How to have a Stress-Free Morning

Mornings pretty much set the mood for the rest of the day. We all know how mornings can be: running around, multitasking, trying to find things, getting ready, trying to get to school or work on time. So why start your day stressed, when you haven't even left your house yet? I know that I slept in a little later than usual today, but getting up and going to class was easy and pretty peaceful... So here are my tips on having a stressless morning.

#1. Prepare & Plan
▸ Set your alarm: You want to make sure you wake up with a lot of time to get ready, eat breakfast, and get to school or work. Know how much time, on average, it takes you to get ready.
  ▸ Breakfast: Know what you're going to eat in the morning. Standing in front of the refrigerator won't help your time frame to get ready.
  ▸ Lunch: If you bring your own lunch, make sure you prepare it the night before. Making your lunch takes a lot of time out of your morning, especially if you don't even know what you're eating.
  ▸ What are you wearing? I know finding an outfit in the morning takes forever!! So knowing what you're wearing and setting it out, ready to wear, will give you more time to go about your morning.
  ▸ Prepare your bag: whether you're a student or worker, you need things in order to be productive within your day. Do you need your laptop? Chargers? Papers? Books? Get them all together and put them by your door, ready to grab and go!
  ▸ Plan: If you share a bathroom, like me, plan times with your roommate to see who showers first and at what time. So then if you are not showering you can complete your other morning tasks and get things done.

#2. Put on some tunes!
  ▸ Music enlightens your morning: Listening to music while doing my morning chores really calms me, especially in the shower and while getting ready. It picks up my groggy mood and just starts off my day refreshed and happy.
  ▸ Spotify and Pandora: I use Spotify on my computer to play Top Lists of today's songs and Pandora to explore different artists and genres I have yet to hear.

#3. Finish your nightly tasks that night
  ▸ Wash your hair: If you need to wash your hair, do it the night before. Blow dry your hair the night before. Obviously it depends on the person, but for me: I have long, thick, curly hair and so I would wash my hair the night before, air dry, then quickly go through it with my straightener. I don't straighten it, but I do tame the curls that make styling my hair so time consuming. So now it takes me five minutes to style it in the morning, compared to the usual thirty to forty-five minutes...
  ▸ Do your homework: We have all been there... "I need to print something out! I need to finish this homework! I need mom and dad to sign me a check!" Do these the night before! Waiting will only stress you out! What if the printer doesn't have ink, what if the homework takes up more time, what if your parents left before you got up? Get everything done ahead of time. Don't wait.

#4. Check the Weather
  ▸ Rain can throw your day off: Do you need your rain boots? Umbrella? Rain jacket? Make sure you're prepared by checking the weather the night before so you can prepare accordingly. You might even have to leave earlier...

#5. Enjoy your morning
  ▸ C'mon! You woke up early! Now you have all this time! Don't you think you deserve one episode on Netflix? Or ten more minutes in the shower? Reward yourself and enjoy the rest of your day!