One of my favorite parts of the “How I Structure My Day” series is hearing how people manage their mornings. So, I asked my Instagram community for their morning tips, too – and here they are!
Before we get to the good stuff…
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Breakfast for you first
“Honestly our biggest win was realizing I need to eat breakfast first 😂 When I do, everything feels 100x easier.”
Tech, songs and/or lists to keep things moving
“Alexa reminders for brushing teeth and getting shoes on help us make sure we stay on time!!! Also, no morning Tv is a hard rule.”
“We use automated reminders broadcast through our home speakers that gently prompt the kids at each step of the morning: when to start getting dressed, head down for breakfast, start wrapping up, and head out the door. We also have a lamp on a timer in the dining room that turns off when it’s time to leave. They’re nice auditory/visual nudges that keep all of us on track... Sometimes :D. We use Google; we added mini speakers to bedrooms and kids bathroom, hubs in shared spaces, and smart switches over time. We set it up so it’s the Google voice reading aloud the prompt we set up. E.g., ‘KiddoName1 and KiddoName2, it is time to get dressed,’ ‘KiddoName1 and KiddoName2, it is time to leave for school soon.’ One also has a daily medication that needs to be taken at the same time, so we also have a reminder for the household for that medication. It’s using the Google-specific speakers/hubs, and the Google Home app on our phone.”
“I play the song Put On Your Shoes by the Jubilee Players at 7am every day. Because, well, that’s when my children need to put on their shoes to get to school on time. That playlist also contains Time to Leave by Rich Robinson and Get in the Car by Echo and the Bunnymen. If anyone knows how to make an iPhone play these automatically in a set time, I would love to know.”
A response from another woman: “I’m pretty sure you can set up an automation in the shortcuts app on your phone to have them play at a set time as long as you have them purchased in Apple Music not Spotify!”
A response from another woman: “You can choose a song to be your alarm ‘tone’ so long as it’s in your Apple library (old school iTunes).”
“When kids were younger and didn’t understand the concept of time, I had a four song playlist every morning. They quickly learned by the third song where they needed to be in their routine. It got so we listened to the final song in the car bc it sped up the morning so much.”
“I have a timer on my phone for the night before called ‘get ready for the morning’ I make it ring early before they get too tired. The kids hear the timer and they start their preparation (put out uniform, water bottles, charge Chromebooks etc).”
“These hacks are perhaps specific to my life with a 3.5 year old who loves reading digital clocks and getting to use my phone, but: I made a checklist in Notes for all the things that the family needs to get done in the morning and every time any of us does one, kiddo gets to check it off, which he’s obsessed with. We also have some tasks pegged to times (e.g., coats and shoes on at 7:50) and we ask kiddo to go look at the clock and tell us what time it is and what we have to do. So he gets to use a skill he’s proud of (reading the clock) and also gets us to boss us around. These two shifts have reduced morning power struggles to nearly 0.”
“We have two kinds of checklists with everything folks need to do to get ready (and one that has sliders to check it off for ADHD satisfaction). Now the language is ‘where are you on your checklist?’ It gives them the autonomy they crave.”
“The routines in skylight calendar have change our lives the last two weeks since I got it. Turns out my kids are equally excited as I am to check things off a list 😂”
Weather Appropriate Clothing
“I made a ‘what’s appropriate clothing to wear at what temperature’ thermometer. Each morning they look at the weather on my phone, see the temp, and then point to the corresponding 10 degree block on the 2’ tall color coded thermometer on the side of the bookshelf. There are pictures of them wearing what’s appropriate for each temp. It takes me out of the clothing choosing and we no longer yell about what is acceptable to wear on a given day.”
Remembering Items for School
“I have recurring morning calendar invites for whatever special things we need to bring to school that day. (Library books, spelling words, etc)”
Keeping Things Handy
“[K]id socks by the door family.”
“We moved socks to the front door shoe rack. Life saver.”
“Sock and hair drawer by the back door”
“We have a sock bag by the door and toothbrushes both upstairs and downstairs.”
“Bringing all my kids’ (4 and 2) clothes, toothbrushes, etc downstairs and getting them ready in our basement playroom. Totally neutralizes the whining 😂”
One woman’s response: “I just wanna know….are everyone’s kids except mine actually brushing their teeth in the morning? We have to be out the door at 6:45am to get to school on time so the are just night brushers for now”
A response from another woman: “Same. Sometimes we also brush our teeth while in the bathtub. We have extra to brush in the morning downstairs.., but it honestly doesn’t happen.”
A response from another woman: “We have to leave really early too. We keep extra toothbrushes downstairs. They brush while I help them with their hair. It’s definitely a rush though but we found the 2 minutes by combining tasks and not having to run back upstairs to brush.”
A response from another woman: “We brush downstairs as the last thing we do before walking out the door. It’s one less thing in the ‘getting dressed’ routine upstairs and everyone is fully awake by that point.”
“Keeping hairbrush, toothbrush and toothpaste in the downstairs bathroom so we don’t have a trip upstairs after breakfast. We used to also bring clothes downstairs but now my daughter gets dressed on her own before coming down 🙌”
“We’re fortunate to have a larger laundry room/mud room. I bought a dresser for it that contains all of the in season kids clothes. They are able to grab their clothing without another trip upstairs and its been incredible.”
“Bible study and bible live on the breakfast table with art supplies.”
“When I am folding laundry on Sunday night, I set aside a week’s worth of clothing for my elementary age son. They stay on the main level, and he can easily grab them for himself. Does it mean he is wearing the same thing every week? Yes. Do I care? No 😊”
The "rule" that changed everything:
“We have rule that upstairs things (get dressed, brush hair, brush teeth, make bed, etc.) have to happen before you can come downstairs (breakfast, shoes, backpack, etc). Cuts down on the time going back and forth and helps them practice sequencing/executive functioning.”
“My kids go to the ‘magic carpet’ once they’ve got boots/coats on and they can’t leave it — thank you @busytoddler for this tip, it works so well.”
A response from another woman: “I did this with the bottom 2 stairs in the hall by the door. It helped with twin toddlers but saved my sanity when baby sister was added in a few years later.”
Breakfast made easier:
“We made a section in the pantry and the fridge for ‘choose your own breakfast’. Took me out of the breakfast making daily and also let my kids know what was breakfast appropriate even if the actual food items rotate.”
“I get up well before the kids and put out everything we need for breakfast (plates, vitamins, etc.) so that once they come downstairs all we have to do is get the food out and eat. It’s really doesn’t take that long to do all that, but having it all set up and now ahead of time, really streamline in the morning process for some reason lol!”
“We eat the same breakfast every week day. Makes it simple and easy.”
“Writing down breakfast & lunch on a post it... Makes it quicker to grab.”
“Once a month I bulk freeze fruit/veggie base for smoothies in large mason jars. Thaw in the fridge overnight and blend with Greek yogurt = few days of smoothies ready to go. Also bulk bake mini muffins. Freeze on a rack and then put in gallon ziplocs. Lastly, and this will probably make coffee purists cringe, I make my coffee for the whole week on Sunday nights. Keep in a mason jar in the fridge and heat up in breville frother with milk of choice. Can set the temp exactly where you want and is helpful for the mornings when you reheat 4 times.”
“I light candles for the breakfast spread to try to encourage good moods.”
Lunch packing hacks:
“For school lunches I have little strips of paper with lunch box ideas written on them (strawberries, cut up cucumbers, etc). The kids get out their lunch boxes and put the paper strips in their lunchbox. I make the lunches the next morning but it’s super quick since the guesswork is taken out of it.”
“PBJ and Meat and Cheese sandwiches freeze well! Make 3-4 loaves of them at a time for easy lunch packing!”
“I let go of trying to pack homemade lunches. They never got eaten, lunch bags were always gross, I was always frustrated. I threw out the lunch bags and cleared out a cupboard for ready-to-go snacks (apple sauce pouches, crackers, fruit leather, etc). Same thing in the fridge - we have a drawer for cheese strings, apples, yogurt cups, etc. I bought a huge pack of brown paper lunch bags and disposable cutlery. I also keep a stack of paper plates in the plate cabinet. My kids are happy grazing on snacks all day. Nothing gets gross or lost. It has changed my life.”
“Pre-packing the week’s worth of school lunches on Sunday night.”
“My coworker and I share lunches. We each bring four lunches for the week and trade two. It’s SO great!”
Getting dressed (or… not):
“I used to have my toddler sleep in her clothes for the next day instead of PJs because she’d meltdown every morning about what to wear. Was a game changer!”
“Younger kids sleep in their clothes for the next day! Nothing mind blowing but it helps (mostly).”
“I have a kid who is so slow getting dressed in the mornings… so he gets dressed for the day the night before. He’s actually the one that came up with that system and I just ran with it.”
“50% of the time, my 2 year old doesn’t get dressed until he gets to school - then we park, put on clothes and brush hair. Some fights are just not worth fighting to get out the door😂”
Night-before prep:
“Our morning starts the night before. Bookbags prepped with snacks, empty water bottles on the table ready for water in the morning, clothes laid out. I ask what they want for breakfast so everything is prepped for that too (pancakes stuff, or cereal etc). I check the weather for next day (cause it’s bipolar here in Cleveland) to make sure their shoes and jackets are appropriate for the weather and lay those out too. Hairbrush and hair ties ready to go. We wake up at 7:30am and are fed, brushed and ready to head out the door by 7:55am. Mine are twins 6 yo.”
“We have to be out the door at 5:30am for 6:30am ice time on Fridays for hockey... I literally put his gear, water bottle, and portable breakfast in the car the night before. Nothing perishable. Everything sealed in a container. We get up at 5:20 and walk out the door at 5:30. 😂”
“Not a morning tip but we have one drawer in our bathroom for our nighttime routine. Everyone’s vitamins, allergy meds, face wash and we just work through everything in the drawer.”
“Shoes and leash and poop bags by the dog if you have a puppy. Umbrella outside just in case and pee pad in front of the door. Pj pockets and jacket pockets already lined with treats. lol”
The "let them figure it out" approach:
"My strategy is two fold. First, have fairly low standards. E.g. they don't have to get out the door to school with braided hair, perfectly unwrinkled clothes. This works well with the second part of the strategy, which is to support them doing as much as possible with zero involvement from me. I know this won't work for everyone, and I just happened upon this strategy by chance. My partner works from home and when I was returned-to-office, I left the house daily while the kids were just getting up. So they were all forced to figure things out on their own, and he is not the type to jump in and figure things out for the kids/do things for them that they can do themselves. My kids were 8/9ish and 10/11ish when that happened. Now, they get ready themselves and figure out systems for themselves that work for them. They miss the bus maybe 1-2 times a year. Otherwise they manage to get themselves up, dressed, backpacks packed and lunches made, on their own. The youngest kiddo's hair is probably a mess and I just pray she is brushing her teeth before she heads out the door."
That’s it for now!
Share any additional tips in the comments. And thank you to the women who shared – this is a helpful look into how to make mornings easier, and it’s all because of your generous shares. Thank you.
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I’m Kelly Nolan, an attorney-turned-time management strategist and mom of two. After experiencing overwhelm as a young patent litigator in Boston, I figured out a time management system to help me show up in the ways that I wanted to at work and at home – without requiring my brain to somehow magically remember it all. I now teach other professional working women how to manage their personal, family, and career roles with less stress and more calm clarity using realistic time management strategies. My system, the Bright Method, has been featured in Bloomberg Businessweek, and my work has been published in Forbes, Fast Company, Business Insider, and more.
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