(Nearly) Open Thread, May 21 2012

Lots of us have top tips, shortcuts, patterns, techniques and labor-saving ideas, things we've worked out ourselves or had passed down from older generations. What are your favourites?

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Comments

[Coleslaw]

Think about big tasks that can be done a bit at a time. I once cleaned out and organized my file cabinet at work by taking advantage of five and ten minute intervals that came up throughout the day.

Use the 80-20 rule. Twenty percent of your efforts will give you 80% of your benefits. (Not always true, but true about 80% of the time.) Say your house is a mess. Identify the room that will make you happiest or most productive to have clean, and then identify what really needs to be done there to make it function. Suppose you decide that having the kitchen cleaned and organized will have the biggest impact on your life. Cleaning out and reorganizing the cabinets will probably have a bigger impact on how it functions than scrubbing the baseboards.

When you can't make a decision between two choices, toss a coin. Most of the time, while the coin is in the air, you will know which way you want it to land. If not, you may as well go with the coin flip.

If you think of something at bedtime you want to remember the next day, turn your clock around or move your slippers or something like that. When you see the out of place item, it will jog your memory. (Of course, you could just keep a notepad and pencil on your nightstand, but the alarm clock thing actually works. It's an example of LTP.)

[cjmr]

Ironically, because I *do* use the 80-20 rule, my bedroom rarely gets cleaned, so I wouldn't even notice if my alarm clock were turned around or I moved my slippers.

[Froborr]

When you can't make a decision between two choices, toss a coin. Most of the time, while the coin is in the air, you will know which way you want it to land. If not, you may as well go with the coin flip.

I do something similar: flip it, look at the result, and if I want to flip it again, then clearly I prefer the other outcome. If I do not want to flip it again, than clearly either I prefer the outcome I got, or I do not care and may as well go with the one I got.

When making pasta, nothing is quite as good as homemade sauce, but if you practice, you can add veggies and seasoning to a $3 jar of decent store-bought sauce (tip-within-a-tip: store brand is usually better than the other cheapo sauces) and get pretty darn close.

[Anonymous]

Always top up the pet's water (and food if they don't have scheduled feeding times) before going to bed. It'll save them waking you in the middle of the night when they've run out.

Keep a trashcan near an area where you spend a lot of time. It prevents trash building up on your desk. When trash starts building up on your desk again, that means it's time to empty the trash bag, not that the trash can isn't working.

If you put deodorant on when you are clean, you stay smelling clean longer. (I was an adult when I learned this. I had always thought deodorant was for putting on when you weren't smelling clean and thought a shower would do just as well. But if you put the deodorant on right after the shower, it makes the shower last longer.)

I used to think that a raincoat was enough in the rain. I didn't understand umbrellas because they didn't keep me from getting wet. But I learned recently that a raincoat works well in tandem with an umbrella. The umbrella keeps your raincoat dry, and that keeps the water from rolling off your raincoat, onto your pants, and soaking them through. You'll still get wet, but not as wet as you would have without an umbrella.

[cjmr]

If you can recycle white paper/desk paper, keep a dedicated 'paper recycling' trash can next to your desk, too.

[truth is life]

When making pasta, nothing is quite as good as homemade sauce, but if you practice, you can add veggies and seasoning to a $3 jar of decent store-bought sauce (tip-within-a-tip: store brand is usually better than the other cheapo sauces) and get pretty darn close.

If you're not a vegetarian, you can also brown some meat and add it to the sauce, to bulk it up. My family uses ground beef, but I see no reason in principle you couldn't use, say, ground turkey.

[cyllan]

A hot pink post-it note at eye-level on either the fridge or the egress is an excellent way of remembering the unusual thing that you need to do that morning. I use this for things like giving the cat medicine, packing a lunch for a field trip or sending in permission slips. Write the post it note when you think "I must remember to do X in the morning" and then you don't have to remember.

[hapax]

I never spend coin on anything. When I use cash, I use only bills.

At the end of the day, I empty all the coin into a small cash jar.

When the jar is full (it usually takes a couple of months), I empty it out and take it to the bank to cash it in. It's never enough to pay the mortgage or anything like that, so I always treat it as "grace money", that MUST NOT be used for anything "serious."

Instead, I use it for things I wouldn't normally splurge on: take the kids out for ice cream, buy some pretty earrings at the Free Trade shop, pick up some trashy romances at the used book store, that ridiculous floppy hat at the mall...

[Ross]

Most of the time, if I find something cheaper than the thing I really want which looks like it will be "almost as good", it won't be, and I will just end up buying the more expensive thing as well.

When cooking, if you don't know what else to do, sautee some onions. Whatever you end up deciding, some onions won't go amis.

Try adding just a little bit of heavy cream.

[Froborr]

If you're not a vegetarian, you can also brown some meat and add it to the sauce, to bulk it up. My family uses ground beef, but I see no reason in principle you couldn't use, say, ground turkey.

Chopped chicken breast works well, I find.

Anything with a tomato base can be improved by a little bit of celery seed.

Anything with chicken, fish, or vegetables can be improved by rosemary.

Immediately after washing your salad, when it's still a little damp, sprinkle herbs, garlic, and a bit of pepper on it. You have now eliminated the need for dressing.

Any food can be improved by the addition of at least one of chocolate or garlic. A very few foods can be improved by the addition of either. No food can be improved by both at once. (Mole sauce notwithstanding; there is as big a difference between cacao and chocolate as between wheat and cake.)

If people are using condiments, it means my food doesn't taste good enough on its own and must be improved.

Non-Food-Related:

Reboot your computer on your way out the door.

Keep batteries in the freezer, they last longer and are less likely to leak. (Actually, I don't know if this one's true, but I've always done it and it doesn't hurt.)

[gleomstapa]

It's often worth it to go for the second-best thing instead of the first-best thing, because the actual difference between second-best and first-best tends to much smaller than the associated increase in cost (in money or effort).

Eggs hard-boil in about the same time it takes pasta to cook, so you can throw an egg or two in with the pasta and have hard-boiled eggs at the end (for soft-boiled, use a faster-cooking pasta).

If you tend to forget your lunch, putting your shoes in the refrigerator with it the night before won't make you remember your lunch; it'll just make you unable to find your shoes in the morning.

[sarah]

[[Froborr: Anything with chicken, fish, or vegetables can be improved by rosemary.]]

My mom's allergic to rosemary, so I didn't discover its wonders until I was out of the house and cooking on my own. But you're right--if my mom's not eating it, I'll often put rosemary in the dishes that I cook and it's wonderful.

Tomato sauce: crushed tomatoes work as well as peeling your own if you don't have time. Don't get tomato puree (That was an oopsie on my part.)

[Coleslaw]

Eggs hard-boil in about the same time it takes pasta to cook, so you can throw an egg or two in with the pasta and have hard-boiled eggs at the end (for soft-boiled, use a faster-cooking pasta).

What a great idea. We like having hard boiled eggs around.

[Jon Maki]

Not even vaguely related to the topic, but I know some of you live in the Northern VA/DC/Maryland area, so if you can help with this, a friend's son is missing in the Leesburg area: Missing and Endangered Leesburg Man Reported.

Any help you can provide would be appreciated.

Thanks.

[Kirala]

Even prior to the comic, I knew how to save a few seconds at a long red light via elaborate and questionably legal measures, and still do so quite frequently. I'm not sure whether most would consider this labor-saving, though.

(The real bonus is if you know a light well enough to actually save time waiting for a left turn signal by turning right.)

[Mmy]

@Jon Maki: That is horrible -- I wish I could do more than offer sympathies and good thoughts.

[Jon Maki]

Update: Unfortunately, his body has been found: Missing Leesburg man drowns in drainage pond.

[Amaryllis]

@Jon Maki: I'm so sorry to hear this. My sympathies are with you and your friends.

[Izzy]

@Jon: I'm sorry. Best wishes for you and your friends.

[Anonymous]

rot13 in case menstruation tips aren't work safe:

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[hapax]

@Jon Maki -- I am also sorry to hear your news. Condolences to all friends and family.

[Froborr]

My condolences, Jon Maki.

[Mmy]

My condolences as well Jon Maki

[Coleslaw]

I'm sorry, Jon Maki.

[Coleslaw]

I remembered a few more tips. A basket that hangs on a doorknob can be used to hold small things you are afraid you'll forget on your way out, like letters to mail and notes reminding you about larger items. Even better is a space that you use as a "launching pad" where you put everything that needs to go with you in the morning. You do need to get in the habit of checking the area.

My tip for saving money on clothing purchases that you later regret is the smile rule. If I look at myself in the dressing room mirror and smile, it's a purchase. If I am frowning, no purchase, even if it's the last LBD in my size and I need a LBD, even if I was looking for a pair of white crops and these are indeed a pair of white crops that fit, no matter how pretty it looked on the model in the catalog, the hangar, or the younger, slimmer, taller picture of me that resides in my mind; no smile, no purchase. Saves money and closet space. And you don't have to be gorgeous for this to work. I'm in my mid-60's and shaped like an apple, but I still find clothes that make me smile. (Needless to say, it also doesn't matter if someone more objective thinks the item suits you or not. What matters is that you look at yourself and smile.)