Increasing productivity and working smarter seem to be a constant catchcry in many of our workplaces but have you ever thought about working smarter at home?

I have been doing the laundry in our home for over 30 years but a few weeks ago had a ‘lightbulb moment’.  Who said that you can’t teach an old dog new tricks?

We have 2 laundry hampers in our home.  This one in the bedroom.

The other one is in the cupboard in the laundry.

These are not for any specific items.  They are located for convenience, depending on where you are.

We have a front-loading washing machine and have done for almost 20 years.  The only downside that I find is bending to load the clothes into it.

I have realised that I can easily upend the first hamper of clothes onto the bench.  The hamper is easy to lift as it is nylon mesh.  The second hamper has a cloth bag liner which lifts out and I tip the contents on to the bench as well.

I can then easily sort the clothes on the bench with no bending.  I then toss the pile to be washed onto the floor, kneel down and load the machine.  This way there is no bending to drag clothes out of hampers or bending and twisting to load individual items into the machine.

I cannot believe that I had not thought of this before.  Simple, effective and kind to my back.

What tips do you have that make a difference when you are doing physical tasks around the home?