Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.
Speaker 1: Good Morning. This is Laura, Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Speaker 1: Today's tip is going to sound a little counterintuitive. Don't
Speaker 1: move too much of your morning getting ready routine to
Speaker 1: the night before. It sounds smart to make lunches and
Speaker 1: layout outfits, but in the grand context of time, I'm
Speaker 1: not sure it is. Over the years, I've been interviewed
Speaker 1: for many articles on shaving time off morning routines. People
Speaker 1: have to get ready for work or school most mornings,
Speaker 1: and so being able to compress the routine sounds like
Speaker 1: a great way to save time and sleep later. Inevitably,
Speaker 1: other experts will suggest doing things the night before, prepping lunches, bags, breakfasts, outfits, whatever.
Speaker 1: This is often presented as a time saving technique. But
Speaker 1: here's the thing. This doesn't save time. Minutes at night
Speaker 1: are just as real as minutes in the morning. When
Speaker 1: you do stuff the night before, you don't save time.
Speaker 1: You just spread you're getting ready over the night and
Speaker 1: the morning too, And in fact, you'll probably spend more
Speaker 1: time getting ready. Because all activities have transaction costs. To
Speaker 1: lay out your outfit at night requires two clothing events.
Speaker 1: One to pick out the outfit at night and another
Speaker 1: in the morning to put it on, Whereas if you
Speaker 1: just get dressed in the morning, you've only had one
Speaker 1: clothing event. Similarly, making lunches the night before means you've
Speaker 1: gone into the kitchen to do that. Then you'll likely
Speaker 1: go in the kitchen in the morning to to make breakfast.
Speaker 1: Why not combine the two if you plan to make
Speaker 1: lunches and throw something together while your eggs are cooking
Speaker 1: or your coffee is brewing. This is straightforward enough, but
Speaker 1: I think there's a deeper downside to spending time getting
Speaker 1: ready the night before. It often makes us feel like
Speaker 1: we have no free time, or else it pushes bedtime later.
Speaker 1: A lot of people spend time getting ready for the
Speaker 1: morning after their kids go to bed, but this could
Speaker 1: be time to read or relax or do something else
Speaker 1: you like. We all like to read or relax, And
Speaker 1: if you go through a whole routine of morning prep,
Speaker 1: you'll start the reading and relaxing later in order to
Speaker 1: get enough me time to feel satisfied. You'll stay up later,
Speaker 1: and then your morning will start off on the wrong
Speaker 1: foot because you didn't get enough sleep, or else you
Speaker 1: won't be able to get up a little bit before
Speaker 1: your family to exercise or journal or something else you'd
Speaker 1: really like to do. Perhaps it would be better to
Speaker 1: get enough sleep and get ready in the morning when
Speaker 1: you're actually you know, getting ready in the morning. Now,
Speaker 1: I know that mornings can be chaotic. Longtime listeners know
Speaker 1: I have four school aged children, so I know they
Speaker 1: can be chaotic, which maybe one reason people move stuff
Speaker 1: to the night before. If you have to hunt for
Speaker 1: shoes the night before, you go to bed late or
Speaker 1: cut unto leisure time, Whereas if you hunt for shoes
Speaker 1: in the morning, you might be late to school or work,
Speaker 1: and this has more obvious consequences. But rather than moving
Speaker 1: things to the night before, it might be wise to
Speaker 1: for ways to simplify. Do you really need to make lunches?
Speaker 1: My kids buy school lunch and it works great for us.
Speaker 1: It's gotten a lot healthier and better in recent years.
Speaker 1: Do your kids need to lay out their outfits? Why?
Speaker 1: If they're old enough to dress themselves, then this probably
Speaker 1: doesn't need to involve you. You can control what comes
Speaker 1: into the house, but once it's there, this can be
Speaker 1: a matter of personal expression. As for your own outfits,
Speaker 1: why not pare down your wardrobe to a smaller number
Speaker 1: of outfits that you know fit and are flattering than
Speaker 1: anything you pull out in the morning will be an
Speaker 1: excellent choice rather than pack bags at night, Maybe you
Speaker 1: just don't ever unpack them. I have one person a
Speaker 1: neutral color that always has my stuff in it. My
Speaker 1: kids homework is either in their backpacks or actively being done.
Speaker 1: There is no place else to hunt for it. Their
Speaker 1: shoes and coats are also always in the mudroom. By
Speaker 1: simplifying the get out the door process, we by which
Speaker 1: I mean I don't have to spend my pressure, is
Speaker 1: free time the night before getting ready for the morning. Now,
Speaker 1: I'm guessing of all the episodes Before Breakfast I've recorded,
Speaker 1: I'm going to hear from the most people about this one.
Speaker 1: I bet a lot of people swear that spending time
Speaker 1: getting ready the night before is key to a better morning,
Speaker 1: or even that it saves some time. So feel free
Speaker 1: to use a stop watch and let me know. I'd
Speaker 1: love to hear from you. You can reach me at
Speaker 1: Before Breakfast podcast at iHeart Media dot com. I will
Speaker 1: be happy to do an episode on the reasons people
Speaker 1: do get ready the night before or the situations in
Speaker 1: which it might potentially save time. But I also want
Speaker 1: to share what works for me. I love that I
Speaker 1: get to spend my evenings relaxing or reading, and none
Speaker 1: of my kids missed the bus this year either. If
Speaker 1: you spend a lot of time at night getting ready
Speaker 1: for the morning, maybe you want to try pairing that
Speaker 1: back a bit and see how it goes in the meantime.
Speaker 1: This is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making
Speaker 1: the most of our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to
Speaker 1: here from you. You can send me your tips, your questions,
Speaker 1: or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook
Speaker 1: and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod that's B the number four,
Speaker 1: then Breakfast p o D. You can also shoot me
Speaker 1: an email at Before Breakfast podcast at iHeart media dot
Speaker 1: com that Before Breakfast is spelled out with all the letters.
Speaker 1: Thanks so much, I look forward to staying in touch.
Speaker 1: Before Breakfast is a production of I Heart Radio. For
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