3 Simple Habits To Make Mornings Easier Every Day
3 simple habits to make mornings easier every day – and none of them means getting up earlier (always a bonus!). Streamline the start of the day, and you’re ahead before you’ve left the house… This article was written in partnership with Very.
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We’ve all been there.
It’s first thing in the morning and you’re already running late.
You’re stood in front of the wardrobe trying to decide what to wear (and whether what you DO decide on is going to need a quick going-over with the iron before it’s OK to leave the house in), the coffee machine is waiting to be set up (and your body wants caffeine to kick start things!), and there’s a voice inside your head telling you you really should eat something…
Every single one of those is a decision that needs making – not to mention each needs time and energy spent on it. Decide, do. Decide, do. And all with the clock ticking away in the background.
Sound familiar?
The thing with mornings is that they’re a squeeze. There’s only so much time, and a lot of little jobs to fit into it – so it doesn’t take much to tip it into a scramble.
Not the best way to start the day…
The way I look at it, a smoother morning comes down to two things: fewer decisions to make, and less time spent doing things. Deal with both up front and everything gets easier.
A fresh start – a new season, a new term, a new year – always feels like a natural time to reset routines, but everything here works at any time of year. The main thing to remember when creating a simple morning routine is that it’s not about chasing some unrealistic version of ‘perfect’. It’s just adding in a few small habits that can make all the difference in the world.
The trick?
Really it’s to get ahead. This means making your decisions up front – either the night before, or in a spare bit of time at the weekend – and then just sticking to them. Then, make the actual ‘doing’ as easy as possible by simplifying in some way. I’m a big believer in getting help, whether that’s through delegation or by using tech.
So, here are 3 simple habits to add to your routine, and the appliances that make each one even easier. Hope it helps!
#1 – Set Up The Coffee The Night Before
Before you switch the kitchen lights off for the night, it’s worth taking a few moments to get your coffee ready to go when you wake up.
If you’ve got a coffee machine then it becomes even more streamlined, as you can pre-fill it with water, put the coffee in ready, and stand your cup(s) next to it so they’re waiting for you.
In my own home, as soon as I wake up I walk downstairs and all I have to do is switch it on and it gets started – easy! I can get on with a couple of little bits while it’s making, and then I grab it and head back upstairs to get dressed. No hunting for a clean mug, finding the right coffee, or faffing with filling it with water. It’s done ahead of time. And it feels great!
It turns coffee into a bit of self care, too – a hot drink in your hand without any hassles, to start the day before everything else kicks in. Call it romanticising your morning if you like – I’m all for it.
Try this: Make it the last job of your evening kitchen tidy. You’re already in there, the worktops are clear, and it becomes part of shutting the kitchen down for the night rather than one more thing to tackle from scratch the next day.
2 Have Your Clothes Ready The Night Before
‘What am I going to wear?’ is one of the biggest morning decisions of the lot, and it’s usually made in a rush – which is exactly when nothing feels right and you end up changing your mind a few times in the process.
Instead, start to choose the night before.
Have a quick look at tomorrow’s weather, pick out the whole outfit – top, bottoms, socks, shoes if you like – and hang it up ready to grab.
The extra ease for this step comes in when you think about the stress caused when, in the morning, you grab a top and put it on, only to discover a few creases that are less than ideal to leave the house in.
This ends up with time wasting. Either you spend time changing outfits, or you have to get the iron and ironing board out which is always a hassle but especially first thing when you just want to get dressed and get out of the door.
The answer? I love the idea of a handheld steamer (it’s on my wish list, for sure!). It takes a minute or two at most, there’s no bulky ironing board to get out, and it takes the creases out in no time. It’s a huge time-saver. You can go a step further and give the clothes a quick steam when you lay them out the night before – so you know with certainty they’re ready to go.
Do this instead: Rather than standing in front of the wardrobe deciding in the morning, make the decision the night before and make sure everythins is ready and waiting. Once it’s hung up, it’s chosen – no changing your mind!
3 Make Healthy Smoothie Mixes For The Freezer
Breakfast is often the first thing to go when you’re running late (it used to be for me, for sure!).
After all – it’s yet another decision to make (what shall I have?) and it takes time to prepare. Plus you don’t HAVE to eat before you leave the house (unlike getting dressed lol) – so it all too easily ends up with you eating nothing, or grabbing a less than healthy biscuit on the way out of the door, and you’re hungry again by mid-morning.
My absolute favourite trick here is to have a smoothie – using homemade (and pre-made) smoothie packs from the freezer.
You can grab a pack, blitz it up with milk or water, and it’s done! Hardly any longer than grabbing that biscuit, really!.
My favourite smoothies at the moment are frozen berries with protein powder, mixed with milk. or frozen pineapple, spinach, and a little fresh mint, mixed with water.
Ten minutes or so of packing these small bags up at the weekend and putting them in the freezer covers all my weekday breakfasts.
Then, each morning, you simply tip a pack into the blender, add the chosen liquid and blitz. No chopping, no measuring, no deciding – and breakfast is done in a couple of minutes.
The tweak: I already had a large blender and although this was good, I still had to spend a minute or so cleaning the jug and decanting the smoothie into a flask. I was really pleased to be sent the Ninja BlendBOSS, as I hadn’t tried a blender before that blends in the mug itself! It has a lid, so it’s also perfect to pop into my bag or carry when I’m doing my morning walk. I can now get my smoothie all ready in the time it takes for my coffee to brew – no washing up or hassle at all!
So there you have it.
Go back to that first-thing-in-the-morning scramble.
The coffee? It’s now ready for you to just switch it on to start it up.
Your clothes? Everything is hanging up with any creases already dealt with.
And breakfast? A smoothie pack can be chosen from those in the freezer, and done in literally 2 minutes.
There are hardly any decisions to make, and everything that’s left takes a couple of minutes because they’ve been streamlined with the help of a few well-chosen appliances.
None of it was difficult, but now it’s simple! Mornings are calmer, so you head into the day feeling prepared and in control rather than playing catch-up. And that’s the whole trick.
The day’s busy enough – make the morning the easy bit.
Read next: 6 Morning habits you need to stop doing immediately!
