Look at you over there, with your tips and tricks and little life hacks, finding ways to work around the foibles and cock ups and indignities of life… finding ways to make your 4,000 Mondays on the planet more enjoyable amidst the hilarious lunacy known as Being Alive. I guess I just don’t know why you’ve been holding out on me? With your pro “how to like life more” tips? We can talk about that later in private, you and me.

For now though, I shall share what other readers have generously coughed up in response to my recent article called Tiny Life Tweaks for a Pretty Decent Life. People seem to appreciate relatively low-effort ways to spruce their lives up (I’m ALL about low-lift life improvements), and so maybe some of their ideas will resonate with you? And maybe you’ll feel inspired to share your own light-touch life enhancers? Yeah, we’ll see about that.

27 Light-Touch Ideas to Make Life Lovelier

☠️ “Put everything on auto-ship. I can’t believe how long I went on, waiting until products ran out to reorder. We buy several cat items every month from Chewy, for example, and now they just show up when we need them. That’s living the good life!” (Lisa)

☠️ “Something little I do to enhance my life: I bought a timer for our lamp in the living room and it comes on as soon as it starts to get dark out. It immediately creates a cozy mood in the house without me having to think about creating the vibe. I have it set so it goes off around when we go up to bed too. It’s very simple but it makes me really happy every single day when it goes on!” (Michelle)

☠️ “I get our coffee prep ready the night before so it’s not annoying in the morning when I’m haggard. This means filling the coffee maker and getting the mugs ready.” (Bill)

☠️ “I bought a portable stand up desk that is fully adjustable to various heights (it’s possible to also sit at it) — love it because it’s super lightweight which allows me to easily roll it around, permitting me to gaze at various bird feeders around my yard while I’m working! The work (eventually) gets done despite these sweet distractions–and it’s used much more than my immovable standing desk.” (Cat)

☠️ “We do a lot of walking, so I get a new pair of shoes each year (spring – the weather is great and new shoes make me more excited to get off my butt).” (Bill)

☠️ “I do the laundry during the week so I can have a chore-free weekend.” (Becka)

☠️ “On my Sunday Fun Days, I love thinking about where the friction points are in my life. Then I have fun going about the job of removing that friction. (E.g., Why do I spend time sorting through mismatched socks that the dryer ate? Get rid of them. I hate my keyboard at work. Buy a new one!) Now, my pretty decent life is back on track 🙃.” (Christine)

☠️ “When I cut into a lime or lemon, I always squeeze the rest of the juice into a small jar to save in the fridge. Except I can never remember which is the lime juice and which is the lemon. Today I decided to find cute jars with lemons and limes on them to save me the struggle. THEN I realized I could make my own out of La Fermière yogurt pots! They’re still a work in progress, but what an upgrade to my kitchen!” (Lisa)

☠️ “I’m in the phase of life where I’m starting to think… if I moved, would I take this ‘spice, knife, etc.’ with me? If not then it’s donated or tossed 😉🙌🏻 !!” (Stacey)

☠️ “Upgraded to a 10 ft. charging cable 👏” (Kelli)

☠️ “I set an alarm to go off at 10:30pm so I go to bed. I use an alarm to wake up, why not use one to remind me to get off the couch and into bed??” (Ralph)

☠️ “I program birthday text messages to go out to my friends for the morning of their birthdays. I look at my calendar for the week or two in advance and if someone’s birthday is on the horizon that I don’t want to miss, I’ll type the text, press the (+) button on the left side of the message screen and select ‘Send Later.’ It’s magical!” (Jodi)

☠️ “I wake up 10 minutes early so I can read a part of a fiction book. Even just a few pages. Then the rigamarole starts with the kids and dogs but at least I’ve had 10 minutes to ease into the day.” (Angie)

☠️ “One of the little things that makes a difference in my life is asking friends for input on my business. I used to not want to bother them or I was too scared of criticism but I have such smart friends, so why not tap into their wisdom?” (Rochelle)

☠️ “When I am in line, I no longer scroll through the socials or news. I scroll through my photos instead and I am so much happier!” (Brenda)

☠️ “I stopped weighing myself. I feel so much lighter, emotionally.” (Liz)

☠️ “Instead of having friends over for drinks, I now ask friends if they want to go for a walk. That way we spend time together, drink less, and get some steps in.” (Nan)

☠️ “My ex wife and I decided to share the things we were grateful for about one another, now that it’s been a few years since our divorce. It has helped our relationship mend.” (Andrew)

☠️ “I finally hired a personal trainer and I am finally feeling healthy. Why didn’t I do this sooner? Also, I am doing it semi-private so my sister and I get to work out together and split the cost.” (Maura)

☠️ “My husband and I started doing puzzles again. The best part is that we talk when we are doing the puzzles, in a more relaxed way than if we were sitting across from one another at a restaurant. Something about being busy with the task – it makes it easier to bring topics up. I’ve heard people say they have the best conversations with their teenagers when they are in the car, not really facing one another, and I can so relate.” (Meaghan)

☠️ “Every time I get a survey online for a great service I’ve received, I make sure to fill it out. Nothing beats the feeling of complimenting someone for doing a good job, especially if their boss gets to read the good review. I do the same for businesses I am appreciative of on Google reviews and Yelp, because I know they rely on good word of mouth.” (Amrita)

☠️ “I am now politely declining invitations and opportunities with a simple ‘no, thank you, I can’t make it’ without feeling like I have to explain why. It only took me 50 years to get there!!” (Sher)

☠️ “My father in law is a big science buff. Every morning I pick out a fascinating fact from ScienceDaily and when I visit or call him I have something interesting to share, and I get to hear him share his opinion about it while his brain gets some exercise.” (Antonella)

☠️ “I register for things that scare me, so I am obligated to follow through. I did that with a half marathon in Chicago. Now I do it with lessons for things like pickleball, which I find intimidating. I also registered for a screenwriting workshop so now I have to write 25 pages and show up. It’s such positive pressure.” (Mallory)

☠️ “We use the best wine glasses on a weekday just to make a Wednesday more special. It requires hand washing which is a drag but no one said the good life would be easy 🍷!” (Al)

☠️ “I am interviewing my 97-year-old grandfather about his life and recording his answers on video so his great grandkids can get to know him after he’s gone.” (Mike)

☠️ “A friend of mine and I recently read the same book at the same time, and we had a call to talk about our thoughts after we were done. I’ve never been a part of a book club, but I can see the appeal… you pay more attention to the book as you’re reading it, knowing you need to talk about it intelligently later (!), and it’s cool to hear about your friend’s perspective on the story, especially if it differs from your take on the characters’ choices, etc.” (Jodi)

Okay that’s enough aliveness for one post. I don’t want to overwhelm you with ways to spruce-up-and-juice-up your life; this is supposed to be about making life better until we die, not even more stressful on our inevitable journey to the grave.

Are you ready to share your idea? Oh yes, yes you are. Email me at Jodi at FourThousandMondays dot com with your “little life tweak.” Let’s never underestimate the impact of even the smallest adjustments. Thank you, my life-hacking friend.