Start Making Choices: Shortcuts for Everyday Tasks


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How to Make Positive Changes in Your Life
Better, faster, and easier ways to get from point A to point B.
Run Errands
Plan the order of your stops in a clockwise direction. 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. 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.
Dry Your Tears
Stick your head in the freezer for a couple of seconds after cutting onions. Cold air stops the tears and reduces redness and puffiness by constricting blood vessels. If you're not in the kitchen, try dabbing—not rubbing—away the wetness. Then use an over-the-counter eye whitener to get the red out, or disguise it with blue eyeliner. Draw a line on the inner lower rims of your eyes. Blue will make your eyes look whiter.

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.

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.
  • 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.
  • A peachy cream blush. The color will uplift your cheeks and eyelids.
Cool Your Mouth After Spicy Food
When the innocent-looking red thing you swallowed with your kung pao chicken turns out to be a pepper with 350,000 Scoville units (in layman's terms: Ouch!), your first impulse is to reach for a glass of water. Don't. That just spreads the heat around. Instead, eat a lot of bread or rice. Or try dairy products, like milk, sour cream, ice cream, yogurt, butter, or cheese—the softer the better.

Get to Know Someone
The quickest way to foster a bond with someone new is to keep your mouth shut. Reflective listening—where you summarize what they say—is also very important. A quick Internet search on your new friend will help you steer the conversation toward his areas of interest.
Copyright 2012 Time Inc. REAL SIMPLE is a registered trademark of Time Inc. Used with permission.







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