is worse. It has prompted me to draw up a list of must haves in Tokyo.

1. Dishwasher

2. Decent vacuum cleaner, preferably an automatic one which roams about the place on its own.

3. Less of everything…clothes, crockery, pots, etc….etc…

4. Monstrous plasma TV. This will help the cleaning process by attracting all the dust in the apartment for one-stop cleaning.

5. Central heating. These bar heaters are a bugger to clean!

6. Sink hole in the bathroom floor. Make this area easy to clean. Flood and finish.

7. Sink hole in the kitchen? Do these exist. Same reason as above.

8. Sink hole in the fridge. No comment needed.

9.  Shorter shelving. I just can’t reach without balancing precariously on a wobbly chair. It’s either shorter shelving or glasses for Matt to see what he has missed!

Some of these requirements may be unnecessary if we got a cleaner at least once a week. But really…the apartment will be so small and we are 2 capable adults.

The other solution would be to plastic wrap everything. My dad is a professional at this. Matt was shocked when recently he saw that all of our remote controls at home in Melbourne were shrink-wrapped in plastic. Maybe plastic wrapped furniture is the way to go for 2 grots like us…