7 Foolproof Morning Time Savers

We all know mornings can be difficult. I wonder if the cavemen had a hard time getting out of “bed” when the sun awoke them or they pulled whatever their equivalent of a pillow was over their head and tried desperately to put off their day of hunting. The bigger question is, did they have a morning routine and did sleeping in cause them to rush it?

Most of us have those days when you hit the snooze button 1 or 6 too many times, you finally wake up and you are going to be so late! Now you know it’s time to hustle…but you have SO many crucial and necessary things to do in order to get out the door and look presentable and function in the world. When this happens to you (again), here are 7 morning time savers that will make everything better:

1) Sleep in your (clean) gym clothes. Forcing yourself to get up and hit the gym before work? Good for you!!! It might be rough getting up extra early for something most of us don’t really enjoy doing, so eliminate one step in your morning routine for the gym…getting dressed. Seriously, sleep in your gym clothes! No worries about them getting wrinkled or how terrible you look in the morning – you’re just heading off to sweat…it’s the gym! Gym clothes are comfy and pretty much made for sprawling out. Probably not the most comfortable idea to sleep in your sports bra…leave just that for the morning.

2) Brush your teeth in the shower. If you are a morning showerer and just MUST have that rush of water washing over you in the morning for a jolt awake, try brushing your teeth and washing your face in the shower instead of wasting time standing over the sink. Grab your toothbrush, toothpaste, and face wash and hit the shower! Of course, it’s a much better time saver to shower at night and go to bed squeaky clean.

3) Lay out your clothes the night before! I don’t know about you, but this saved me from getting daily leers from my teachers in high school for waltzing in late…trying to be stealth but failing miserably. Everything from shoes to bra, dress to jacket, purse to accessories. Check the weather forecast the previous night, maybe even for the week, and be ready! The only tricky part here is that it takes will power to stick to your decision from the night before. You never  do know what mood you will wake up in and how that will affect how you want to express yourself fashion-wise that day, but maybe you’ll be too tired and in such a morning daze you’ll be unable to argue with yourself.

4) Streamline your makeup routine. Like a loaded shotgun ready for any possible intruder, have your morning makeup routine locked and loaded. Know how long it takes, have your products laid out and ready, so there’s no need to dig in a messy drawer searching for your favorite lipstick. Have a daily routine that you know like the back of your hand. Be able to do it while skydiving or in the dark. Be able to do it in as many places as Sam I Am will not eat Green Eggs and Ham.

5) Plan breakfast, prep coffee. Standing in front of the fridge trying to figure out how to start off your day and making your coffee are huge time wasters and things that can be done the night before. If you are an at-home coffee drinker, make it the night before, so all you have to do in the morning is flip the switch! No messing with filters, water, or grounds. As for breakfast, it can take will power to actually eat the granola with fruit you put out the night before to dive into, quick and easy. I know you might want to go get a muffin or a pastry from your local coffee shop – who doesn’t want an oozing cinnamon bun or crackling chocolate croissant? WILL POWER! Lay out your utensil, dish, and whatever you are going to eat. My personal fave…quinoa with almond milk warmed in the microwave with dried cherries on top. Oh-so satisfying.

6) Make your alarm clock hard to turn off. Have you seen these little alarm clocks on wheels that you have to chase around to turn off? Those might be a little much; maybe for the SUPER morning-inept, but an easier solution is to put your alarm across the room. How long can you really tolerate the incessant beeping before you must get up and turn it off…before you loose your mind? If you can tolerate it for particularly long…you should be studied by science.

7) Have a hair plan. Probably the biggest time eater in the morning is trying to tame your mane. I had long hair my whole life, until about a month ago, and it was nothing more than a pain in the neck. Dealing with a flat iron, curling iron, bobby pins, wide and thin-toothed combs, round brushes, the whole shebang. But now that I have shoulder length hair, I get up; flip it upside down, shake it out, and I’m ready to go! Know your easy go-to hairstyles, and always have a bottle of dry shampoo on hand – it’s something everyone should have by their 20s, a few spritzes…and voila. Instant de-greaser. Magical talc in a can.

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