Read Time: 3-4 Minutes
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Are you a snoozer? Someone who hits the snooze button at least once before arising for work? Then, as you rush around trying to get out the door, you count each second hoping and praying you arrive to work on time wishing you didn’t hit the snooze button. There are two things that contribute to your morning hustle: routine and routine clutter. The goal is to create a stress-free, invigorating and inspiring morning routine.
Your routine is the systematic process of how you get yourself (and family) out the door in the morning. It’s everything that requires completion before you leave the house that makes your day flow easily. Is a cup of coffee and a smoothie part of your process? Do you make lunch for yourself and your children? Do you take a shower? Wash and dry your hair? Go to the gym? Pick out an outfit, and another, and another? Think about the process by which you complete your morning routine. Make a list from the moment you wake up until you walk out the door. You may be surprised by how jam packed your morning is even before your leave the house.
Your routine clutter is all the stuff you leave unfinished until the morning. Do you make your tuna or egg salad until the morning? Do you spend a few minutes measuring your coffee grounds and water for your morning coffee? Wash a load of laundry and dry it? Have laundry that needs to be folded and tucked away so you don’t need to dig through basket looking for something to wear?
Whenever possible, finish as many processes that are required in the morning (and are realistically possible) the night before. I empathize with your fatigue. I can relate to how your feel when it seems that your day never ends. However, quality sleep is a gift that makes your day brighter and more enjoyable.
Assemble part of your lunch such as getting drinks and snacks ready. Eat fruit as a snack? Wash and bag it the night before. Check the weather forecast and select an outfit the night before (including the shoes, socks and accessories). Run the dishwasher so the sink is empty. If you are feeling ambitious, start a load of laundry before dinner. Dry the clothes during dinner. Put the clothes away before bed. (This will free up some time during the weekend!!!) Whatever can be done the night before, do it.
Now, there are a few tasks that can help your routine for the following evening. Unload the dishwasher in the morning. (I’ve actually timed myself and it takes less than seven minutes!). When you complete tasks as you go, they are more manageable since you’re not trying to do them all at once. I am sure you can gain an extra 15 minutes the next morning by organizing the processes in your life based on how you live. With a little practice, you can simplify your life so you can focus more on the things that make you happy.
