If you want to cut down on laundry and dry cleaning — to save time or money, or reduce your everyday environmental impact — you're not going to be tossing your entire outfit into the hamper every day. So what are your best tips on what to do with clothes that are worn but not dirty?

We thought this would be an interesting topic for an open thread, so let's chat about it today! What do you do with your semi-dirty/half-dirty clothes that still look and smell clean, readers? Are there certain items you always wash after every wear?

{related: how often do you wash your workwear and other clothes?}

When to Wash Your Clothes: Advice from the Experts

Guidelines for how often to wash clothes are often surprising (and some seem silly), and the advice varies. Wash bras after three to four wears, says Real Simple (hahaha). Vogue UK instructs us to wash our sweaters once a season. Wash jeans after every three wears, Good Housekeeping advises, while the CEO of Levi's famously said to solely spot-clean denim — no washing machine needed. Hmm. We've all got our own preferences!

What to Do With Clothes That Are Worn But Not Dirty

No matter what you think of rules like this, when you have an item of clothing that's worn but not dirty, where do you put it? Here are some options:

1. A clothes/blanket ladder: This wood-look ladder from Amazon has a handy basket at the bottom and is under $30, while this $66 one from West Elm is made from powder-coated steel.

2. A chair — or, in my case, a blanket chest where cashmere sweaters worn once can “air out” for a bit

{related: “dry clean only” clothes and how to wash them}

3. A valet or rack: This stainless steel valet with a bamboo base is under $50 at Amazon, while Pottery Barn has a recycled-wood/recycled-metal rack with a shelf for $229.

4. A spot with cedar or lavender sachets: Amazon has a pack containing 10 of each for under $20 total. You can hang them on hangers from the little ribbons on top or put them in a drawer to keep things fresh.

5. A designated drawer or closet area

{related: everything you need to know about dry cleaning women's suits}

Readers, do tell: What's your routine for worn-but-not-dirty clothes?

Stock photo via Stencil.

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Readers had a great threadjack on how to keep your notes organized — and it's been far too long since we've talked about this! What are your tips and tricks for keeping your notes organized, whether it's notes about job-related matters or personal issues like healthcare? Do you use one system for work matters, and one system for personal issues?

For my $.02…

How I've Always Kept My Work-Related Notes Organized

Nothing I've found since has beaten the system I came up with when I was a lawyer working for a BigLaw firm… as I noted back in my post on how to organize your office:

I would keep one “general” folder with all of my initial notes from prior pleadings and general strategy notes, and then I'd start a new folder for each major assignment I was tasked with (memo, research, portion of a brief, whatever).

I would keep the recent and active folders near my desk in a folder tower or stackable paper tray (where each case had its own little slot … and then move them to a filing drawer or redweld once the case was Really Truly Over, or once the assignment got stale enough and I needed more room closest to my desk. (Oh, and I love my Brother P-Touch label maker.)

For my $.02 on the to-do lists, I keep a number of them. I keep a Post-It with my immediate tasks for the day, and I start a clean Post-It for every meeting to record action items for me and others. I also keep a longer to-do list on a notepad that I update about once a week, and consult in the rare event that I finish all of my must-finish-tasks for the day. I also keep a running big-picture to-do list…

If you wanted to do this with less paper, my newer system (which I implement more poorly) involves just straight text notes in the default Notepad app that comes with Windows. I like it because it doesn't take any memory to detract from the 10,000 tabs I inevitably have open, and also because if I'm copying and pasting phrases from anywhere on the web, then the Notepad app strips all formatting so it's plain text. Then I move it to a folder on whatever topic I'm looking at, along with any Excel spreadsheets or other related notes.

How I Keep My Personal Notes Organized

I've always been a huge fan of Evernote for my personal notes. I like that I can just as easily share things to it via my iPhone or email, or on one of my computers, and it has historically been pretty easy to find what I'm looking for.

I wrote about this extensively over at CorporetteMoms because this really became a Thing for me once I was juggling a lot of family-related notes… Each family member has their own big Notebook, with smaller folders for known issues that we're watching or researching. (I have a default folder called “aaToFile” in each notebook so I don't have to spend too much time thinking about where new items should go.)

Specifically, I keep these kinds of things in the family Evernote:

Articles (for me, mostly health-related research): I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve googled things regarding sleep hygiene, eczema, potty training issues, etc. — but now I send any interesting article with a link and sometimes even a quote to the relevant kid’s folder in Evernote. (One of my kiddos has a speech delay and some other sensory issues, and each of those issues have led me down a thousand rabbit holes on the internet.)

Facebook comment threads: If you're a parent and you’re like me, you’re in a lot of Facebook groups for mom-related things (for me, business-related things, too), where you can find some fabulous threads filled with advice and tips. I just expand the entire thread and send it to Evernote, with appropriate keywords, personal notes, or brief takeaways at the top of the note so I can immediately remember why I wanted to save it.

Notes from conversations, calls, teacher conferences, doctor’s appointments, insurance discussions, etc.: You know how sometimes you have a conversation with someone about your kiddo and then write an email to your partner (possibly your caregiver, too) to relay the information and get you both on the same page? I send that kind of thing to Evernote, and then I have everything in one place.

(Having one repository is important — when I forget to send information to Evernote, we're often wondering if we emailed it? texted it? printed something out? — and the information is frequently lost.)

{related: these are our best tips on digital journaling}

Readers' Tips to Keep Notes Organized

Readers had a threadjack about this very topic recently — some great suggestions included:

• I have one notebook where I number the pages and keep a table of contents, sort of like a bullet journal.
• I take notes in pre-punched 3-hole paper pads. When the pad is full, I take out the notes and put them in the appropriate binder (one for non-profit, one for personal finance, specific ones for work matters). Fast. Easy to take notes. Easy to reference notes once they are taken while issue is alive. Can be scanned later once the issue is closed and you want a permanent record. (Kat note — I did this for college and law school and can vouch for this being a great system; I'm trying to get my eldest son to implement this now that he's in middle school…)
• I use my iPad Notes for this. I have separate folders for each thing, work, nonprofit, home, personal goal planning, etc. Then I make individual notes inside those folders. E.g. for work, I have a note for each client name, and then any time I have a meeting or a call or strategy session, I add to that note. Since I can also use my iPad for email, texting, internet, watching Netflix, etc., it is more cost effective.
• I use a single notebook for everything. I put headers with subject and date when I’m on to a new topic.

Do tell, readers — what's your system? How do you keep track of information?

Some of our latest favorite books on productivity, below:

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I realize that today's Tool of the Trade rec might create two opposite reactions among readers: “I don't get it; why would you even need that?” and “Oh wow, I gotta try that!” In the words of its software-engineer creator, goblin.tools is “a collection of small, simple, single-task tools, mostly designed to help neurodivergent people with tasks they find overwhelming or difficult.” (I'm not sure where the name comes from, because it doesn't quite jibe with “goblin mode.” Hmm…)

The tools are Magic ToDo (“Breaking things down so you don't”), Formalizer (“Turn the spicy thoughts into classy ones, or vice versa”), Judge (“Am I misreading the tone of this?”), Estimator (“Just tell me how long this is probably gonna take”), and Compiler (“Compile my braindump into a list of tasks”). Right now, you can use goblin.tools in your browser (in either dark or light mode) or Android phone, and it'll be available as an iPhone app soon. It's free, and there are no ads.

{related: how to manage ADHD in the workplace}

Things like goblin.tools — which uses AI technology — are great for folks with ADHD or anyone who deals with procrastination, time blindness, decision fatigue, rejection sensitive dysphoria, anxiety, problems with prioritizing tasks, and so on. I can see how goblin.tools would be helpful both at home and at work.

To me, the most useful of the five functions the site offers might be Magic ToDo. Depending on how much you need a task broken down into parts, you can adjust the “spiciness level” — from one chili pepper to five chili peppers. Once goblin.tools has broken down a task, you can get it to further simplify any subtasks if necessary. Once you check a box for a task/subtask, it'll be crossed out. (You can also manually make a to-do list with Magic ToDo.)

While playing around with Magic ToDo for this post, entering some random tasks, I noticed that it did a pretty good job of breaking down projects like “clean up my yard for spring,” “plan a kitchen renovation,” “plan a baby shower,” “run for school board,” “get rid of old financial documents” … and “take over the world,” just for fun (or WAS it?). (I would include a screenshot of one of these task lists if the image didn't have to be huge to be readable here.) Of course, complicated projects will need additional research to complete, but this website gives you a helpful starting point for anything you want to do.

{related: using AI chatbots to plan a vacation}

Readers, have you tried goblin.tools or anything like it? If not, does it look like something that could help you at home or at work? Any similar online tools to recommend?

Stock photo via Stencil.

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We've talked about digital journaling and favorite paper planners, but not for a while, so let's discuss: What does your ideal planner or journal look like? Do you have preferences for some plans to be on paper, in the cloud, or in a specific program?

{related: here's our 2012 discussion on the ideal planner/calendar}

I have bought soooo many journals over the years (not to mention my attempts to track habits and reward myself for streaks!), that I kind of surprised myself a few days ago by really wanting a bullet journal that I could take from place to place with me and scribble in with pen.

Then I started thinking about what I would want in my bullet journal — what I've seen in other journals and planners — and what I've adapted on my own for my digital bullet journal.

For example: I really like the weekly plan I was using in my digital journal where I consider meals for the week, goals, to-dos, and a few thought-work type questions (gratitude, what am I doing right, how can I make a 1% change to be better).

I've also collected a ton of journal prompts from various diet, writing, and other programs I've done over the years — as well as vision plan type stuff for the year ahead and ways to assess the year behind me.

Something that has not been terribly useful in my life is hour-by-hour planners or even month-by-month planners (à la Erin Condren) — I vastly prefer to keep any appointments or things like that in Google calendar, where I can set up automatic reminders as well as easily share data with my husband and caregivers for the kids.

In short, I've come up with a far too ambitious plan to FrankenPlan a journal or planner I'll print at LuLu for myself using a lot of that stuff but leave open sufficient pages for free writing. (We'll see if it actually happens, ha.)

The Setup for My Ideal Planner and Journal

So far, the index for my ideal planner looks like this — note that I tend to consider both the front and back of a journal to be prime real estate, so some important/oft-used stuff might be at the end.

• Weekly Plan / Meal Plan / Assessment / Regular thought-work — I would also put some habit trackers here, and others might go in the monthly section. I also keep notes on spending in the weekly section.
• Monthly Planner/Assessment — Goals, tasks, memories, challenges, etc. Some progress/habit trackers would go here too.
• Future Log — A space to record things coming up in the future, whether repetitive (pay estimated taxes) or specific (plan a nice birthday for my dad's 75th!).
• Corporette calendar — For years I've kept content ideas by month/time of year, but it's on my computer. It would be nice to have it in paper form as well. (We also keep a lot of story ideas in Slack… which saves them to Trello… and it all gets a bit confusing.)
• Recipe Reviews, my huge spreadsheet of possible recipes by theme, and space for scribbled assessments of what I need to use or cook soon. (I tend to just save recipes-to-try to my various social media accounts, but sometimes I go through them and try to condense them all in one list.)
• Books — I like to record which books I've read or listened to, as well as favorites from the year.
• Shows and Movies — I also like to record which shows I've watched and any pertinent thoughts, as well as keep a running list of movies and shows to see.
• Lessons learned
• Journal (lots of empty pages for daily / thoughts / whatever)
• Notes on workouts — If I'm doing a recording from Les Mills or whatever I like to record what the number is and what my opinion of it was (usually something insightful like “too many pushups”).
• And (at the very back) my yearly workout tracker, with more space for other specific goal-related trackers (mine is very similar to this one from Etsy)

How about you, readers? What does your ideal planner or bullet journal setup look like? What do you prefer to write down on paper versus keep in the cloud or a specific program? If you do use multiple programs (e.g., Evernote, OneNote, Outlook, Google Keep/Calendar/Docs, Daylio, Done, Slack, Trello, etc), how do you parse what goes into which program?

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I've seen a surplus of cool ways to remember to take your meds lately — so I thought I'd round some up. I'm sure a lot of you have memory hacks of your own for remembering to take your meds — please share!

My Memory Hack for Remembering to Take My Meds

One memory tip that I've used sometimes to remember to take my meds is this: I keep the pill bottle on the LEFT hand side of the sink, and after I take it I move it to the RIGHT hand side. I'd heard that you can imprint a physical habit like this by doing it 30+ times — even in a short time period, so when I started with a new medicine, I practiced doing that. This has worked for me for a long time — but when the kids went back to school my morning system got a bit screwier, and I've found myself wondering on numerous days whether or not I took my meds. (Did I take them and just forget to put them on the correct side of the sink? Did I forget to “reset” the pill bottle to the left side the night before, and didn't actually take them?)

I've never liked pill organizers because they take too much time to fill and often don't hold more than a single pill (plus, they're usually not safe around kids).

That said, I've seen a number of newer, easier products addressing just this problem in more streamlined ways, so I ordered a few to check them out…

How to Remember to Take Your Meds: Pill Poppers

These Pill Poppers are one of the first things that arrived — a three pack is under $10. I am giving these as stocking stuffers this year; they're so cool. You can adapt this to any pill bottle (or spray or liquid bottle) because it's got something similar to a silicone rubber band at top. (I have it on a typical brown drug bottle and it hasn't interfered with the safety cap at all.) It's tiny, easy to use, and super satisfying to “pop” the day of the week in. The only trick, of course, is remembering to do the correct day…

(I could see these being difficult if, like my mother, you keep about 10 different medications in a tight space like a plastic basket, just because the pill poppers might get accidentally jostled/popped/unpopped when you add/remove different medications.)

The system also has an AM/PM pop button if you need to take the drug twice a day, but the next system might be more helpful. for that If you don't like the bubble popper, this “take n slide” medication tracker sticker might be better — I didn't buy it because it's a bit more expensive (around $20 for 5) and is stuck on the side of the bottle. They say it's reusable and can be unstuck easily, for what it's worth.

How to Remember to Take AM/PM Meds: The Chart

I got this visual medication reminder/tracker primarily because my son takes a few meds, and depending on who's watching him and medicating him, I thought this one could be useful for a team. (We've double-dosed a kiddo at least once with antibiotics (years ago now)… that was a fun call to Poison Control.) I also like that the chart clearly has AM/PM in different columns, and (as the sales page points out), if a family member notices that you haven't taken it, they can remind you.

Admittedly, you could also just keep an index card near your meds with similar handwritten columns and just check them off — but where is the fun in that?

How to Remember to Take Your Meds: The Timer Cap

I think this is the ultimate solution — timer caps that display the last time the pill bottle was opened!! Brilliant!! So long as the battery works well, of course. You can get 2 for around $15.

Readers, what are your favorite tips and tricks to remember to take your meds? Have you tried any medication reminder products like these timer caps and so forth?

Stock photo via Stencil.

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Low stakes question for today: How do you like to organize your bags? Do you like it when bags have interior organizers, such as in the lining of the bag, or do you prefer to use your own organizers to more easily switch between bags? (Off topic but slightly related: When you travel, are you Team Packing Cube or Team Shove All the Clothes In the Bag?)

For my $.02, I tend to prefer to use my own organizational systems rather than the ones that come with bags. I have two tiny makeup-sized pouches in my current crossbody. One of the pouches has my super slim wallet, a lip gloss, and a few loose Advil (yeah, I know).

The other pouch has less-needed but happy-to-have type stuff, like a tampon, bandaids, Neosporin, earplugs, and so forth. These days I also carry a Ziploc bag full of masks for the entire family (whee).

There are some free-floating items also that move into whatever organization system the bags afford — hand lotion, a sunscreen stick, gum, maybe an extra pair of sunglasses or a few wrapped lollipops to buy myself time or sanity when running errands with a whiny child.

(I haven't done a “what's in my bag” post in years, but I've used similar systems in both my work bags and my diaper bags, back when we needed those.)

For packing, I wish I were Team Packing Cube, but I tend to be Team Shove All the Clothes in the Bag and then separate them into drawers at the destination.

(If you're Team Packing Cube I'd love to hear your methods — do you do by day or by clothing item? If you're packing for multiple people, does everyone get their own packing cubes or do you combine, say, Day 1 stuff from multiple people?)

Readers, over to you: How do you like to organize your bag(s)? Do you prefer included organizers that are part of the bag, removable organizers (like these removable ones that can move from tote to tote), or do you have your own little system?

Reader-Favorite Products to Organize Your Bags

As of 2023, these are some of the reader-favorite products to organize your bags…

Stock photo via Stencil.

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