Weekday mornings can be rough — especially if you have kids. Make them easier on yourself and the kiddos with these ridiculously smart morning routine hacks that will save you precious time.
1. Wear a bathrobe over work clothes to protect yourself from spills during breakfast.
2. Spray on dry shampoo before you go to bed.
Your hair produces oils while you sleep, which can cause greasy, flat hair — not good if you’re not planning to wash your locks in the morning.
Spray dry shampoo on before bed, and as you move your head throughout the night, the dry shampoo will work its way in, leaving you with voluminous hair straight out of bed.
3. Make and freeze PB&J sandwiches ahead of time for easy lunch packing in the morning.
Don’t worry — they still taste fresh once they’re defrosted.
4. Or, prepare a week’s worth of lunches on the weekend.
This will save your budget and help you avoid eating junk.
5. Make a “tomorrow” list before you go to bed at night.
Willpower is highest in the morning, so the night before, put the three most important items at the top of your list. Break down how you’re going to achieve them to make it less overwhelming, and tackle those things first thing.
6. Sleep in your gym clothes to make AM workouts easier.
Wake up in your gym clothes, and you’ll have one less excuse to skip working out.
7. Save time by doing workouts at home instead of driving to the gym.
HITT or High-Intensity Interval Training helps you burn more fat in less time. Try Sweat for $19.99 a month or Sworkit, which offers a free and paid version.
8. Use an app like Alarmy to get you out of bed in the morning.
Rather than being able to hit snooze and fall back to sleep, Alarmy forces you to wake up by giving you tasks in order to turn off the alarm — stuff like taking a photo in your bathroom or solving three math problems. Try the app for free, or get the pro version for $1.99.
9. Or, keep your alarm away from the bed so you’re forced to get up.
10. You can also place your phone in a large cup if you’re a heavy sleeper.
The cup will amplify the sound.
11. Lay out your kids’ clothes the night before.
Better yet, help your kids plan their outfits for the entire week on Sundays.
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12. Adopt the uniform trend for yourself.
Buy multiples of the same shirts and pants and wear them every day. This cuts your getting-ready time in half because there is no decision making involved.
13. Prep and freeze your morning smoothie ingredients ahead of time.
14. Program your coffeemaker.
15. Make instant oatmeal with the water in the Keurig.
16. Microwave an egg in a ramekin for one minute for a quick breakfast.
Break the yolk a little bit before heating, and add cheese for more flavor.
17. Dewrinkle clothes quickly with ice cubes.
Throw a couple of ice cubes in your dryer with wrinkled clothing for about 15 minutes. As the heat from your dryer melts the ice cubes, steam is released to help rid your clothes of wrinkles.
18. Stop a loose button from unraveling with clear nail polish.
This should hold you over until you have more time to sew it up later.
19. Got static cling? Spray on some aerosol hairspray.
Spray the hairspray onto clothing at arm’s length so only a fine mist hits the fabric.
20. Set an alarm for 10 minutes before you need to leave so you’ll get out the door on time.
21. Put a “don’t forget list” on the front door the night before.
22. Slip knee-high socks over windshield wipers to skip deicing the morning after a storm.
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