Am I the only one who thinks our days are getting shorter? Blame it on procrastination, work-from-home living, or our fast-paced lifestyles; it’s easy to feel overwhelmed trying to keep up with everything. People talk about hacks to simplify your life. Still, often those involve waking up at five in the morning – something I don’t ever see myself doing unless I’m catching a plane.
Subscription Boxes to Hack Your Life
Thankfully, I think there’s an easier way to hack your life. Subscription boxes came into existence to make certain things easier for us, right? Going off that premise, it came into my mind that I could potentially simplify my life using subscription boxes. It felt like a magical lightbulb went off in my head. And, after sharing it with some of my editors here at MSA, we all decided it was a great idea to share with our readers.
So, without further ado, here are the subscription boxes that will help simplify your life so you can get back some of that precious time that seems to keep running away from all of us.
For Eating Healthy & Finally Mastering Meal Prep
More than 37% of people living in the US cook between three to five times a week. And, about 50% of those cooks spend anywhere between 30-60 minutes every night cooking. That means we’re losing at least seven hours in the kitchen every day. Of course, that doesn’t include the time we spend grocery shopping, looking up recipes, and, well, summoning the energy to get up and get cooking.
Out of all the areas in my life that I would love to simplify, it has to be the grocery-cooking dilemma. And I’m pretty sure most of you are nodding yes right about now.
Thankfully for all of us, meal kit subscription boxes and even grocery subscription boxes are already hacking this area of our lives. So long are the grocery trips mindlessly walking through the snacks aisle. These subscription boxes send everything you need to get a delicious home-cooked meal straight to your doorstep; some of them are already cooked for you! Let’s break them down by category to help you choose.
- HelloFresh: Best Overall
- Home Chef: Best Customizable
- Freshly: Best Prepared Meals
- Universal Yums: Best Overall
- Thrive Market: Best Healthy Snacks
- Vegancuts: Best for Vegans
- Sips By: Best for Tea
- Atlas Coffee Club: Best for Coffee
- Trade Coffee: Best for Cold Brew
- Hungryroot: Best Overall
- Farm Fresh To You: Best for Produce
- Thrive Market: Best for Organic Groceries
To Keep The House Clean & Organized
You’re supposed to spend eight hours at work and another eight hours sleeping on an average day. That only leaves us with eight hours to spare. If you add your commute time, the time you spend eating, and say another hour to workout, when are we supposed to clean and organize our homes? As a fully-remote worker, my house is my office, which means I like to keep it pretty tidy and organized (when possible). Otherwise, it takes up too much mental space, and I can’t focus. If you know, you know.
The averages say we spend over an hour a day doing chores like dusting furniture, folding laundry, cleaning out the kitchen, and so forth. But, when you break down your day, you realize we don’t really have much time to clean and stay organized after all.
Very similar to the grocery dilemma, cleaning means driving to the shop to get all your cleaning supplies only to come back and realize you forgot the cleaning wipes. Once you leave those tasks to subscription boxes, you can at least rest assured you’ll have all your cleaning supplies ready to go.
Best Subscription Boxes for Keeping the House Clean
- Thrive Market: Best for Organic Cleaning Products
- Grove Collaborative: Best for Clean Cleaning Products
- Blueland: Best for Reusable Products
- Public Goods: Best for Affordable Sustainable Products
- MightyFix: Best for Eco-Friendly Products
For Finally Starting a Skincare Routine
You’ve been trying hard to get in the habit of having a skincare routine. For some people, it’s a form of self-care. For me, it is the only time I have to focus on myself. I religiously go through my 10+ step skincare routine every night before going to bed. It gives me time to slow down and sends signals to my brain that it’s time for bed. That said, I know starting a skincare routine is often overwhelming.
Suppose you’re an avid skincare lover who wants to try new products without feeling nervous at Ulta or Sephora. In that case, subscription boxes can help take the pressure away. We've broken down some of the best skincare subscription boxes to hack that part of your life.
Best Skincare Subscriptions
- Birchbox: Best for High-End Samples
- BeautyFIX: Best for Dermatologist-Backed Products
- NewBeauty TestTube: Best for Innovative Products
- FaceTory Lux Plus: Best for K-Beauty
- Beauty Heroes: Best for Full-Size Products
To Keep The Kids Entertained
Personally, I don’t have children, but asking around, it was evident that some parents struggle to find creative ways to keep their kids entertained besides the iPad and the TV. It’s only logical that something like this takes up much of your time and your mental space. So trying to find a hack to make this easier seems logical. So, I looked at our best 2021 boxes for kids to steal some ideas.
Best Kids Subscription Boxes
- KiwiCo Crates: Best Overall
- OwlCrate Jr: Best Book Club
- MEL STEM: Best STEM Boxes for Kids
- We Craft Box: Best Craft Ideas for Younger Kids
- Raddish Kids: Best for Cooking
For Never Having To Worry About What Clothes To Wear Ever Again
One of the best things about working from home is not worrying about my closet so much. However, with many people going back to the office, clothes are back on the list of things to take care of. Shopping for office-appropriate clothes that could have a second use out of the office is always a nightmare. But, subscription boxes for clothes have made this process much easier. Instead of heading to the mall every month or mindlessly scrolling through websites, an expert stylist can curate a clothing box just for you. How amazing is that?
At last, simplify getting new clothes every month and join the subscription box revolution with one or more of these ideas.
- Stitch Fix: Best for Styling Services
- Savage X Fenty: Best for Lingerie
- Trunk Club: Best for All Occasions
- Rent The Runway: Best for Designer Clothes
- Basic Woman: Best for Basics
- Gentleman’s Box: Best for Accessories
- Urbane Box: Best for Business Wear
- Bespoke Post: Best for Personal Style
- Society Socks: Best for Trendy Socks
- Trunk Club: Best for High-End Clothes
To Boost Your Productivity
Trying to hack your productivity can be quite tricky. I’ve tried bullet journals, the Pomodoro technique, time-blocking, mindfulness, and every other productivity hack on the planet. But, as a former journalist, I perform better under pressure – which is why I trick myself into believing my deadlines are sooner than they really are. But, over the years of trials and errors, I’ve discovered some subscription boxes that can really hack your productivity. Some are for office supplies, others are for journals, and a few are supplements. All help me with one thing: productivity.
Best Subscription Boxes for Productivity
- Goldmine and Coco’s Treasure Chest: Best for Motivation and Organization
- Proper Wild: Best for Energy Supplements
- Cloth & Paper: Best for Organization
For Mastering The Art of Wellness
Wellness has become a lot more complex than it once did. Years ago, taking a multivitamin a day was more than enough to check wellness off your list. Nowadays, you have to think about nootropics, probiotics, prebiotics, pain management, mental health, self care, and the list goes on. To me, it’s become challenging to keep up with my wellness – especially after the whole pandemic year.
Of course, wellness means different things to different people. I get that. But I think we can all agree that taking care of your body, mind, and spirit is at the core of any wellness routine. And, while no subscription box can lift you off the couch to exercise and get moving, they can at least send you some items to motivate you to be active.
Best Wellness Subscriptions
- Care\of: Best Personalized Vitamins
- FabFitFun: Best for Self Care
- TheraBox: Best for Mindfulness
- The Barbell Box: Best for Workouts
- Feals: Best for CBD
To Care for Your Furry Babies
Of course, as a dog owner myself, I couldn’t end this list without talking about how to care for my fur baby. This is one of those areas in my life that I wish I could hack because often, I drop the ball. While I can keep up with my dog’s food, medicines, and treats. I often struggle to find vitamins, new toys, and fun ways to help her have fun around the house. After all, she’s the self-designated office security.
Best Pet Subscription Boxes
- BarkBox: Best Overall
- The Farmer’s Dog: Best for Food
- CatLadyBox: Best for Cat Lovers
- Pretty Litter: Best for Kitty Litter
- VetPet Box: Best for Veterinarian-Approved Items
These are just some of the subscription boxes that can help you in your life to spend more time doing things that bring you joy. What’s a subscription box that has made your life easier? Share your favorites in the comments below!
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