The following is a guest post about morning time savers for a more organized day from regular contributor, Kristin at The Gold Project.
The weekday mornings are really hectic around my house. Some days, everything runs smoothly and we are actually ahead of schedule. Then, other times, it seems like I am running in slow motion and nothing is getting accomplished on time. I have learned that if I take a few extra steps the night before, then the mornings run a lot smoother. Plus, everyone’s mood is better. Running behind equals crankiness in my household.
Today, I am sharing the simple tasks that I accomplish before bed to make my mornings more organized.
Morning Time Savers for a More Organized Day
Prepping the Coffee Maker
This is a task that takes a few minutes every morning, but those few minutes may be the difference in being on time for work or not. Try prepping your coffee pot at night before you go to bed. This doesn’t necessarily mean setting the clock on the coffee maker to begin brewing at a certain time. Let’s be honest, not all of us have coffee pots with that capability. The simple task of cleaning out the filter, adding the water, and then adding the coffee grounds will help tremendously. Then, all you have to do in the morning is press the start button.
Picking Out Clothes
How many times have you stood in your closet staring in the mornings? I am so guilty of this if I don’t have my outfit picked out the night before. It is almost like I think an outfit is going to jump out and say, “Pick me!” So, I have learned to stop the never-ending morning staring contest with my closet by preparing my outfits the night before.
Preparing Medication
Every Sunday, I block off a little bit of time to prep my pill organizers for the week. I actually have two in my bathroom. One is for my morning medication and the other is for my evening medication. I will fill up both organizers for the week on Sunday. This simple task is so important because I do not want to grab the wrong medication when I am stumbling around the bathroom before 6:00 am on workdays. Everything is already sorted, labeled, and ready to go.
Fixing Lunch(es)
I take my lunch to school every single day. I could probably count on my hands the number of times I have not taken my lunch since I started teaching thirteen years ago. I got in the habit at the very beginning and I have stuck to it ever since. Plus, I do not have enough time to run out, get lunch, and eat it on my lunch break. Side note: My lunch break is only 30 minutes.
To save myself time and energy in the mornings, I will prep my lunch the night before if I am taking something that requires prep. A lot of the times, I take a frozen meal, but that is not always the case. I will place leftovers in the containers I plan to grab and go, I will make my sandwich, or even sit out everything needed that doesn’t have to be refrigerated before bed.
Packing School/Work Bags
This is the one task that requires the most effort for me. When I get home from work every day, I am always grabbing for items in my work bag. I should mention that I do not carry a purse during the week. All of my purse essentials are in my daily work bag. It makes my life a lot easier.
I am usually working in my planner or jotting down notes in one of my notebooks every evening. So, I have to make the conscience effort to put everything back before I go to bed.
One of the times that I did not follow this rule, I left my wallet at home and had to make a trip across town during my prep period to get it. So, if I would have been more organized, I would have saved myself time and stress.
What time savers do you use to make your mornings more organized during the week?
My name is Kristin and I am a middle school career education teacher by day and a mommy/wife/blogger by night. I am married to my high school sweetheart and we have two loving children. We recently made a life-changing move to Arkansas, so our new house is always under construction. I get excitement out of finding new creative, functional, and cute ways to organize things! I also enjoy writing and documenting life as it happens. So, I put these loves together and created The Gold Project. With the help of my husband, I am attempting to turn our house into a home. So, check out this special place of mine and take this journey with me!
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