Trim 20 Minutes Off Your Morning | Time Saving Tips
Disclosure: This post was brought to you by Lunchbox for Suave. All opinions are my own.
Our leisurely days of sleeping in until we felt like waking up are gone and our school schedules are in motion. Suave has some tips and tricks to get your kids out the door and ready for school in time they wanted to share with you!
12 Tremendous Tricks to Trim 20 Minutes off Your Morning
In an effort to allow my children to sleep in as much as possible I have been working on trimming minutes off our morning routine.
A rested child is a happy child, right?
Our personal time savers start with the night before. With Emma being my 3rd child in school I’ve learned a few things.
- Always check the backpack the night before, even if they say they don’t have homework, many times they do.
- Read through all of the “notes home”… nothing like being surprised with “I’m student of the week and I need photos!” at 7am on Monday morning.
- Have your child take their bath or shower before bed. Even if they go to bed with wet hair, it’s quick and easy to squirt some water and no tangles spray on bedhead and brush the mess away.
- Try not to deviate from regular bedtime. If they lack sleep in the morning, they sometimes (many times) become uncooperative (and in Emma’s case, emotional).
- Help your child pick out their clothes (and shoes) for school the night before. There’s nothing like a crying child because they can’t find their favorite shirt (or 1 shoe) 5 minutes before you have to head out the door.
- Discuss the lunch menu for the next day. If your child is bringing a lunch, make as much of it the night before as you can.
- Make sure you wake up at least 15 minutes, but preferably 30, before the kids to wake up, have some coffee and experience silence for even a few minutes.
- No electronics (for the children… and you, too if that is an issue) until they are completely ready for school. This motivates Emma to move quickly, and without argument, so that she can get a few iPad minutes in.
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Do you have any tips and/or tricks that I’ve overlooked?
Please share them with us! I’m always happy to save another minute or two!
Disclosure: This post was brought to you by Lunchbox for Suave. All opinions are my own.
I often take my own shower at night to save time in the morning. My girls always want to rush off to the playroom, though, which derails our mornings. I used to have a chart that detailed all the steps of getting ready and there was no playing until they were done. We have gotten away from it though.
We have always taken our showers at night! Now if I could just get dh off of WoW in the mornings we wouldn’t be rushing all the time! I don’t have anything new to add other than maybe check the weather the night before so you know whether a jacket is needed for the next day so you can get that ready too.
Baths and showers at night are a must, clothes and school supplies laid out helps greatly too!
i take my shower the night before to save time the next morning
Great tips! I should use those on myself – like turning on some lights instead of stumbling around in the dark!
These time saving tips are very helpful. Thanks for sharing!
Taking showers at night is a must sometimes. Preparing and getting anything ready the night before, is helpful.
This is great! thanks for the tips!
Your daughter looks like you and she is so cute. These are excellent tips. I did not know that I should turn on the lights in the morning to get everyone moving. I like that it says no tech items turned on before 10am. I like having all of the lunches made the night before because it is too hard trying to rush around and figure out what to make in the morning. I found some very interesting tips here today.
#9 is a HUGE one for us! If I give in and let them watch tv or play on the ipad before school it throws EVERYTHING off! Something I definitely have to work on!
Great tips. I think that it is also good to have your child figure out their breakfast menu the night before as well.
One of my favorites is to pre -pack your lunch. You can also put cereal in covered bowls on the table the night before – all you have to add is the milk in the morning.
Busy parents need all the help we can get – and preparation ahead of time really helps!
Great tips! I do many of the same things as you. I have 1 in Pre-K. And we love Suave for kids too. One thing I need to do is no computers, phones, etc. before 10am. Cuts productivity in half?? Yikes!
I could really try some of these tips…We just added baby #4 to the family and it has really taken its toll on our time!
Thanks for sharing these helpful tips!
Great tips! I always pack my baby’s diaper bag the night before.
I love tip #2 before bed. If only dad would agree too!
helpful post! I am always running around in the morning and I hate it!
Now that summer is over and school is in session, these are very helpful hints for saving time and becoming more efficient. I like the suggestion of moving bedtime 15 minutes earlier to every 5 minutes the child is late.
These are all great tips! I like the idea of leaving your computer unplugged, so you aren’t distracted by that in the morning. I always pack lunches and have clothes laid out the night before.
Those are all great tips! Nope, I can’t think of anything you missed )
Those are all great tips!!!I think you pretty well have it covered 🙂
I turn on my timer on my coffee pot at night so that i don’t have to mess with it in the morning.
Great tips you’ve shared. When my 7 were younger and still in school I used all of your tips. They save time and emotion. 🙂 We always set the breakfast table the night before and had lunches done as well. Backpacks were loaded up and put by our front door.
Carol L
I agree with and use a lot of the tips you have mentioned. I have found that doing most things the night before really streamlines our morning routine. In fact, since my kids have breakfast at school, all we do in the morning is wash faces, brush teeth, fix hair and get dressed. My youngest only needs 15 minutes to get ready and my oldest who straightens her hair every morning and puts on makeup still only needs 30 minutes.
I make a pancakes or waffles the night before and freeze them. Then in the morning I just heat them up and have a hot homemade breakfast served in a few minutes
I love all the personal time saving tips! We definitely need that in this house!
great advice with the phones and electronics cutting into time!
I like the no electronics idea. Sometimes we get so caught up in whats on tv, or catching up on our emails, or whatever that we forget we actually have real life obligations!
Aww so adorable! I wish my daughter would sleep in her own bed now and then, lol it’s not a easy battle. She loves using the suave kids shampoo tho, she likes the smells.
I use Curious George cartoons to motivate my son in the A.M. It works.
very helpful article, thank you for sharing!
I always have the backpacks ready to go and sitting by the front door before I go to bed. I also have everything I need for the next day in the car. Anything I need for work or errands, such as packages or letters that need to be mailed, shopping list etc. If I have myself ready I can spend more time getting the kids off to school.
I always pick out their clothes the evening before and I have backpacks packed by the door! This is a huge time saver for me!
We save alot of time by keeping bookbags, coats,homework and things like that by the door and ready to go.
I used to have my 2 kids bathe at night, get school bags ready, and early to bed on school nights. Now my grown daughter follows this routine with my little granddaughters Mornings are less hectic.
These are some fabulous tips! I especially love the idea of a rewards system. I’m chronically late dropping my oldest off at Preschool, so I really need to try some of these!
Great tips.. thanks for sharing. This is our first year with my son in Kindergarten.