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YOU’VE BEEN TOLD time and time again about the endless benefits of being organised and getting up early.
But do you listen?
Do you wake an hour early to meditate? Or make a nutritious breakfast? Or write a page of your novel before heading into work?
Do you what?
It’s just too much work on top of your daily tasks to even think about that kind of madness.
But there are some tips and tricks that you could do the night before that will make your morning times a whole lot easier, and we’ve rounded up seven of them for you right here.
Expect a whole new level of calm in the mornings.
You’re welcome.
Organising what you’re planning to do tomorrow before you even leave means you’ll hit the ground running when you come in the next day.
Having a to-do list or the week planned out in advance means you’re less likely to forget one of the smaller, yet essential, tasks that can get lost in the mix.
Similarly, tidying up where you work – just a tad – will mean things should be (in theory) easier to find so you’re not wasting time searching for whatever you need whenever you need them.
It might be the last thing you want to think of as you’re going about your evening, finally home from work, but having lunch prepared for the next day means you don’t have to make it in the morning. You’re also more likely to actually bring a lunch with you – saving money as an added bonus – as it’s ready to grab before you run out the door.
While having a shower in the morning is a great way to wake up, it’s quite a time suck. You have to get up earlier, and probably spend a good five minutes just standing under the hot water trying to wake up in the first place.
Having a shower the night before means one less thing to do in the morning – plus your hair will be dry leaving the house, handy coming into winter and all.
If you always have one spot where you leave your keys, you’ll always know where they are. And in the same way, if you pack your bag the night before you go to work – whether that’s a handbag, gym bag or anything else you care to carry with you – you’ve just got to grab it on the way out the door and know you have everything you need.
Doing things the night before is all about cutting down how many decisions you have to make in the morning. Depending on where you work, one major decision can be what you’re going to wear to work every day.
If you pick out your outfit, then you can rest assured that all the bits and bobs to go along with it are ready too, and you’re not searching for the right pair of shoes to wear with those trousers, or find that the perfect top for that skirt is actually dirty and you need to start the whole process again.
We’ve already published a piece on interesting breakfasts here and another on all the ways you can spice up porridge here – so it’s safe to say we’re a fan of breakfasts.
Prepping it in advance as much as possible – whether that’s having a pot or bowl (depending on whether you cook your porridge on the stove or in the microwave) with the porridge ingredients weighed out, or making some kind of healthy breakfast bar or muffin you can grab as you run out the door – will mean you spend less time thinking about what to eat and more time eating it.
Win win.
And most important of all is, of course, getting a good night’s sleep.
Sleeping well improves tomorrow in innumerable ways and has major benefits for both mental and physical help.
Plus it makes your day that much better when you’re not yawning and mainlining coffee all day just to get through it.
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save time by eating your lunch the night before
Brian, i actually laughed out loud at that.
3 minutes before I leave the house I still don’t know what I will be wearing that day
Don’t leave work
You definitely win the prize, Daniel. Think of all that can be saved – no transport costs etc., Problem sorted.
What if you don’t work in an office?
Wow. Sleep, wake up, clean up,, take a shower, get dressed and make your lunch before you head to work? brilliant. Now why didn’t I think of that?I’d be worth a fortune.
You forgot number 8 though, Straight down to the patent office before some other clever clogs thinks of it.
Shower the night before? Yuck….
What about bed sweats?… Ya need to shower in the morning.
subcontract out your day job and just stay at home… no worries then
Going to work is the new being at work. According to a recent EU court apparently!
That dog in in the 4th clip is the boss!
Set the table for breakfast.
Avoid Coffee.. the main cause of workplace Stress
The only thing that brings any productivity along. Coffee is the best drug
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