These 5 Things Will Make Life Easier For Older Adults

The simplest way to never forget your lunch again, a DIY solution for sticky messes, and more. August 19, 2021 [View Online]( Good morning! There’s plenty that I have enjoyed about getting older, like the way I’m a lot less preoccupied with what other people think. But there are less enjoyable aspects too, like becoming more achy and injury-prone. But there are ways we can make life easier for ourselves as we age, including the 5 featured in Today’s Good Thing. And in Swap That For This, I’m sharing a DIY approach to getting rid of sticker residue and other sticky messes. (And if it works on T.J.Maxx price stickers, I'm not sure there's anything it wouldn't work on.) Jillee TODAY'S GOOD THING 5 Tips That Will Make Life Easier For Older Adults [Photos of tips that simplify things for older adults.]( We can’t stop the sands of time, but we can use these 5 tips to make our lives a little easier. 1. Slide Your Appliances. Lugging your KitchenAid to and fro isn’t exactly easy at any age, but it sure doesn’t get any easier over time! [I keep mine on a sliding appliance tray]( so I can easily slide it toward me when I want to use it and slide it back out of the way when I don’t. 2. Use Hanging Storage. Kneeling, bending over, and reaching into the backs of cabinets gets increasingly uncomfortable (and possibly injurious) for older adults. To make it easier to access everyday items, start using storage you can hang over a door, such as pocket organizers, storage racks, and coat hooks. 3. Amplify Your Alarm. If you’re having trouble hearing your phone’s alarm when it goes off in the morning, try placing it in an empty glass on your nightstand with your phone’s speakers aimed at the bottom of the cup. The glass will make the sound louder so you can hear it better. 4. Pack A Nightlight. When staying at a hotel or with a friend, bring a plug-in nightlight with you. Trying to find your way to the bathroom in the dark in unfamiliar territory can be a challenge for anyone, so bringing a nightlight along can help you avoid stubbing your toe or walking into a wall. (We’ve all been there!) 5. Make Cupboards More Accessible. If the doors on your kitchen cupboards are giving you grief, consider removing the doors altogether. Not only will you be able to find what you’re looking for more easily, but you won’t have any troublesome doors to deal with when you have your hands full either. [2 More Tips For Older Adults]( [2 More Tips For Older Adults]( Related • [11 Surprising Reasons Every Senior Needs An Amazon Echo]( ⚡️QUICK CLICKS⚡️ • Take on the Farmer’s Market Challenge to expand your culinary horizons while taking advantage of late summer produce. [Read more ➜]( • Need insight or inspiration for a renovation project? Check out the before-and-afters from my own bathroom renovation. [Read more ➜]( • Lampshades and purses and drawers, oh my! These are just a few of the 21 things you can clean with a lint roller. [Read more ➜]( WHY DIDN’T I THINK OF THAT? A Foolproof Way To Remember Your Lunch [Photos of a work bag and lunch bag tied together by the straps.]( With this tip, you can actually enjoy the homemade meal you packed instead of forgetting it in your fridge. When you want to feel prepared for a busy week ahead, one way to do that is by preparing some of your meals ahead of time. But if you’re like me, there's always a risk you’ll forget your ready-to-go, neatly packed lunch in your hurry to get out the door in the morning. Is there anything more frustrating than coming home to realize you forgot your healthy (and well-intentioned) salad in the fridge? On the bright side, however, there’s a simple hack you can use that will make it a lot more difficult for you to leave without your homemade lunch. After packing your lunch for the following day, tie the strap of your lunch bag to the strap of your purse, briefcase, or work bag, then place your lunch in the fridge and close the door. When you’re ready to leave the next morning, you’ll have to grab your lunch in order to take your purse or work bag with you. SWAP THAT 🔄 FOR THIS Dissolve Sticky Messes With 3 Natural Ingredients [Photos of removing sticker residue from a bottle.]( Get rid of stubborn sticker residue and other gunk with this inexpensive DIY concoction. Nothing makes me feel as small and powerless as struggling to remove a stubborn price tag. The sticky glue-and-paper film that gets left behind not only cruelly mocks my attempts to remove it, but it ends up looking even worse than the price tag did to begin with. While store-bought products like Goo-Gone can be helpful in cases like this, it’s never a bad thing to find a method that doesn’t require buying something. So I was very pleased when I came up with a DIY concoction that makes short work of that maddening sticker residue. I start by combining equal parts coconut oil (to dissolve adhesives) and baking soda (for its abrasiveness) into a paste, then I stir in a couple of drops of [lemon essential oil]( (for its grease-cutting properties). Then I smear a generous amount of the mixture over the sticker and let it sit for 15 minutes or so to let it work its magic. After waiting, I just grab whatever brush or scrubber I have handy and scrub away the loosened paper and adhesive. It's quick and easy, and I always have the ingredients on hand so I never have to buy anything. Give it a try—I bet you'll agree it works just well as the store-bought stuff. [See The Full Tutorial]( [See The Full Tutorial]( JILLEE'S PICK Relive The Greatest Race [An image of the promotional poster for ]( My pick for today is a one-hour documentary special that, while I haven’t actually gotten around to it yet, I am looking forward to watching this weekend. It’s called The Greatest Race, and it's about the heart-pounding final of the men’s 4x100 freestyle relay at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Team USA’s Michael Phelps, Garrett Weber-Gale, Cullen Jones, and Jason Lezak beat France by eight hundredths of a second to win gold, after Jason Lezak chased down the French leader by swimming the fastest split ever in that event. It was a stunning come-from-behind victory and one of the most exciting races in Olympic swimming history. I heard about it from my son-in-law Neil, who was a swimmer himself in high school. So how does a 3-minute race translate to a one-hour TV special? I asked Neil the same thing, and he said that the details of the race are interwoven with background about the swimmers, their paths to the relay team, their international rivalries, and more. I can’t wait to watch it, especially after [seeing the trailer](. You can [stream The Greatest Race on Peacock](. YOUR ONE GOOD THING Turn Fabric Scraps Into Pet Beds Lila from Arkansas has a great tip for using fabrics scraps: “When I have small sewing scraps, I put them in a pillow case (one of a set that I buy at a recycle store) that I attach to my sewing table with a clothespin. When my garden clothes get too stained, I rip those up and add them to the pillow case too. When the pillow case is full, I sew it shut, put it inside the other pillow case of the matching set and sew that one shut too. I end up with a double-enclosed bag of scraps, which I then donate to our local animal shelter to use as a disposable pet bed. I got our local quilt club involved in doing this too, because it's one more way to use scraps before they're thrown out. The old pillow cases I buy cost less than a dollar, and they can be any size too. Just be sure to use both pillow cases in case one of them rips.” Thanks for the tip Lila! Not only are the animals at the shelter lucky to have someone as thoughtful and resourceful as you nearby, but we’re lucky that we get to benefit from your brilliant ideas too. Have a great tip or trick of your own? [Share YOUR “one good thing” here]( for a chance to see it featured in a future newsletter! A FEW MORE THINGS... It’s National Potato Day, and my mind is already reeling with possibilities about what I should make to celebrate. (My first thought was [my mom’s potato salad]( but since we eat it fairly often, I might mix it up with [hasselback potatoes]( instead.) But that’s why potatoes are so worth celebrating—there are so many delicious ways to eat them! And calling all photogs: it’s also World Photography Day! Olympus is celebrating with [free online events]( you can watch live throughout the day, or you can participate on social media by sharing your best shots using the hashtag #WorldPhotographyDay. LOVE OGT? SHARE IT! If you’re enjoying the OGT newsletter, it would mean so much to me if you'd share it with your friends and family! When you share it allows me to continue sharing the tips and tricks you love with you! 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