10 Tips to Save Time in the Morning

Have you noticed a theme on the blog lately?? I’m very centered around putting in minimal effort in the mornings… (If you missed Monday’s post, it’s all about what to wear when you “just can’t”.) I guess it’s just the chill of winter, the lack of sleep, and the adjustment of going back to school that’s making me so lazy and lethargic, ya feel? Anyway, I thought it would be helpful to share my best tips for saving time in the morning, both to relay some wisdom to all of you as well as remind myself how to be more efficient during my morning routine (I want those extra five minutes of sleep just as badly as you do!). So without further ado, here are my tips and some corresponding photos taken properly in the dark, before the sun has risen. It always drives me nuts when TV shows portray kids getting ready for school with the sun shining brightly outside. That is just not realistic, unless they don’t start school until 9 am or it’s very close to summer! It’s almost always still dark (or mostly dark) when I wake up… Ok, rant done now, here are the tips for real.

1. Braid your hair the night before. For the most uniform waves, I’ve found that double French braids work the best. But even if you’re not doing it for the textured style, putting your hair in a loose braid is a simple way to save time in the morning because it makes brushing it so much easier—no more picking your comb through stubborn tangles!

2. Pack your bag the night before. I always tell myself that waiting to pack my bag until the morning won’t set me back in my routine, but gathering (and finding) all my stuff is ALWAYS what makes me late in the morning! I’m doing fine, right on time, until I realize I still need to pack my bag—BOOM, 5 minutes behind schedule, just like that.

3. Plan your outfit the night before. I can’t begin to tell you how important this step is, both for saving time and looking great! Oh wait, I guess technically I can… since I wrote a whole blog post about why you should grab the bull by the horns and just pre-plan your daily outfits already. I know it can be a pain, but it’s so worth it! Also, be sure to check the forecast before deciding on an outfit. You don’t want to lay out a dress and flats only to find 2 inches of snow on the ground the next morning.

4. Make the next day’s to-do list the night before. While updating your planner may not be something you do in your morning routine anyways, spending a minute the night before to write out the following day’s tasks will help you get into the right mindset for what the day will hold. This saves me time in the morning because I feel less frazzled about what has to get done, where I have to be, what I will need, etc. so I can just focus on the important stuff—looking and feeling good. (I suppose you should throw in “smelling good” too, since ya girl better be brushing her teeth.)

Okay okay, so I know what you’re probably thinking… This is all just stuff I have to do the night before now! Yes, that’s true, BUT wouldn’t you much rather stay up a few minutes later to get this done? So you can enjoy your cozy bed for even longer in the morning? And be lazy? And not feel rushed? I’m just saying, it’s a lot easier to incorporate these things into your nighttime routine than it is to yank your stubborn body out of bed at 6:30 in the morning…

5. Know what you want to eat for breakfast. Whether you think about it while you’re laying in bed or figure it out the night before, having a plan for what you want to eat will save you from dilly-dallying in the kitchen and wasting time trying to decide what to cook (or more likely, pull out of the freezer and microwave).

6. Have a designated place for your keys and any other important items you don’t want to forget. If you put your keys in the exact same spot on your desk every night, there’ll be no mystery in the morning as to where you set them! I really need to get into this habit.

7. Always have a great headband at the ready. On my laziest days, or when I have the least amount of time, I always brush my hair and grab a headband to throw on and go. Easy peasy! Not to mention, a thick headband can help to hide any greasy hair or flakes you didn’t have time to comb over… This wide pink one is from Francesca’s and the beaded one is from Nordstrom. Neither of them hurt my head—such a rarity!

8. Use your shower steam instead of an iron. Personally, I’m not a morning shower-er. I’m also not really an iron-er (not to say I don’t have clothes that should be ironed). But if you are a morning shower person and dislike ironing as much as I do, kill two birds with one stone by bringing your clothing items into the bathroom with you. Hang them on your towel bar and let the steam of the shower do the rest! It knocks out wrinkles pretty well and saves you the hassle of breaking out the ol’ ironing board (and the subsequent fear of leaving it on and burning your house down).

9. Set a timer on your phone to manage your “in bed, on the phone” time. As much as we shouldn’t, most of us probably play around on our phones in bed for the first several minutes after waking up. To make sure you don’t get too lost in your Instagram feed and the meme world, set a 5-minute timer FIRST and then proceed to scroll. But be sure to adhere to the timer! Otherwise, good luck to you, friend, ‘cause you may be lost to the internet for who knows how long.

10. Keep your pre-planned outfit next to your bed. Why would you do this, you may ask? So you can get dressed for the day WHILE still in bed! Crazy, I know! The hardest part of the morning is always yanking yourself out of bed, so might as well make use of the 10+ minutes you spend laying there by keeping your outfit within arm’s reach.

So what are your best tips for saving time in the morning?? Do you already practice some of these? I’d love to hear what your daily routines look like because my morning is always slow at first and then super rushed at the end… I definitely needed this post as a reminder to myself!

We can pretend that #iwokeuplikethis, but let’s be honest… We all know waking up is not glamorous at all—I usually have severe bedhead (even with the braids in), my night-guard in my mouth, and a nice stream of drool hardened across my face. Talk about hot!

I hope you have a great Thursday and long weekend, and thank you so much for all of your support, today and everyday (especially to the people who I guilt into taking photos for me—you know who you are). See you on Monday!

Miles of smiles,

Grace

PJs: JCPenney, shop similar tropical pajamas HERE // Black Tweed Dress: Maison Jules via Macy’s, $30 on sale, buy exact HERE // Polka Dot Cardigan: Costco, $22, shop similar HERE // Passion Planner: buy HERE // Pink Headband: Francesca’s, shop similar HERE, HERE, and HERE // Beaded Headband: Nordstrom, $30