Morning Time Tips: Save Time and Aggravation

Morning time is a hectic time for most of us. Here are some tips to help your morning time be more productive and less stressful.

To Do List in the Bathroom ~
Everyone's familiar with the idea of making lists of things they have to do the next day, but where do you put them? In your day planner, which you probably wont open until you get to work anyway? If you print your to do list and tape it up in the bathroom, then it is sure to be one of the first things you see when you wake up. While you are standing there brushing your teeth or fixing your hair, you can be looking at that list and thinking about what you can check off right away before you get too busy.

Whiteboard by the Front Door ~
Putting an erasable whiteboard next to your front door gives you one last opportunity to pick up any notes you left to yourself on the way out of the house. Hang your car keys next to the board, so that you have to stop there and look there on your way out. If other members of the family need to get info to you in the morning they can jot the notes down on your whiteboard. On your way out you are sure to see it. You can write notes to yourself as well. Once they are written down on the white board, you don't have to worry about trying to remember them all night while you sleep.

Post-its on the Breakfast Table ~
Post-it notes are one of the coolest inventions of all time. You can get them in all sizes and colors and shapes now. While you are sitting at breakfast, things may pop into your mind that you need to do or someone else in the family needs to do during that day. If you keep a stack of post-it notes on your breakfast table along with a pen, you will be able to jot those items down quickly before you forget them. Then, you can stick the post-it notes at the place setting of whomever they refer to.

Shoes by the Door ~
A lot of time is wasted in the mornings by people rushing around trying to figure out where they have put their shoes. If you stack your shoes neatly by the front door when you come in each time, then you will know exactly where they are when you go to leave each time. You can pile all of the family shoes in a single plastic tub to protect your floors. And keep the tub next to the front door. It is unlikely that all enough people in your home have such similar shoe size and design taste that they would get confused.

If you need to, you can use a laundry marker to discreetly mark whose shoes are whose. Leaving your shoes by the door will not only give you an edge on finding them and getting them on quickly in the morning it will also help protect your inside carpets from the extra wear and tear from outside shoes.

Lost Keys ~
The surest way to slow yourself down when you're on your way to work in the morning is to not be able to find your car keys when you're ready to leave. To get around this pitfall you need to make a habit of putting your keys in the same place every single time you come into the house. The best place is to put them is right next to the door that you come in and out of most often.

For example, if you generally use the front door, screw a cup hook just to one side of that door and use it for your keys. That way when you come in, you can first hang up your keys first thing, before you are hardly in the door. Then on the way out they will be waiting for you just as you get ready to leave.

These tips should help you have a much more productive morning time.

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