Rev up your morning routine, even in the summer months

Summer is a time when life slows down for many of us. The kids are off school and sleeping in late. The nights are longer, and regular events like dinner and bedtime tend to be stretched alot later than other times of the year. This can easily result in more stressful early morning trips to the office if you are not properly prepared. Here are 4 things you can do to help speed up your morning routine and ensure you arrive to work relaxed and on time:

1. Iron or steam your clean, yet wrinkled clothing before it ever gets put away in your closet. This way all clothing choices are prepped and ready to be whisked from the hanger when needed.
2. Clean out and properly put away all bags, purses and suitcases when not in use. It’s much quicker to switch out a bag on the way out the door if it is easy to find and void of last week’s clutter.
3. Prep anything that is feasible the night before. Decide on an outfit, pack your lunch, prepare the coffee in the coffee machine and properly stock your work bag so as much as possible is staged and ready to go for the morning.
4. Take 5 minutes to check your agenda for the next day and establish a loose plan before sliding your feet between the sheets at night. Doing so will give you time to download and write down important to-do’s and other things that might otherwise keep you up at night.

Prepping properly ahead of time will help to ensure a good night’s sleep, give you a few more minutes of shut-eye in the morning and contribute to a less stressful routine.