Is Your Disorganization Destroying Your Morning? 7 Ways To Stop It Now!

Today's topic: Getting out the door in the morning without stress & on time. Now that back to school time is upon us, this seems like the impossible dream.


But it's not.  You need a schedule. Here it is:

key/mail cubbie, keys are behind the photo

1. plan out what you are going to wear the night before. Hang it on the outside of your closet door so it's ready and waiting for you in the morning.
2. limit your breakfast choices to a few quick and easy things. Oatmeal, cereal, breakfast bars come to mind. This is not the time for eggs, pancakes or anything that takes more then one minute to make. Save those culinary adventures for the weekends.
3. have everything you need for the day right by the door you exit from. Library books that need to be returned, mail to post, items to drop off. Have it all in one big bag right by the front door. A bag you put together THE NIGHT BEFORE. Same goes for the kids.
4. anything you need to remember on a regular basis that can't fit into the bag, make a sign or a cut out of the item and post it on the front door THE NIGHT BEFORE. We have a purple foam cut out of a violin. Whenever my son needs to take his violin to school, I put the cutout on the front door right above the door knob at eye level. Our front door is metal, so I glued a magnet on the back, but tape would work also. This way we can't forget the violin in the morning, and family members who leave earlier won't trip over the it.
5. pack lunch THE NIGHT BEFORE  (this would be a good cutout item for the front door also.) Or pack it that morning using the freezer idea from here.
6. take a minute to figure out what dinner will be tonight. Is there anything you can pull out of the freezer now and leave to thaw in the fridge all day? If so, do it.
7. useful storage things to have by the front door: mirror to check yourself in before you leave, basket containing sunglasses, a key rack, an outgoing mail cubbie. Anything that makes your life easier in the morning is worth taking a few minutes to set up THE NIGHT BEFORE.

Are you sensing a trend here? I'll let you in on a secret - the best way to assure yourself a smooth morning to to prepare all you can THE NIGHT BEFORE. That way you have a bit of wiggle room in the morning to adapt for those inevitable things that will go wrong. Plan ahead to give yourself this room.

That's it for now. Make September smooth by trying a least one of these tips and see if it makes your life easier.