Friday, July 26, 2019
If only our days didn’t boil down to having just a few extra minutes...but unfortunately, they often do. Just 15 extra minutes could open up a lot of possibilities - it could give you enough time to fit in the gym or a walk and not be late for work, spend a little quality time with the kids before dropping them at school, open up a window for journaling or reading, or give you a block of time for sorting through your inbox at work. The possibilities of 15 extra minutes are limitless!The good news is, with a little open-mindedness, it’s easy to open up time in the day that’s just for you. Here are five things you can do to put a little time back into your morning:
1. Prep food the night before. Whether it’s your breakfast or the family’s lunches, morning time can easily be sucked up with food prep. So sacrifice time in front of the TV the night before and get all your morning food tasks out of the way instead.
2. Lay out all your exercise gear. This means everything, including socks, shoes, hats, undergarments, headphones, mats...whatever it is that’s part of your workout routine. Sound silly? Just think back to that morning you spent searching for your left sneaker under the bed or digging through the laundry basket for a hoodie.
3. Don’t watch TV in bed. Getting to bed earlier will enable you to start your day earlier, an obvious way to build more time into your morning. But watching TV - or any sort of screen, like a tablet or smartphone - keeps your mind stimulated and awake. So substitute television for a good book instead. Reading will relax you and have you snoozing in no time.
4. Leave your smartphone in the other room. Use an old fashioned alarm clock to wake you in the morning so you’re not starting off your day by reaching for your phone and getting sucked in by social media, text messages and countless other notifications. If you must have your phone bedside, then commit to parameters, like avoiding social media and unnecessary texts until a midmorning break.
5. Leave a little mess behind. While you don’t want to come home to chaos, it’s ok to leave a few dishes in the sink or a couple of belongings out of order. Part of carving out more time for what’s important to you is learning to let go of perfection, so learn to prioritize what matters most and what’s ok to skip.
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