5 Tips to Save Time in the Morning

5 Tips to Save Time in the Morning

Hello everyone!

Are you like me, throwing things together in the morning and praying to make it out the door in time for your morning commute? Well, I for one got tired of lurching out of bed and scrambling around the house only to walk into work with the “sorry I’m late” face. I decided I HAD to do something different if I wanted a different result. So, I thought about all the things I do before walking out the door in the morning and what tactics I could apply to help me accomplish them. Here are five tips to help save time in the morning:

1 | PREPARE MEALS THE NIGHT BEFORE 

My biggest time sucker in the morning is making my lunch and breakfast and I can spend up to 20 minutes prepping food! Assuming I did my job on Sunday and meal prepped (ha!), packing my lunch and breakfast the night before is a breeze. In addition, I like to make my snacks beforehand. Slicing and portioning out veggies for hummus dip, spooning out yogurt with blueberries and honey, and blending up a protein shake. I pile everything into my lunch bag and put the whole bag in the fridge. 

2 | PACK YOUR BAGS.

I am fortunate to have access to a gym at my job and I prefer to work out on my lunch hour. An unorganized morning can go like this: me scouring the drawers for leggings, searching for the sports bra that matches them only to realize it’s in the dryer in the basement, and then trying to find my other “other” headphones. Ugh! I completely eliminated this step by packing my bag the night before AND placing it by the door so all I have to do is grab and go!

Maybe for you, it’s packing the kids bookbags or loading up your laptop case with important papers, folders and, oh yeah, the actual laptop. Whatever your “bag” is, pack it up at night and put it by the exit.

3 | PLAN YOUR OUTFIT. 

Now, this next tip is kind of a hard one for us ladies, but it will save you time in the morning, I promise!! Women typically select our outfits based on our mood for that day (yes, men this is a real thing!); so how can you decide on an outfit before you know how you’re going to feel? I found that the number of times I chose an outfit the night before and then completely changed my mind in the morning was very rare. By giving myself the framework to follow, I customarily stuck with my original choices even if I swapped a scarf or sweater here or there. Now, on the occasions I wanted to “throw the whole outfit away”, I was glad I had done tips one and two so I could afford little more time to figure it all out. Now, sometimes nothing works, and you find yourself down the rabbit hole 20 minutes later surrounded by a room full of dismissed ideas…but that is another post for another day! LOL.

4 | TURN OFF THE TECH.

What is the first thing you do in the morning? Maybe you meditate (namaste), pray, make a cup of coffee or start yelling at kids; but I think we all do one other thing before ALL
OF THAT. Reach for the phone. Guilty as charged! I mean guilty, guilty. It usually goes something like this for me: I grab my phone and check my first stop—Instagram, then any texts I missed, emails…ooo that one from Swell’s new product line that makes me feel like I also want to go hiking through some Himalayan-like locale beautifully toting its new tumbler. Before I know it, I’m on Expedia comparing flights to Nepal, and then on to Target to find a sarong for said fictional trip and…ooo vacuum cleaners are 50% off…see where I’m going with this?! But this is how my brain works if I fall into the tech trap of letting one thought lead to the next and to the next. Let yourself have 5-10 minutes to answer the emails and texts that need immediate attention and then shut it down! The same goes for watching tv! You can always listen to the news on the car radio.

5 | GO TO BED ON TIME!

This sounds the most straightforward, but it can be the hardest to do. By the time you get home, get dinner, get the kids ready for bed, try to watch a show or two, nurture husband/wife or friendships, pack your lunch and gym bags, pick clothes, brush teeth, and attempt your nighttime skincare where does the time go? Well, sometimes you just have to make yourself do it! Bedtimes are individual but isn’t there a rule about eight hours or something? LOL. I am a chronic pusher of the snooze button, but when I’m in bed—and not on my phone—by 9:30pm, it’s actually easier to get up when my alarm goes off.

How you start the day often determines how the rest of your day will go. So why not start on a high note? What are some ways you save time in the morning? Drop a comment below.

Work/Life Balance

WORK/LIFE BALANCE.

If you are like me, it can be tough to balance work, play and wellness. There are some weeks where I feel like my life is all business and others where fitness and experimenting with healthy recipes are the focus, and others still that I just want to “Netflix and chill”.

We all have obligations to family, friends as well as ourselves, so how do you do it all and still have balance? This is an on-going discovery for me, but the truth is it’s really not that hard and I have found a few strategies that help me stay organized and less stressed.

Pre-Plan Your Week

One of the BIGGEST strategies that has kept me organized recently is planning my week on Sunday nights. From preparing social media content and writing blog posts to packing my gym bag and meal prepping, I find that thinking about tasks/projects at the start of my week means the difference between success or stress. On the Sundays I do not plan—like last Sunday—I feel overwhelmed and often fail to follow through because I didn’t allot myself the time to organize.

Variety is the Spice of Life

Living a balanced lifestyle is not solely about time management, it is also about incorporating a range of activities that nourish the multi-faceted individual you are! Trips to the grocery store, doing laundry or driving the kids to practice are all necessary tasks but when do you make time for the things you enjoy or, more importantly, give you a mental break? It is vital to block out time to not only do but be—interests that reset your mind and rejuvenate your spirit. Take a 15-minute walk at lunch, get a mani/pedi or catch a movie. Otherwise you’ll quickly experience that thing called burnout! Burnout can lead to poor decisions, mistakes and mood changes. At the same time, you don’t want to be the person who is only motivated by pleasure. So, yes, have fun but also be sure to incorporate productive activities to keep your mind sharp, body healthy and soul fed.

Ask for Help

This one is MAJOR and something I myself struggle with. At times, we feel the need—or in some cases are forced—to pull out our cape and be everything to everyone. We bestow titles upon ourselves to get certain jobs done—mom, dad, daughter, son, employee, handyman, nurse, confidant, life coach, spiritual advisor, chef, therapist, and the list goes on. How can one be all those things at the same time? Don’t be afraid to ask for help from family, friends and, yes, even professionals! It doesn’t make you weak or incompetent, it actually makes you smart. You realize that you need to engage the assistance of others in order to be a more productive and saner you.

Is living a balanced life hard or easy for you? What are some of the ways you have found balance in your life?