Surviving Public School: Simplifying Your Morning

So, you've managed to drag yourself out of bed at a reasonable time. Now what? How do you get through everything you need to do for the day in the time you have, and what exactly do you need to do in the mornings?

Get Up in Plenty of Time
This may sound like a no-brainer, but you need to work out your routine ahead of time and figure out how much time it will take you. That will tell you when you need to be up. If it turns out that it's something ridiculous like 4:00 AM, maybe it's time to rethink your routine a little bit.

Have a Devotional Time
This is the most important thing you can do to start the day off on the right foot. What I do is listen to worship music first thing in the morning, then just sit up in bed and work through my devotional process. If you do this, keep your supplies right on your nightstand so they are ready in the morning.

You can include a devotional book, journaling, scripture memory, prayer, or just reading the Bible. Keep it simple or do a lot. Do a fifteen-minute devotion or an hour-long devotion. Just do some kind of devotions in the morning to get your day going.

Consider Exercise
Now, I'm not saying that you need to go run five laps in the dark at 5:30 AM. What I am saying is that getting your body moving a little bit in the morning will help you wake up.

Since I do ballet, I have a routine of stretches and exercises that I go through in the morning to help me wake up and get my body stronger at the same time. You could just do some pushups and sit-ups, stretch, or do some yoga. It can be long or short, but some exercise will help you wake up in the morning if you've been feeling really groggy.

Quick Breakfast Ideas
Here are some breakfast ideas that are quick and easy:

• Toast with peanut butter or another nut butter
• Scrambled eggs with cheese
• Fruit and yogurt
• Smoothie, if you don't have younger siblings that could be woken up by the blender :)
• If you're really pressed for time, take a granola bar in the car with you

Packing Your Backpack
Make sure you leave enough time to carefully pack your backpack with everything that you will need for the day.

• Your planner
• Your homework
• Your pencil case
• A book, if you want
• Your phone/iPod
• Makeup for the girls if necessary
• Snack and water bottle
• Don't forget your lunch or lunch money and P.E. bag if you need it!

To Shower or Not to Shower?
Ah, the big question: should you shower in the morning or at night?

Answer: if you are a hopelessly groggy person in the morning, a shower can help wake you up. If you want to get up as late as possible, shower at night to save time. Personally, I shower at night, but do whatever works for you.

For Girls: Outfits, Hair, and Makeup
And...now for the girl stuff. Girls, we take even more time in the morning choosing what to wear and getting our hair and makeup perfect. So how can you make this less stressful?

• Choose your outfit the night before!! This will prevent early-morning drowsiness from causing you to go out of the house in something totally unwearable :)
• As for actually picking an outfit, make sure you consider the weather and your activities for the day before you pick one out.
• Do something quick with your hair: I would recommend that you wash it at night to save time. That way in the morning, you can just brush it or do a quick ponytail, braid, or bun.
• If you don't wear makeup, your routine will be that much easier. If you do wear makeup, try to keep it really simple.  This will different for different people; just make sure that you can do everything pretty quickly (i.e. if you're really bad at eyeliner, don't wear it to school, but if you can throw some on pretty quickly it's fine). And remember that natural is beautiful!

I hope that these tips help you with getting ready quicker and making your mornings more relaxed!

What do you think? Do you like these tips? Are there any of your own that you would add?