There’s some people out there who like to boast about how early they get up. People who say stuff like, ‘Oh I’m up at 6am every morning, the sun wakes me up naturally,’ and then smile glibly at how little stress there is in their perfect, perfect lives. Well, early risers, for starters, you can toss off, and secondly, maybe invest in a pair of curtains? An invention that’s probably been around in some form or other since a caveman first refused to get out of bed after a long night drinking dinosaur liquor.
Anyways, I’m not an early riser, I’m the opposite, and my theory that I’ve worked up over the years is that getting out of bed before you absolutely have to is actually the loser’s way out. Think about it: what’s a bigger challenge to start your day with – spending two hours picking an outfit, showering and changing before making a smoothie and catching the early train? Na mate, that’s easy, that is. What’s a real challenge is leaving everything to the last minute and giving yourself less than quarter of an hour to get everything ready for the day and still leave on time.
Here’s how to start the day like a winner…
The night before
Prep EVERYTHING. And I mean everything, right down to the pants you’re going to wear and what you need to take with you to work. There’ll be no time to think once you get out of bed so you’re going to have to do everything on autopilot. So, before you go to sleep, check the weather, fashion an outfit and fold it up on your bedroom floor in order of what you’re going to put on first. Pack any gym bags or lunches the night before and, if you’re still waiting for your sports bra to dry the night before, find another. There’s no way you’re going to remember to grab it off the clothes horse in the morning.
7:35AM: Snooze for 10 minutes
Actually very helpful when it comes to having your shit together. If you get out of bed when your alarm goes off you’ll still be half asleep and find it harder to stick to the routine. If you wake up ten minutes before you need to get up, you’ve got ten minutes to spend waking up and getting your game face on for the battle ahead.
7:45 AM: Jump in the shower
Make sure you and your housemates totally get when each others’ alotted-but-unspoken shower times are or this whole thing’s a write off. In fact that’s half the fun, if one thing goes wrong, everything goes wrong, so make sure it doesn’t. There’s a lot of things you can do in the shower to save time (which you’ve got exactly five minutes for BTW) – brush your teeth in the shower, moisturise in the shower (this stuff is king) and, depending on how long your hair takes to dry, wash your hair. Any difficult stuff like washing thick hair, shaving your legs or applying a facemask can wait until later. Don’t wee in the shower unless you live by yourself, in which case this is also a time-saving option.
7:50 AM: Dry off
It’s harder in winter when it’s freezing cold, but there’s no room here for gingerly patting yourself down and clutching the towel to yourself. Good hard rubs (lol) are needed, and you’ll be able to dry yourself off in 45 seconds.
7:51 AM: Beauty Stuff
Moisturise, wipe last night’s make up off, dry your (thin) hair by turning your head upside down and blasting it with a hairdryer. Don’t worry if it’s still a bit damp. Whatever you need to do, you’ve got four minutes, now, to get this done. Perfrom this stage naked, so you dry off more.
7:56 AM: Dress
Easily a 30-second job since you’ve already laid everything out, but we’ll give you a minute in case you’ve got a complicated bra.
7:57 AM: The hard make-up bits
Aka, the stuff that can’t be done on the train/tube/bus. Like liquid eyeliner, or mascara. Do all that stuff at home, the rest can wait. Have a minute for this.
7:58 AM: Relax
Have a breather, finish off the bits you haven’t finished before.
7:59 AM: out the door.
Any leftovers, plugging in your headphones, doing the easy bits of make up and/or eating breakfast can be done on the way to work or at work.
Congrats on being a winner.
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.