10 Things To Do To Simplify Getting Out the Door

I am not a morning person. It is a struggle for me to get up and out the door, so I thought I would offer the ten things that I do to make the mornings easier:

The Night Before:

• Prepare clothes. By having my complete outfit ready to go, I am not stuck wondering what to wear (which takes a long time when half-asleep), or finding out that part of the outfit is dirty/torn/missing buttons.
• Prepare my briefcase. Anything that I need to take to work goes into my briefcase. This includes keys, and all electronica. This saves me running around in the morning trying to assemble it, or forgetting something important.
• Prepare my lunch. By having nutritious food already assembled, I will eat healthy and be much less ready to succumb to the “I’ll just eat out” method of lunch.
• Put everything on my launch pad. I have a spot by the back door where everything goes. As much as possible is assembled there, and other things that cannot be put there overnight are written on a sticky note and stuck to my keys. Everything is ready for me to walk out the door.

In The Morning:

• Automate coffee. Having coffee ready is a great benefit. I can also recommend having a partner who will get the coffee for you and deliver it in bed, but that is much harder to come by.
• Eat easy food for breakfast. Having easy, nutritious food available for breakfast, I can quickly eat something without having to think about it. I keep on hand pre-measured bags of regular oatmeal, frozen waffles and pancakes (made on weekends), and sometimes a breakfast casserole in pre-portioned containers. I can either eat at home or take these to the office with me.
• Follow written checklists. I have written checklists of things that need to be done in the morning. This includes starting a crockpot dinner, putting in a load of laundry, opening up the dishwasher to let the dishes dry, and setting up the automated vacuum. Without those written checklists posted in several places around the house, I would forget to do all of the above.
• Examine my to do list early. I make it a point to look at my personal to do list early in the day. That way I can see if there is anything that needs to be done before the end of the work day, like phone calls or errands. If I don’t check the to do list, I won’t look at it until I get home, and that usually means I have forgotten to do something.

In General:

• Get enough sleep. I need 8 hours a night. By making it a priority to get to bed, and using tools to automate shutting down my computer at a certain time, I get a good night’s sleep most nights. If I don’t, I am doubly groggy the next morning.

Photo by WTL photos