How you start your day can really make a huge difference in how much you get done and how pleasant the entire rest of the day is! Here are some time management strategies to help you start out on the right foot.
Even if you are not a morning person having a streamlined and effective morning routine can be absolutely crucial. In fact, as a night person, I think it’s kind of essential to surviving mornings!
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Time Management Strategies To Start Your Day On The Right Foot
My first time management strategy that I do ALL THE TIME is to start my morning routine the night before. Probably because I’m a night owl, but I do not remember things well in the morning. If I’m trying to grab everything I need, get ready, and get small people out the door I WILL forget something.
The evening before, pack your purse or bag. Pre-make any lunches, water bottles, or snacks you might need. Put it all in an easy to grab place! Sometimes if I’m really not sure if I’ll remember to grab something I might even put it in the car the night before.
Probably the most important thing you can do the night before is to plan what your top goal or priority is for the next day. What is the one thing you’re going to accomplish tomorrow? Pick just one, and do it first thing.
My next tip also has to do with being a night owl. Don’t stay up too late! If you stay up too late, it’s hard to wake up the next morning and you’ll be tired and grouchy and short on time. If I don’t get enough sleep I am not a nice person!
So, plan enough hours of laying down in your bed. Even if you aren’t actually sleeping, you can still get more rest in than you would if you were up late….on your laptop…typing blog posts…like me….ahem.
And if you just can’t sleep well at night, try to adjust your commitments so that you are able to sleep at YOUR ideal time. You can still have a totally awesome morning routine, even if your morning starts later than someone else’s.
Keep Track Of Time
Another thing I find totally helpful is to have timers and alarms set for myself on my phone. They help me keep moving in the right direction and not get bogged down too long on any one task.
Also, hang a clock on your bathroom wall. You could even put a waterproof watch in the shower if you tend to linger in there.
Bathrooms can sometimes seem like timeless voids. You step in one minute and then next thing you know you come out and it’s been much longer than you thought. Have a clock ticking in there within your line of sight while getting ready for your day.
Get Totally Ready
Even if you are just out working in the garden or staying home all day, take time to get fully ready in the morning.
Brush your hair, brush your teeth, change out of pajamas. Wear shoes, if you need those before you go out of the house. (I’m a big barefooter so my feet are my shoes the vast majority of the time.)
If you like to exercise in the mornings, get it done first and get totally dressed, don’t just run around in exercise clothes all day or you’ll feel harried and unkempt.
If you’re big project for the day is something that requires grunge work, dress appropriately for the project at hand and then change later once it’s completed.
It’s really hard to focus on what you are doing at the moment when you are wearing clothes that are made for a completely different activity.
Be Choosy
My final tip is to be very selective about what you include in your morning routine. There are so many good things that you could load up your morning with hours worth of quality activities.
Figure out what’s important to you that you must accomplish each and every day first thing. Maybe that’s exercise. Maybe that’s writing, or a personal devotional. But what you don’t to do is try to cram in too much.
Spread those other quality activities out throughout your day or week. Keep your mornings streamlined and achievable!
What are your favorite time management strategies to start off your day? Share in the comments below!
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