Shortcuts for Everyday Tasks

Shortcuts for Everyday Tasks
By Amanda Hinnant

Keep a Journal
If the last entry in your diary is a cryptic scribble from 2003, stop writing and start printing―e-mails, that is. Since you’re probably already summarizing your life in e-mails to your friends and family, print them out and paste them on the pages of a blank notebook, suggests Oriah Mountain Dreamer, author of What We Ache For: Creativity and the Unfolding of Your Soul (HarperOne, $22, amazon.com). “It’s like my yoga teacher once said about working out: ‘All you need to do is stretch for five minutes a day,’” Mountain Dreamer says. “Of course, once you get going, it feels so good, you’ll wind up doing more.”

Run Errands
“Plan the order of your stops in a clockwise direction,” advises Susan Hamersky, owner of the Los Angeles–based errand company California Concierge. “That way, you avoid all the time-consuming left turns.” Also, schedule your errands so you can drop things off on your way out and pick them up on your way home, says Dan McMackin, a spokesman for UPS and a former driver. Keep a cooler in your car for perishables, too. Then a stop at the market doesn’t have to be immediately followed by a run home to the refrigerator, says Julie Hagenmaier, founder and CEO of My Girl Friday, an errand company in Cincinnati.

Get Your Daily Vitamins
Try a bowl of Total, says David Grotto, a registered dietitian in Evanston, Illinois, and a spokesman for the American Dietetic Association. The cereal is fortified with 100 percent of the daily value of 12 vitamins and minerals. Drink the milk, too―it will add even more vitamins, including those it washes off the cereal, Grotto says.

Turn Day Wear Into Evening Wear
Work is over, and you're ready for cocktails. Transform your office self for a night out with these tools.

• An extra pair of earrings. Always have two pairs―one small and one dangly. You can also attach clip-on earrings to your pumps.
• A lightweight shawl. "It's an easy new focal point for your outfit," says fashion consultant Leah Feldon, author of Does This Make Me Look Fat?: The Definitive Rules for Dressing Thin for Every Height, Size, and Shape (Villard, $15, amazon.com).
• A fancy pair of pumps. Or a pair of strappy sandals.
  Black eyeliner. For a smoky look, line your outer rims close to the lash lines, then smudge with a cotton swab, says New York City makeup artist Mally Roncal.
• A peachy cream blush. "The color will uplift your cheeks and eyelids," says New York City makeup artist Lea Siegel.

Get Cut Flowers to Bloom
First try cutting the stems at an angle, then placing the bouquet in warm water. If that doesn’t work, use a blow-dryer with a diffuser to simulate the sunshine’s warmth, says Denis Chandler, the owner of Bloomsberry Flowers, in Wilmington, Delaware.


Buy Clothes Without Trying Them On
You have good reasons to avoid the dressing room―long lines and fluorescent lighting among them―so skip it altogether by sizing yourself up first at home, says designer Cynthia Rowley. Note how your favorite clothes look when you hold them to your body, and recall that when you're shopping. If the fabric of a pair of jeans or a skirt doesn't exactly meet the edge of your waistline when you hold it up, it won't fit correctly, Feldon says. And the next time you're in a hurry at the department store, remember this measurement trick from Rowley: The distance from the side of your neck to the tip of your fingers (on an outstretched arm) is about the same length as your inseam.

Catch Up on Current Events
Nobody likes being out of the loop. Here's how the people who bring you the news get up to speed.

• I do a quick scan of CNN.com and AssignmentEditor.com, which allows you to access any newspaper in the country, and I read the Wall Street Journal's "What's News" section, says CNN's Paula Zahn.
• I put C-Span on in the background while I put away dishes or pay bills, says Mark Halperin, the political director of ABC News and the editor of The Note, on the network's website.
• On the Internet, scan the New York Times and the New York Post, says Post editor Isaac Guzman. Then watch a 30-minute roundup on CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC.

Speak a Foreign Language
¿No habla español? No problem. You don't need to complete a six-month course of elementary Spanish to make your way in Madrid. “Get a little pocket language book, and instead of attempting to learn the language, learn a few key phrases,” says Harold Jenkins, a Chicago-based travel agent and a frequent traveler. Elizabeth Lunney, cofounder of New York City's ABC Language Exchange, recommends Berlitz Phrasebooks because they’re “easy to navigate, come in many languages, and help with pronunciation.” Don George, global-travel editor for Lonely Planet, says the following words and phrases are the most useful:
Hello
Good-bye
Yes
No
Please
Thank you
Excuse me
Sorry
Do you speak English?
I don’t understand.
How much?
I would like…
Where is…?
Train station
Bathroom

Read more of this Article By Amanda Hinnant