What type of person are you in the morning?
Do you hit snooze several times, jump out of bed in a rush grab your ball cap while you slip your jeans on?
Do you get up early but spend most of your morning looking at your closet telling yourself you have nothing to wear?
Or do you lay out your clothes at night complete with your shoes and accessories you will wear?
No matter what category you fall into I am sure we could all use some inspiration to help manage our mornings.
Here are a few simple and elementary tips. I am sure a lot of you might remember your parents telling you some of these.
- Prepare for your day at night. Make sure your purse, backpack, laptop bag are ready for you to just grab in the morning.
- Refer to Breakfast on the Run and Lunch to go so you do not have to fuss over your meals for the next day.
- Go to bed at a decent time. (Sleep is not just for princesses, our bodies need sleep time to grow and heal)
- Set an alarm clock. If are a serial snooze button hitter place your alarm clock on the other side of your bed; this will require you get up and get your day going.
- Open the blinds and curtains. Filling your room with daylight will help your body wake up. In just a few weeks we all will be setting our clocks ahead an hour and most of us will wake up to the sun.
- Eat that yummy breakfast you planned the night before.
- Do you know how long it takes you to get ready in the morning? If not, time yourself from the moment you get out of bed till you walk out the door. This will give you an idea of when you should wake up so you are not rushed.
- Stay consistent with your waking time each day. This will train your body to naturally wake up on time. Even on days you don’t have to get up early, do. This will give you a wonderful break from your morning routine. You can spend time in the Word, sip your coffee, watch the news or just enjoy the quietness of the house while the natives sleep.
So what have I missed that you may do that will help another girlfriend out? I want to hear it all. My mornings get by me way too fast!
Tell me in the comments below what your tried and true strategies are for getting up and out the door in a snap. What makes your mornings easier?
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Setting up the coffeemaker using its “auto” feature is awesome. It’s so much easier for me to get out of bed when I can already smell the coffee. AND, the chance for a few minutes of quiet coffee with my husband before he leaves is a good motivation for me to get up on time. On mornings when I have a lot of “stuff” to take to where I’m going, I pack as much of it as possible into the van the night before. Since I have five children, it’s a tremendous help if THEY lay out all THEIR clothes (including the elusive socks!) the night before, and put any of their necessary “stuff” in the van.
With a 3 year old and an 8 mth old, I find I need to get the 3 yr old dressed first, before we are “running late”. That way, my stress from running late doesn’t make her more resistent to the process. Also, I keep a pair or two of her shoes in the car – she just takes them off during the ride anyway!!
My biggest problem is getting to bed early enough to get a good night’s sleep. The evening gets away from us!
Making my lunch the night before helps make the morning less rushed. Also I “have a place for everything and everything in its place”. So in the morning, I know exacty where my purse and briefcase will be. Anything I can do the night before…just makes the morning flow smoother.
Oops! Sorry, Kath “i”! 🙂
Amber, your idea is GREAT! Why haven’t I thought of that before?! Thank you!
And Kathy, I do hit the snooze button, but I’ve budgeted time for that……does that count? 🙂
The other thing I do is set my exercise clothing (shoes and all) right at the side of my bed so that I don’t even have to go anywhere to put them on. It’s amazing how distracted I can become having to move even a few feet to get those exercise cloths on and then I somehow never end up exercising.
Getting everything I can done the night before then having a small yet filling breakfast that I can eat while driving.
The biggest challenge for me has been teaching the children to be responsible for getting themselves ready the night before. This includes tomorrow’s clothes, backpack, lunch in the fridge… all the way to the location of their shoes! Not a fan of looking for ‘the other shoe”!
So many inspiring ideas here. The only thing I can think to add is that I set out my kids clothes and they have learned that they are to put them on before walking out of their room in the morning. I really hate rushing little people around in the morning and this seems to help.
I always get up a half hour earlier than I need to. This reduces the stress when the unexpected pops up. If nothing unexpected happens, then I have an extra half hour to enjoy reading, checking e-mail, getting the dishes done early, or whatever else needs to be done. Makes me feel like I’ve got a head start on my day!
Something I’ve recently started doing is showering before bed. It has helped with my morning routine tremendously! Not only does it shave about 40 minutes off my morning routine, but it helps me fall asleep, keeps my sheets cleaner, and it’s a great way to relax after a long day.
I am compulsively organized in some areas. I am also an ironer of clothes. So on Sunday night, I decide what to wear for the week, and get everything ironed that needs to have my perfect little creases. I also try to get other things ready to wear, just in case my mood changes, or the weather changes – like it has done this week. I get all my workout gear and office bags packed for each day the night before. In the morning, all I have to do is throw in my frozen WW breakfast, protein bar for lunch, and head to the office. Somehow, writing it all down sounds so perfect, and yet – it somehow never really turns out that way. Maybe it’s a bad hair day, maybe the dog barfed, maybe my hubs got into the shower right when I was supposed to go in. But it does help to have some things done, that I just don’t have to think about.
On Sunday night I plan my work outfits for the week and put them together at the front of my closet. That way I have 5 outfits I already “feel like wearing” ready to choose from and I can get dressed and out the door quickly without trying on 4 or 5 different combinations.
I love these ideas, kathi! I make 20 pb and js at a time and freeze them. On the days the kids do not have school lunch, the “frozen sandwich” defrosts in time for lunch and keeps the yogurt and piece of fruit cold. 🙂
pack the diaper bag, make bottles night before put in fridge, have purse by front door, have kids clothes on couch night before, have jewlry picked out. And shoes by the door.
I don’t lay out stuff for myself the night before but I do lay out everything for the kids plus pack the diaper bag or have anything else I need ready to go the ight before.
getting as much done the night before as possible for both my 5 year old adn I. Also no TV at all until the kiddo is comepletely ready to go.
Do you or another member of the family linger in the bathroom? My solution was to put a clock in the bathroom. Guests may think its weird but it works. I let them know when I expect them to be out. They can look at the clock and it helps keep everyone on track. I’ve got 7 children. Three still at home. I’ve done this for years. I can tell you it works. I use it to keep myself on track and don’t have to wonder what time it is all the time 🙂
Great post! I’ve been working on this lately because I’m tired of telling everyone to hurry all the time. The breakfast part has been the easiest, having the kids follow the “routine” hasn’t been. I think a visual might help them out.