How to Make Your Mornings Easier and Find Time for You
You wake up late and rush to get everything accomplished before running out of the door. Your morning is busy and chaotic on normal days, but on days you sleep late it’s even worse. You get lost in the shuffle and can’t seem to get it together as the day progresses. Sounds familiar? Need a better routine? Read on for tips on how to make your mornings easier and find time for you!
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Mornings are busy and can be quite chaotic. Even if you plan, there are always those WONDERFUL curveballs that seem to get thrown your way. If you have a young family and plenty of people to get ready and out the door, you know this first hand. It’s even stressful when all you have to worry about is getting yourself out of the door on time.
The good news is that it doesn’t have to be this way! With a great morning routine, even a curveball is easily handled and tackled without putting stress on your day.
How to Make Mornings Easier
In my post, Tips to Create a Perfect Morning, I shared with you how the first few hours in the morning set the tone for the entire day. In this post, I want to visit a few tips on how to make your mornings easier.
Do you want to be rushed, frantic, and feeling like you’re constantly running and trying to catch up? Or do you want your morning to be calm, collected, productive, and have the feeling that you’re in control? It’s up to you and it’s all about embracing two simple concepts to find time in your morning.
Get Up Early Enough
It’s tempting to hit the snooze button and catch a few more minutes of sleep, isn’t it? It’s even hard to set the alarm early enough so that you will have plenty of time for everything you WANT and NEED to get done. I get it!
But setting your alarm just 30 minutes earlier is my main tip on how to make mornings easier!
If you’re not a morning person (I used to be you!), moving up the alarm by 30 minutes to carve out a little extra time can be tough. But after the first few mornings it’s not nearly as hard as you think and something you’ll quickly get used to and may even learn to enjoy!
I used to wake with only enough time to get ready and RUN out of the door for work. This left me running late many days and forgetting things most of the time. I knew something had to change. I never knew how making the simple change of waking just 30 minutes earlier would make such a huge difference in my mornings.
Now, I love waking before the rest of the house. The peaceful calm is the perfect start to my day!
Getting up early enough and avoiding the snooze button at all costs is the key to an unrushed morning!
Here’s the problem with cutting time too short or worse hitting the snooze button a few times…You start the day behind!
You have to rush to make it out the door in time and any little problem or speed bump along the way turns into a huge problem. Not being able to find the car keys is suddenly a major crisis because it could cause you to be late for work and the kids to be tardy at school.
Remember, your morning sets the tone for the rest of your day. If you start it chasing time and things, that’s likely how you’ll spend the rest of your DAY!
Getting up early enough, on the other hand, puts you ahead of the game.
You’re in control!
You can take care of everything that needs doing in a calm manner and still have time for the important things you want to work on. In short, getting up early enough sets your up for an amazingly productive day.
And when life throws you that curveball, you aren’t stressed and can handle it with ease!
Restructure Your Routine
Before we wrap this up, spend a little time thinking about your current morning routine (or lack of a. morning routine) and where you’re spending your time. Are you wondering how to save time in the morning?
Look for things you can change and tweak to find time in your morning for the things you really want to do! For example, if you want an extra 20 minutes in the morning to meditate, look at what you could take care ahead of time, eliminate or even delegate to make that time.
When you are looking at how to make your mornings easier, it starts with planning ahead.
If you spend a lot of time getting breakfast ready for everyone, get in the habit of setting the breakfast table the night before and planning ahead. I enjoy making breakfast “ahead of time” on Sundays for the entire week. Cutting this chore from my morning routine has saved me oodles of time…and stops me from skipping the most important meal of the day.
Not only do I plan and cook my breakfast on Sundays, but I also love to use MyFreezEasy to prep for all of my meals during the week. MyFreezEasy is so simple to use and it even gives you a shopping list to make that chore easy too! I don’t know about you, but I have to have a list when shopping or I’m all over the place! Check them out and see how much time this can save for you too!
Another useful tip is to make sure clothes are set out the night before (including yours), and that book bags, purses, briefcases, and car keys have a designated spot. Make sure everything is where it needs to be before you turn in for the night. This tip alone can save an abundance of time in the morning. When you don’t have to wonder or search, it’s easy to remain on time and focused.
Small changes like this to your morning routine can make a big difference.
I challenge you to come up with a few small tweaks that will save you at least 30 minutes in the morning.
Let me know in the comments the changes you can or have made!
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