My morning routine was taking me way too long – specifically my getting ready routine. I knew something had to change. And that’s what this post is about. The ONE thing that changed my morning routine completely!
I’m a work from home, homeschooling mom to six kids. I don’t need a morning routine that takes me an hour. I simply don’t have time for that.
There might come a time in my life where I can spend extra time in the morning getting ready, but this is not the season for that!
I need something quick and efficient and my morning routine was definitely not quick or efficient.
I knew something needed to change.
The One Thing That Changed My Morning Routine
I didn’t realize the source of why it was taking me so long. I just knew something was up. It shouldn’t be taking me this long to get ready.
One day I was listening to a podcast talking about time management tips.
Side note: I’m an avid podcast listener and love anything about productivity, so I’ve heard a lot of tips about managing your time well. But this tip that was given literally changed my morning routine (and I’m brainstorming on how to use this tip in different areas of my life as well).
So what is the tip and what did I do to streamline my morning?
That’s what we’re going to dive into today!
What is a morning routine?
Before we get into the tip let’s talk a little bit about what a morning routine is.
When I think of a morning routine I think of it as the block of time starting from the time you wake up to the time you start your work, whether that’s at home or in the office. That block of time is your morning routine.
Morning routines are so personal depending on your life situation. A morning routine for a retired woman will look different from a morning routine of a mom who has three kids ages 6 and under.
There are so many variables that go into building your morning routine.
I believe a good morning routine is one that will start your day off with success. That daily routine at home that you do morning after morning is so important!
But what makes a good morning routine?
I believe a good morning routine is one that you’ll actually stick with and that will streamline your time.
We are so busy in this life. Anything that we can do to lessen the amount of decisions we have to make will help save not only time but also mental energy. So if you have a routine that you do day after day, that’s one less thing that you have to think about (especially if you haven’t had your coffee yet!)
Morning Routine Tip That Changed it All
Now that we have established what a morning routine is, I know you’re thinking: Okay Courtney, let’s get to the tip! I got you friend.
The podcast episode I was listening to was talking about streamlining things in your life that aren’t working. Automating things that can be automated, organizing things in a better way, whatever you can do to streamline an area of your life that is giving you problems.
Immediately when I heard this I thought of my morning routine, specifically the amount of time I was taking to get ready for the day.
Now, I am not someone who spends a lot of time on makeup or hair. I work from home and we homeschool so most of the time I don’t put any makeup on or fix my hair.
So why in the world was it taking me so long to get ready?!
That’s the question that was burning in my mind after listening to this tip on that podcast episode.
I knew that I wanted to focus on this part of my day to figure out 1) why it was taking me so long and 2) come up with a way to streamline it and make it better.
Why Was it Taking Me SO Long to Get Ready?
When I really sat down and looked at the flow of my getting ready routine, I saw that it was not efficient at all. Things were spread out everywhere.
My clothes were in all different places. A few things were in the dresser in my room, some were in my closet, some in a basket in my closet. They were literally everywhere.
The products I use to get ready in the morning were in different drawers and I was constantly hunting down things that I needed.
That was it. That was my problem. The things I needed to successfully get ready for the day were definitely not organized and it was taking me so long to hunt things down to get ready. I was having to go to so many different places in my bedroom and bathroom and it was taking up way too much time.
So what did I do to fix it?
How I Streamlined My Morning Routine
After I found the problem it was much easier to fix it. I looked at each area of my routine that was giving me problems.
My Clothes
My clothes were in so many different places in my bedroom and my closet that it was taking me additional time walking from place to place gathering all the things I needed. And it didn’t help that my brain was still half asleep when I was trying to do this.
I found a little three drawer plastic dresser in my house that I wasn’t using. It wasn’t very wide so it fit perfectly at the bottom of my closet. I put all of my underwear, bras, socks, and sleeping shorts in these drawers.
My daily “work” attire is some kind of t-shirt and leggings. (Mom uniform, lol)
Previously these were in different drawers in my room and sometimes in a basket in my closet that I throw clothes I don’t want to fold or hang and put away. No judgement here, mmkay?
I took all of the shirts that I wear on a weekly basis and hung them in my closet directly above the dresser that I brought in containing my underwear, etc.
I then folded my leggings and put them on top of the plastic dresser.
So now everything I need to get ready is literally in one section of my closet. The shirts are hanging above the folded leggings that are sitting on top of the dresser that has my underwear and bras.
Ahhh, organized and efficient!
My Getting Ready Basket
This is probably my favorite part of my routine. It brings me so much joy!
Another problem area that I had was all the things I needed to get ready. A scrunchie to pull my hair back, my toothbrush and toothpaste, my face wash, my deodorant. These were all in different drawers of my bathroom. I felt like I was constantly searching for a scrunchie to pull my hair back. It was just not working.
So I brainstormed and thought of different ways I could solve this problem.
And I had an idea that if everything was in one place where I didn’t have to search, I could just pull it all out at the same time and it all be there, that would help so much!
I had a little Rubbermaid container that I wasn’t using and I put everything that I used to get ready in the morning in that box.
It’s all in there!
So in the morning when I get to the sink and I’m ready to do my thing all I have to do is pull out this one box and everything I need is in there.
This has been a game changer!
No longer am I scrambling around trying to find a scrunchie or remembering which drawer I put my face wash in. All I have to do is take this box out and put it on my counter.
These two tips have literally cut my morning getting ready time in half!
So how can you take these tips to make your morning routine more efficient?
How to Streamline YOUR Morning Routine
Step 1: Find the problem area.
The first step in streamlining your routine is to figure out where the problem is. is it your time getting ready like mine? or maybe it’s another part of your morning routine that’s taking too long.
A key in figuring out where your problem area is, is to pinpoint the area that is taking way too long and eating way too much time in your routine. And start there!
Step 2: Brainstorm ways that you can streamline this problem area
Once you figure out what part of your routine you want to streamline, brainstorm different ways that you can make the process better.
For example, if making coffee in the morning just takes way too long, then maybe you can get a programmable coffee maker, set it up the night before, and have it go off automatically at a certain time in the morning. That way when you walk in the kitchen your coffee is already made!
Another level that you can take this is to make sure that your coffee mugs are in a cabinet directly above the coffee maker, or somewhere close by, so you don’t have to walk across the kitchen to get your coffee cup.
Anything you can do to automate the process and take as little steps as possible will help you cut down on the total amount of time it takes you to do the routine.
Step 3: Implement your idea and tweak if needed
So once you discover the problem area, and you’ve figured out a way that you can make it more streamlined, the next step is you need to test it out. The only way you’re going to know if an idea works is to actually test out the idea.
If you test the idea out and you see that, Oh I actually don’t like my coffee cups to be above the coffee maker, I would rather have them directly beside the coffee maker – great! Now you know the next step would be to buy a coffee mug tree to hang your coffee cups.
But you won’t know until you actually live the process for a few days and then you can tweak if needed to make it really fit for you.
Step 4: Celebrate your success and all the time you got back
The last thing you do is celebrate all the time that you’ve gotten back, the mental energy that you don’t have to waste day after day, morning after morning.
I’m excited to see what process you put in place to streamline your morning!
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