30 pairs of underwear

And other laundry (and life) hacks

In a recent coaching group, someone shared her number one life hack.

“Thirty pairs of underwear.”

Everyone stopped.

“I don’t have laundry in my building,” she explained. “So even when it takes a few weeks to get to the laundromat, I always have clean underwear.”

Genius.

This is the kind of life hack I live for—a simple way to reduce friction and give yourself permission to do less.

The thing about laundry

Laundry is one of those tasks that never ends. It’s always there. Lurking. Taking up mental space even when the basket isn’t full.

And during the holidays? When we’re already stretched thin, managing family logistics, year-end work deadlines, and trying (in vain) to find five minutes to think?

The laundry can wait. Or better yet, we can hack it.

Hack #1: Buy more underwear

Thirty pairs means you can go almost a month between loads.

Is it an investment? Yes.

Is it worth it to eliminate one more source of friction? Absolutely.

Hack #2: Disposable underwear exists

This one surprised me.

Years ago in Hong Kong, I saw disposable underwear at 7-Eleven and laughed. Who buys disposable underwear?

Then a friend from Taiwan visited and pulled out a pack.

“You don’t travel with disposable underwear?”

No. I did not. But maybe I should have been.

It turns out disposable underwear is readily available in the US, too—especially useful for travel, or for those weeks when laundry just isn’t happening.

Hack #3: Stop folding

My daughter taught me this one.

She has two laundry baskets. Clean clothes go in one. Dirty clothes go in the other. (Not pictured: all the items, dirty and clean, that end up on the floor…)

Pull out what you need. Put dirty stuff in the other basket.

No folding required.

Is it wrinkled? Maybe. Does anyone actually care? Probably not.

(If you need space-saving options, this pop-up laundry carrier with handles has worked well in our household. It folds flat and pops up with magnets. Probably not durable enough for laundromat runs, though.)

Why this matters

This isn’t really about laundry.

It’s about recognizing that we’re heading into a season when no one has bandwidth for deep thinking—or laundry.

So we lower the bar. We find the hacks. We give ourselves permission to do less.

Because mothers in leadership are already doing enough.

• What hacks work for you that you could share with others?

• Where in your life could you reduce friction by lowering the bar, just for this season?

🕊️

SAM

Clean is clean