Basic Housekeeping – Morning Routine

Mornings are hectic.  No routine will completely do away with that, but with a basic housekeeping morning routine, the first part of the day will be smoother, setting the tone for the rest of the day.  Part of an organized morning is an organized evening, which we discussed earlier this week with the night time routine.  If you have a night time routine, the mornings are smoother.  If the mornings are smoother, you will be less stressed.  If you are less stressed, the kids will behave like angels.  Well…sometimes I take things a bit far to drive a point home.

Kids are kids.  I ask my 10-year-old if he is ready for school and he says “yes” and then as we walk out, I realize that his hair looks like a birds nest, or he is missing his belt, the toddler starts doing the I-gotta-go-potty-dance, even though 2 minutes ago he said he was fine…Not exactly a Zen moment!

Because of the things that I can’t control, I try to do the ones that I can.  Of course, I don’t always follow the routine.  If we have guests, I want to enjoy their company more than sticking to some cleaning routine, so I ignore the dishes.  That’s ok and that’s the way it’s supposed to be, I think.    So lets leave it at, this is what I do MOST mornings:

• Make the bed.  The room can be disorganized but if the bed it made, it looks peaceful.  On the flip side, if the room is organized but the bed is not made, it looks like a mess.  It’s just the largest piece in the room and the bed only takes 2 minutes to make.  Even if you don’t want to add a bunch of pillows, just smoothing out the covers makes a big difference.  At night, I love pulling away the comforter on a bed that has been made.

• Make coffee.  My husband is the designated barista in this house, but maybe you make the coffee in your home.  No to-do list has to remind any of us to make the coffee.  We usually make it while we are still sleeping, right?  Check out our coffee station if you have a chance.

•  Empty the dishwasher.  Since it is part of my night routine to load the dishwasher, I unload it in the morning and start filling it up after breakfast.

• Place a load of laundry in the washer.  I believe in a-load-a-day keeping the piles away!  I know some prefer having a designated laundry day or days, but I can’t seem to manage that without getting overwhelmed with all the laundry.  I prefer knowing that one full load will get done (almost) everyday.  See more details about my laundry closet here.

• Defrost whatever you will be making for dinner.  This way you don’t have to worry in the late afternoon about what to make.  I place the meat that is defrosting inside a refrigerator bin, so that juices don’t spill in the refrigerator shelf.  You know this is a big time saver if you have ever had to clean up one of those messes!  You can see the rest of the refrigerator here.

Everyone has a different morning with different tasks, such as preparing lunches for the kids if they take their lunch to school, and your morning is different if you work outside the home.  The steps will vary but the need for the routine won’t.  When I take the time to implement this routine, I feel so productive!

Gotta go comb someones crazy hair (can’t specifically say who, but it’s not the 10-year-old and she likes to blog)!

Have a great morning!

Maria