Mornings are chaotic. I can’t imagine a home where mornings are not chaotic. I’ve always been baffled when I watch sitcoms and everyone is dressed, perky, and eating a full hot breakfast complete with eggs, bacon, fruit, and toast. Yeah, my home is definitely not like that. It used to look more like the Amazing Race until I implemented a new system to help things run more smoothly. You can easily save yourself 30 minutes in the morning. Just think…HOT coffee.

Put clothes out the night before.

Everyone! Saves 5-10  minutes. I’m sure many people already do this, but if you don’t, I highly recommend it. I would find myself just staring at my closet for 10 minutes, often saying, “No not that, I don’t want to iron.”

Make lunches the night before.

Saves 15 minutes. If you know me, you know I cannot stand making school lunches. I actually have a countdown and I do a cartwheel after I make my last set of lunches for the school year. Washing all the tiny containers every night drives me crazy, but in the morning they’re all ready to go. Just toss them in the backpacks.

All homework and papers in the backpack the night before.

Saves 2 minutes. Once homework is finished EVERYTHING for the next day goes in the backpack.

No screens or breakfast until you’re dressed.

Saves you from repeating yourself a zillion times “get dressed!” Okay so this one takes getting used to for the kids, but after a couple of weeks it’s like clockwork. I’ve been using this rule for the past 3 years and it has done wonders!

Easy breakfast choices.

Cereal, fruit and granola bar, frozen waffles. All simple and most kids can do it themselves.

Set a time for shoes and teeth.

At 8:00AM my kids know it’s shoes and teeth time. TV gets shut off and we get moving. It gives us plenty of time to find a missing shoe if need be. We are out the door at 8:15.

Just a few easy tweaks for your morning will make you feel like you have a tiny bit of control. What are some of your morning routine tips that help you get out the door on time, kids in tow?