4 tips to get out of the door faster in the morning

Phew! Were you in a mad dash to get to work this morning? If so, you aren’t alone. 40% of working moms feel rushed, while nearly 20% of all workers are late to work every day. 

But feeling rushed isn’t good for your mental health or your career. If you’re chronically late to work in the morning, that can hamper your chances for a promotion or raise. 

What can you do if your snooze button is the only thing standing in the way of a promotion? The key is to get your routine down pat, which means getting out of the door faster in the morning with less panicking. Follow these four tips to save time in the morning and arrive at work relaxed. 

1. Ditch the snooze button

We love our snooze buttons, too, but they aren’t doing us any favors. If you’re rushing during your commute and struggling to feel awake when you get to work, your snooze button is probably to blame. 

This is really hard if you aren’t a morning person. Consider installing an app on your phone that doesn’t have a snooze button at all. If you have a spouse or roommate, ask them to help you stay accountable so you wake up at the correct time. 

When in doubt, if you have a lot of trouble waking up, consider going to bed earlier. If you get 6-8 hours of sleep and still feel tired, it may be time to see a doctor.

2. Develop a morning routine

What’s your morning routine? If you don’t have one, now’s the time to do it! You should write down your morning routine. This will help you commit to a list of habits that you can work on every morning. Believe it or not, a written routine will shave minutes off your prep time since you know what you need to do from the moment you wake up. 

Your list might look like this:

• Wake up

• Shower and get dressed

• Drink coffee, eat breakfast

• Brush teeth

Dial it down to the bare essentials. Don’t give yourself too many things to do in the morning. That will make you feel rushed, which is the opposite of what you want!

3. Embrace night-before prepping

Mornings can get hectic. If you struggle to choose matching shoes every morning, it’s not the best time to pack Johnny’s lunch. Instead, do these tasks at night. 

You can pack your water bottle, prep the coffee maker and fill your kids’ lunch boxes the night before. This way, everything is grab-and-go the next day. 

Consider making a written list for tasks you need to prep at night, too. This will help you remember and stay accountable, freeing up your mornings. 

4. Streamline your grooming or beauty routine

Do you really need to blow-dry your hair and apply a face mask every morning? There’s nothing wrong with self-care, but complex morning beauty routines can make you late for work. 

Instead, streamline your beauty or grooming routine to the bare essentials. Opt for two-in-one products like SPF moisturizer to cut down on time. 

The bottom line

A lot of people dread early mornings. There’s no cure for the workweek blues, but if you follow these four tips, you can save precious minutes in the morning. Have a smoother morning and a better outlook on the day before you even get into the office with a better routine. 

Want more time management ideas? Try these ideas if you’re juggling work and school.