I just hated sitting idly by while my children ate breakfast. They usually wanted cereal and it would take them 3 times as long as it did me to eat. So I would try to dash back into the bathroom to do make-up, fix hair, let the dogs in the back yard, etc. Inevitably, cereal would get spilled, somebody would need more milk and I would wind up doing more dashing than was necessary.

We did two things to fix that. One, both the husband and I get completely ready, pack lunches, and put lunches, water bottles, etc. in the car before kids wake-up. Two, the kids eat oatmeal on the days they go to daycare (3 days per week). It’s quicker and easier for them to eat and more filling. They also sit on the kitchen counter and eat instead of going to the table in the other room.

While they eat, I straighten up a kitchen drawer, clean off the front of the fridge, clear off the voice mail messages, but mostly I eat my breakfast, help them eat, keep the juice from spilling, and chat about the day ahead.

Those things have really improved our morning routine.

Now if I could just get the 2.5 year old to be quicker with #2 on the potty !

My morning routine needs a bit of streamlining and I tried putting out clothes the day before but had them ruined a couple of times in the morning because I bled on them (it’s a health thing and there’s nothing to be done about it that fixes it forever, unfortunately). Now I just shedule in an extra 15 minutes to deal with things

- get up when I wake up (no alarm necessary)
- bathroom I
- turn on laptop for music, a few blogs I follow, unplug mobile from charger & put in bag
- ~ 8:45 bathroom II – shower
- ~ 9:00 breakfast/reading
- ~ 9:20 bathroom III – face/teeth/makeup
- getting dressed
- ~ 9:40 off to work

I usually need about an hour before bathroom II just to wake up. If I don’t give myself that time, I’m cranky during the day.

A relatively new addition to my morning routine (bathroom III) is incorporating all the little ‘maintenance’ things that don’t need to be done daily – filing nails, plucking eyebrows, facial masks… By doing a different one each day in the morning, they are getting done regularly (and add at most 10 minutes) rather than every once in a while when I feel like it and happen to remember…

Like you & @glamazon79 said, hard to get motivated after dinner. Just knowing I have the rest of the evening to relax is a huge motivator.

Thanks for the tips!

After dinner I put all the leftovers into my lunch sack for the next day’s lunch, so I make dinner with that in mind. I never have to stress the next day about what to bring for lunch.

I do keep a “coffee station” on my counter space (which is actually a table top because where I live now doesn’t have a kitchen). I use a siphon-vacuum coffee carafe (makes the best tasting coffee!), which actually takes just as long as a drip maker, however the difference being I can’t walk away from it. So that is my 5 minute relax-stretch time, because if I don’t take the time for that “breather” before heading out the door- whoa to the first driver who cuts me off! LOL!!!

My “coffee station” has everything I need right there- jar with spoons, sugar canister, coffee canister, grinder, measuring spoon, napkins, stack of wipe up towels in a little basket, & my big jug of water (so I don’t have to walk over to the sink!). After I wash my coffee mugs I put them at the “coffee station” on a little rack (most people put them away in a cupboard- waste of time!) & I keep everything lined up in the order I use them.

@Sue, I’ve been using your bathroom idea ever since the day I got half way to work & realized I had forgotten to put on my deodorant! I keep everything I need for my morning “get my self together” routine lined up on a little shelf over the sink. I don’t have a “medicine cabinet”. For me it is silly to put everything away in drawers and cabinets- Better Homes & Bathrooms is NEVER coming to my place to do a foto spread on my bathroom so who do I need to impress?!

I had a friend stay with me once & she teased me for having OCD! But a few months later, when I visited her & watched her dizzying disorganized & stressful morning routine I told her she also has OCD- “Organizational Collapse Dishevelment”!!!! (By the way, I coined that phrase!)

Must remember this when I think “I’m too worn out, I can do it in the morning.”

Anyway, I’ve refined both my morning and evening routines – it certainly makes me more productive and organized.

Bedtime Routine
http://www.getorganizedwizard......ission-20/

Morning Routine
http://www.getorganizedwizard......ission-21/