DETROIT – Missing homework, lunches to pack, racing to an important meeting -- and leaving the house a mess behind you.
Is your morning routine working for you -- or just a lot of work?
The start of the school year is when most of us naturally fall back into more of a routine, whether we have kids at home or not.
If your morning routine needs a makeover, now is a great time to make changes to make it more efficient and enjoyable.
Experts say it’s worth the investment. A bad morning routine -- or not truly having a routine -- can be a major source of stress for you and your whole family.
It can also leave us feeling frantic and frazzled said Jessica Allen, the community director for “Living Well, Spending Less,” a lifestyle blog devoted to finding simple solutions for a streamlined home life.
“You’re gonna find yourself snapping at the people you love. You’re gonna find yourself running late. You’re gonna find yourself forgetting items in the morning. These are all red flags that your morning routine is not working,” said Allen. “There is no shame in saying, ‘This is not working.’ Just start over from ground zero, scratch everything you’re doing and try something new.’”
To create an effective plan, Allen said, know what you’re up against.
“What is the source of the problem? Are we not getting enough sleep the night before? That’s a big one. Are we not going into each day with a clear plan in mind?” asked Allen. “This is where most people tend to fail when it comes to a morning routine. We don’t fully account for everything we’ve got to do in our day.”
To fix that, start with your “zero hour” when you need to leave the house and work backwards to calculate how much time you realistically need to get everyone up and out the door.
Allow time each day for planning ahead. This is essential.
“What meetings do we have that we’ve got to be on time for? What supplies do we need? Is there an extra shirt that somebody needs for school? What time are we picking up so-and-so for practice? All of those things are going to get mapped out,” explained Allen. “You can take 10 to 15 minutes to plan in the morning. You can take 10 to 15 minutes to plan the night before, and my house, we do both because there’s a lot going on.”
Keep your morning routine simple and focus on the must-do’s.
“That’s where that night-before planning or that 10 to 15 minutes in the morning comes in really handy,” said Allen. “You’re mapping out, ‘These are my priorities. These are my must-do items. Now these are my should-do items and then these are the want-to-do items.’ So if I’ve got time leftover if I’ve tackled my high priorities, if I’ve tackled my medium priorities, then I can get to all of that other stuff.”
Make sure everyone else knows the plan too.
“For smaller children, it can be a checklist. For teens, they know their routine in their mind, and they’ve been given their expectations and a reminder of those expectations the night before,” said Allen. “When everyone knows what their job is in the morning, what materials they’re responsible for, what timing they’re responsible for, you as the leader of the household, as the parent, as the taskmaster, you don’t have to be the taskmaster in the morning when everyone knows what to expect which makes you a better parent. It makes you a more pleasant human being, and it’s going to set you up for more success in your own personal day when you’re not constantly scrambling to get everybody to do this plan that was only in your mind.”
Allen also strongly recommends budgeting just a few minutes to make your bed, clean up the dishes, and wipe off the counters.
“I think there is such peace to be found in setting the house the way you want to find it when you come back,” said Allen.
Allen warned technology can be a major distraction in the morning, so if your routine is frequently getting derailed, take a hard look at how much time you’re spending on your phone or other devices.
A good morning routine will make it easier to deal with the enviable bumps in the road.
“It’s gonna happen. We are not robots. You’re gonna forget things. You’re gonna run late. The sink is gonna leak,” said Allen. “You’re going to handle those little curveballs a little bit better and with a little more efficiency, especially when you have a great plan in place to start with.”
Ultimately, we all do better when we know what to expect.
“Whether we’re two years old or whether we’re 92 years old, we all thrive on clear expectations. And that’s all a routine is, that’s all a system is, it’s a set of expectations,” said Allen.
Expectations that can clear the path for better things to come.
“A morning routine is so critical, because we are all going through this life, in our careers, in our pursuits, in our relationships, just trying to create a life that we love,” said Allen. “If you feel cluttered in your mind because your routine is garbage, you’re not going to feel free to take steps forward every day to designing and accomplishing your goals. You’re not going to be able to take steps forward to bettering yourself and whatever areas of your life are important to you.”
To read more about the “Living Well, Spending Less” plan to makeover your morning routine, click here.