10 Things Organized People Do First Thing in the Morning
For many of us, the morning is a busy blur of family breakfasts, random tasks, frantic clock-watching and rapid showering. So how can a morning feel more calm than chaotic, more productive than problematic? One option is to take a leaf out of a truly organized person’s book and work a few of their can’t-live-without routines into your life. Here are 10 organizational approaches to try.
1. Make the Bed
No self-respecting organized person can leave the house without first making the bed. Turn down the duvet or comforter to air it out as soon as the bed is vacated, and then it’s ready to be made just after breakfast.
This is a worthwhile habit to acquire. A neatly made bed gives a room a feeling of order and invites you to snuggle back in at the end of the day.
2. Do the Dishes
No one wants to get in from a day at work to find a sink full of last night’s pans or countertops covered in mucky plates. In fact, even a dishwasher that has worked its magic but has not been emptied is an unwelcome annoyance.
Organized people run their dishwasher the night before and empty it in the morning. They also clear all surfaces of clutter and breakfast debris so the kitchen is clean and ready for the day ahead.
3. Jump Online
Organized people are great at hopping online over their breakfast coffee to quickly clear their in-box of junk or fire off an admin email. They do not, however, find themselves so glued to their screen that they are late for work or forget to have a shower. This is a crisp and clinical online catch-up, not an hour-long social media wallow.
4. Don’t Pack a Lunch
Why not? Because an organized person has already made all the packed lunches for the family the night before, of course! Simply remove from the fridge and go.
5. Get Up Before Everyone Else
Follow an organized person’s sage advice and get up before the rest of the household. Even if you rise just 10 or 15 minutes earlier than everyone else, those precious moments give you time to wake up before other demands are placed on you. If you share a bathroom, this is a particularly great idea too. Waiting for the shower can throw your morning routine into chaos.
6. Streamline the Routine
Think about all the morning’s tasks and the order in which you might complete them. Try to line them up so they work with your schedule and the layout of your house. This will allow you to follow a logical path around your home, accomplishing key goals in each space before moving on.
So you might get up, go to the kitchen for coffee and breakfast, then head back upstairs to shower, dress, dry hair and put on makeup. This simple course prevents doubling back and time-wasting.
If you’re not organized, you could make coffee, then zoom back up for a shower, then gobble breakfast with your hair in a towel, then race back up to dry it, then break off to feed the dog before running upstairs again to get dressed. Which method is more efficient?
7. Head to the Freezer
This is where a truly organized person will find shelves groaning with preprepared homemade meals, cooked up during some spare time on the weekend. Pop a serving straight into the fridge and it will have defrosted in time for dinner.
8. Plan the Weekend on Wednesday
Whether it’s booking movie tickets or planning the menu for a dinner party with friends, organized people can whip up the foundations of a wonderful weekend on a Wednesday morning.
9. Take Care of Dependents
It might be walking and feeding the family dog, getting kids ready for school or simply watering the plants, but an organized person will factor in time to take care of any living dependents first thing.
10. Make Time for Well-Being
If you put all these other tips into place, there should be a little time free for you each morning. Whether you use that for an extra cup of coffee and a skim through the paper, some quiet meditation sitting in your favorite chair or a few rounds of sun salutations, it could set you up for the day ahead.