I now get up an hour early, so I can beat the traffic into work and leave work before it gets too bad at night. It shaves 45 minutes off my total commute, I’m less stressed during the day and at night because I didn’t have to deal with as much traffic, and I’m usually home by 5.
-lv
I got over my absurd fear/loathing of evacuating my bowels in the office bathroom, as opposed to driving home or using an isolated restroom on the other side of our campus.
I bought an electric razor and shave BEFORE I shower (which, SmackFu, is the key to a close shave with those things) so I don’t nick the tar out of my skin every time I shave, right before I get dressed.
I pay all my bills the same day I receive them.
I leave my keys and wallet in the exact same place every day when I come home.
I set my alarm clock 20 minutes fast.
I started using two monitors at work (that is, two monitors hooked up to the same computer). Now I couldn’t live without it. It’s great - I can have a reference document open on one screen, and my computer program or another document open on the other. No more switching between documents, or shrinking them so I can see two at once. Yes, I am a geek.
Had a sprinkler system installed. Major major time and effort saver during southern summers.
Ha! I did the lazy-man’s version of that. I’m a night owl, so I set my schedule from 10am to 7pm. I shaved about 45 minutes off my commute as well, and I get to stay in bed until 8:30! I am one lucky guy. 
-tool
Dumped boyfriend.
Wait, you said “easy”
Um…
Yeah, no easy improvements here. I’ve been using sperate bags for various purposes for years.
Back when I had a credit card I called and asked for a lower interest rate. They lowered it. They’re nice.
I bought a riding mower.
I chose to ignore the recycling laws in my town and be a garbage rebel.
I stopped believing in the non-existant over 20 years ago. Weekends are more productive and I have a hell of lot more fun the rest of the week, too.
I scream, you scream, we all denounce Jesus for Ice Cream!
I found a kind of socks I really like, and that’s the only kind I wear. No sorting at all. The first sock I pick up always matches the second.
Bought a PDA organizer. No more searching for phone numbers on scraps of paper. No more forgetting things to do and appointments.
Switched from a land line and dial-up internet to a cell phone and cable internet.
Pay bills all at once with online banking.
Discard everything I don’t need on a routine basis. Another vote for less is more.
Designate a place for everything I own, especially keys, wallet, watch, cell phone, and PDA. If I can’t find a place, I have too much stuff. See #4.
Bought a digital camera to store photos digitally instead of getting pics developed and filing them into an album. Not only is it more efficient, but I will probably take many more pictures that way for more fun memories.
Store my music CDs in portable cases instead of on a shelf or stand. I can have all my CDs inside my place or in my car whenever I want. Just grab a the cases for long road trips.
Buy two sets of bathroom supplies (toothpaste, deordorant, soap, shampoo, etc.). Use one item for primary use and keep the other as back-up. When the primary runs out, the back-up then becomes the primary and the item goes on the shopping list immediately. The next time you’re at the store, buy a replacement back-up. Keep rotating as needed. No more rushing to the store because you’ve run out of stuff by surprise at the worst possible moment, and no need to store away 10 bottles of shampoo.
Buy toilet paper in bulk. Take 3 “sacred” rolls and put them in a safe place in the bathroom away from all the other rolls as an emergency stash. Use only in emergencies.
Bought a trunk with a smooth top that doubles as a coffee table. The lid does not “flip” open. Instead, the lid pulls up and over to one side toward the couch, remaining flat. The coffee table is now a dining table or work table for eating or getting stuff done in front of the TV. Keep a blanket in the trunk area for snuggling on the couch in front of the TV.
Set alarm clock 15 minutes fast. Never hit snooze more than twice.
Prepare coffee maker at night just before bed. No more trying to make coffee half-asleep. Oh, and the coffee maker is designed to drip directly into one or two cups instead of dripping into a coffee pot that has to be washed or poured from. Just grab the full cup and go.
Electric shaver. Shave in the car, in the office whatever. Makes travel much easier.
Buy pump hand soap instead of using messy bar soap at the sink.
Use the same sponge to clean the toilet and the dishes. Very efficient. OK, maybe not.
And another vote for sticking to one type of sock. Pick one style and buy a whole bunch of 'em.
Seconded on this one. (Oops, thirded on preview.) I used to have all sorts of socks collected over the years. Different styles and even different colors, so I had to coordinate them to my pants. One day I said screw it, went out and bought enough pairs of plain black socks, and my life has been easier since then.
Pay all bills the day they arrive, online.
Write everything down in a notebook/diary, rather than trying to remember stuff. I was always forgetting things and creating difficulties and dramas, now I’m organised and it’s so good !
Spend a moment each day thinking about all the good stuff I have and have done. I feel so much happier and more positive, and I don’t take my good fortune for granted anymore.
I practice organic lawn care. Mulching mower, so no raking up clippings. No watering needed (which is just as well as our town has imposed watering bans the past few summers). No having to spray weed killer. And our pet rabbits soiled litter goes into our compost heap and makes a nice mulch for the lawn.
On a related note, we bought an electric battery powered lawn mower. You have to push it, but there is no maintenance beyond sharpening the blade, and it is quieter than a weed whacker. Just leave it plugged in during the summer and it is always charged up when you need it.
I’ve been doing the “always put your keys and wallet in the same place” bit for decades. I wish my wife would do the same. She is constantly losing her keys, glasses, cell phone.
I always make my lunch for the next day the night before. I usually have the same type of sandwich, so I can make it in about two minutes with no thought required. I figure this saves me several hundred dollars over the course of the year, because otherwise I would be eating out. So I save time and money.
Taking the battery out of the fire alarm, BEFORE I start cooking.
What did I tell you 
?
I think the simple thing I’ve done to make my life easier is to finally realize you don’t have to agonize over and anticipate and worry about every future action, you can, actually, wait till the time rolls around to do them and then…do them.
Who knew?
Gave up tea and coffee, and otherwise got my natrual sleep cycle back so I always get good sleep and enough of it. This can transform your life.
Weaned myself off religion. Wow, does that ever save a lot of time and nonsense.
Got into the habit of never watching any TV in real time. If there’s something I want to watch, I set the VCR on ‘long play’. Then when I do watch it, at a time to suit myself, I can whizz through all the crap, filler, ads, trailers, sponsors, and other junk and just watch the actual thing I want to. And if it’s clearly dreck, I don’t have to watch all of it. This is a huge timesaver.
The best thing I ever did for myself was stop worrying about what other people thought of me.
You have no idea how much stress that got rid of.
Clairnex- I started taking Clairinex and my life is much simpler without all those doctor appointments and being sick all the time.
Allergic to Texas
This is hysterical.
Me too.
I sleep in on Sundays and after a bit, I take a nap in the afternoons. Saves on guilt too.
I clean my bathrooms when my kids are taking a bath. By the time they are finished with a Tsumani, the floor is hand sponged over and the countertops have been rediscovered again.
Car keys hang on a rack by the back door with all the important keys. Purse with wallet, cell phone and lip balm are always in the same spot.
The Biggie
I only really clean when we have company, which is maybe four or five times a year, if that. Then everything gets put in its place and all the finger prints/nose prints and sticky spots are taken care of. My house, I’ve noticed, is not any more cluttered or dirty than anyone else’s I go to. I do have to sweep my kitchen floor at least twice a day. *When have you ever read in an Obit that someone kept a clean house? * I want to be remembered for being something other than that. Giving up on anal retentive housework is just so freeing that I feel like whipping off my bra…and shouting " Viva La Revolution." Also, as my friends mom said to me, *The best thing about housework is it always waits for you. And that is the worst thing about it as well.
**Minor things that have smoothed my life **
Set out clothes for kids the night before school.
Keeping in my wallet a list of all the spices and cooking thingies I have but can never remember when I am in the spice section has saved me mula and aggrevation. Also, taking a copy of the recipe with me to the store with written on *what I already have *and what I need, has made my life a disney film.
Keeping a book list in my wallet ( actually it is my memorandum) of my wish list keeps me from going * " Duuuuuuuuuh, what genre do I like again?"* the second I walk into the store.
I also keep a list in my memorandum of the Birthday/Holiday gifts I have purchased already for the children and kids in our lives, thus keeping me from buying too much for one and zip for another. I also put the price down of said gifts and remark how much I want to spend total.
I like lists.