The school year is underway and for some the transition has been smooth sailing while for others, they are still trying to figure out the hectic morning routine. I can barely remember those hectic mornings or getting Belinda out the door and me to work but I’m sure they were anything but smooth.
I know hitting the snooze button was always an option but when I rolled back over to eke out five more minutes of sleep I knew it was going o be a crazy morning. The rest of the morning would fly by in a blur as I quickly got dressed, fed Belinda (who was not a morning person) and got out the door before being late to work. Thankfully, I never had to punch a time clock or I would have definitely been in trouble!
Did you know by making a few simple tweaks to your morning routine, you can start every day off on the right foot. Give ’em a try if you’re ready to reclaim your morning sanity and actually feel joyful about the day to come.
1. Map out your morning menu
Skipping breakfast was always an option in our house since neither one of us were big breakfast eaters…. BUT they say it is the most important meal of the day and it is brain food, right? Most kids and their tiny tummies wake up hungry, and they naturally all want something different to eat. By making note of what you (and your family members) will be eating each morning, it eliminates the chaos which comes with trying to throw something together at the last minute.
2. Steer clear of your cellphone
Electronics PERIOD! That means your laptop, tablet or any other tools and toys. It’s no secret social media is a giant time-sucker, but tethering yourself to any technology in the morning eats away at minutes you could be spending in more productive ways. Remove it from the equation and you may be surprised at how much time you free up — enough, let’s say, to wash and style your hair before heading to work.
3. Make a checklist
It’s one thing to make mental notes of what you need to accomplish. It’s another thing altogether to have a physical list staring you in the face, practically begging for you to check off its items. The sheer satisfaction you’ll get from making it down the entire column of tasks should be incentive enough to keep your morning cruising down the right track.
4.Prepack your lunch
Meal planning makes life easier. I just can’t seem to get the hang of planning for dinner. I don’t know if it is an MS thing or if I just never had the skill. We always did meals on what we “felt like” eating at the moment. Lunch was always easy to pre-pack especially when I started on Weight Watchers. When you wait until the eleventh hour to pack your lunch, you’re leaving a lot to chance — you won’t feel too rushed to grab something, you won’t forget, you’ll pack something relatively healthy… you get the gist. When you front-load your time and forethought into packing your lunch the night before, you can breeze through the morning with the peace of mind something yummy is waiting for you in the fridge.
5. Plan your daily pick-me-ups
If you’re anything like me, you need a little sumthin’ to look forward to in order to get through the day especially if I am spending lots of time in the car. It doesn’t have to be a huge deal, just something simple to keep me motivated enough to keep pushing — and it’s gotta be a treat that doesn’t take a lot of morning prep time. Plan it or always having a snack in your purse, it will definitely help.
6. Utilize double-duty products
This doesn’t mean to go out and stock up on mega-bottles of shampoo-plus-conditioner hybrids (I’m not a fan of these). It is more about two-for-one beauty products. Think a tinted moisturizer which also has your a.m. dose of SPF or a “stain” you can use on your lips and cheeks. It may not seem like much, but these double-duty beauty products can shave valuable minutes off your morning routine. I’m more of the moisturizer, bronzer and some mascara kind of gal…. quick and easy.
7. Consider a capsule wardrobe
You’ve probably heard a hundred times how laying out your wardrobe the night before makes mornings much, much easier. There’s a reason for the repetition — it’s true, and it’s true largely because we all have more clothes than we really know what to do with. Simplifying your closet to create a capsule wardrobe, though, means you’ll spend less time fussing over what to wear. What is a capsule wardrobe you ask? It’s when you cut your options way, way down to some basics that are easy to mix and match. You may think having more clothes to choose from is the way to go, but it actually makes things more complicated — and any time we can make things less complicated, it’s a joyous occasion. For real — you’ll be surprised how much happier you will be through the rest of the day when you don’t start your morning with a closet war. I’m working on this but I can’t seem to get it down…. just when I do, I find something I really like and I’m off buying some extras.
What is your morning routine like? Do you have some tips you can add to this list? Share with us your best tip….
Hope Wissel 