Ten Simple Tips for a Stress-Free Morning
Posted on February 7, 2008
Filed Under Life, Family
Starting your day on a positive trend is one of the most important things you can do. Your morning sets the tone for your day and a simple, effective morning routine can make all the difference. If you begin the day badly they will continue on the same way. Here are some ideas & tips for a stress-free start to a day:
- Organize for tomorrow today -Before go to sleep each night, ask yourself what
you will need for a great morning. The answers to this question are varied, but it is an important starting point. Go ahead and get your coffee maker ready to go. Lay out all your clothes, shaving materials and any other items used to get ready. Have all of your everyday type things lying where you will use them, and you start your day off right. Do the same for your kids. - Sleepyheaded child: A tired child in the morning is often a sign of too late a bedtime the night before. Check yours childs are getting enough sleep and limit their use of televisions, PCs, and music in their bedroom if they’re not. As a rule of thumb, a three-year-old needs 11 hours sleep each night, a nine-year-old 10 hours and a fourteen-year-old 9 hours.
- Set your clocks ahead: Having your clocks and watches set 5 to 10 minutes ahead can keep you on schedule.
- Family departure Lounge: Make a “departure lounge” – a place at the front door where everyone can organize important items (homework, keys, shoes) for the morning. Buy coloured plastic bins and assign one for each member of the family to use.
- Encourage spouse to help in morning activities: Have your spouse share morning tasks so that you do not allow all the responsibility.
- Breakfast: Breakfast is an critical part of a morning routine but it is often the first
thing to go when time is tight. Even if you are not a breakfast person, find a way to get some nutrition to jumpstart your energy levels. Yoghurt and fruit, cereal, smoothies and protein shakes are all quick, easy and manageable. Make breakfast easier by getting it started in the evening. This could mean anything from laying out bowls, spoons and cereal to cooking porridge in the crockpot overnight. If there are packed lunches to be made, prepare as much as you can the night before. - Take the time to exercise -Make sure that you get up early enough to get in fifteen to twenty minutes of exercise. If you want to feel good all day, there is nothing else on a list that will do as much as this. If you do this as a family, then give yourself extra credit, because you are creating wonderful habits for your kids. They will carry this habit into a long healthy future.
- Freeze your keys: If you’re forever forgetting “special occasion” items on your way out the door (like the brownies you made for the school bake sale), here’s a trick. Leave your house or car keys in the refrigerator along with the brownies.
- Check important things that might change your day -Be sure to check the calendar for birthdays, or special events each morning. In addition, a quick check on line for the weather report and traffic report will head off some potential headaches. Work these things into your routine everyday, and after a month or so, you will not have to think about it at all.
- Try saying a morning prayer. Make it as short or as long as you feel. If something is troubling you, get it off your mind now by praying about it. If you do not believe in prayer, say some simple affirmations that concentrate on whatever area of your life that is causing problems or stress.
These are ideas and tips that can simplify your morning, and get you off to a stress free day.
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Great tips Andy. I love your suggestion about checking for important things each day. I like that proactive style of thinking. Thanks!!!