How to Get Ready in 30 Minutes
If you are wondering how to get ready for work in 30 minutes, you might feel like you
- don’t have enough time in the morning.
- want to arrive earlier in the office or
- simply have a more relaxed commute by leaving home on time.
Or… maybe you just want to sleep a little more by needing less time to get ready. Highly recommend 😊💤
All of this is possible.
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In this post,
I will walk you through my steps for how to get ready in 30 minutes in the morning without stress and with a little bit of planning – as always. So you spend less time in the morning and more time where you choose.
Not what you were looking for? How about this ⬇️?
Maybe this seems familiar….
Oh noooo… It’s already (insert any time 20minutes after your regular alarm). Today is this special event. Do I have my blazer ironed?
I am out of coffee….
I didn’t print the report yet…
Where is my badge??
Sh*t.
I definitely need to shower still…
45-minutes later, rushed and somewhat put together, you sit in your car and hope you have a green wave, so you don’t miss the start of the meeting.
Not fun.
I have had long, chaotic mornings like those. They kind of derailed my whole day.
Now I have short calm ones, that save me stress and time.
All I needed: an effective morning routine. With that in place, I can get out of the house in 30 minutes without stress and with my ducks in a row.
The #1 Tip for Needing Less Time in The Morning
What are you currently doing 1-2 hours before you go to bed?
If you want to have a more efficient, smoother morning, you need to start your morning routine at night.
At night? Yep.
While I personally sometimes still struggle to put my own words into action, preparing at night before going to bed helps me be faster when I wake up.
I mean, it makes sense, right? Anything that takes up time in the morning, I just do at night. That way, I need less time to get ready for work, right?
Here is how I put this into action:
My tips for getting ready for work in the morning
Tip 1: Create an evening prepping ritual
I am just reiterating here. You need to get into the mindset that your morning starts when you go to bed. Set yourself up for success and try getting in the habit of prepping your morning.
For me, I try to go to bed at 10p.m. on days I don’t have any fun plans at night.
This means at around 9p.m. at the latest – but sometimes even right after I come home from work – I think about and prepare what I will need in the morning – clothes, food, snacks for work to share with coworkers, workout clothes, etc.
This night time ritual sometimes even becomes a screen-free way of slowing down in the evening.
Tip 2: Create a list of things to outsource for doing at night
Think about what holds you up in the morning? What takes time? Why did you Google “How to get ready in 30 minutes?” You are clearly taking more than 30, so find out why. Then identify what you could do at night instead.
For me, it is mainly 3 things:
1. Shower at night.
I have very long hair, and drying it alone takes 10-15 minutes. Also, I don’t like to rush with this, so between getting wet and getting dry, 30 minutes are gone.
2. Prep my food.
My office is in a food desert and is currently without a cafeteria. Consequently, I need to prep my food every day – otherwise, I go hungry, OR I will try to nourish my body with the Costco-sized bucket of M&Ms in my emergency hidden drawer.
3. Pack my bag with anything I may need for or right after work.
If I go to the gym right after work, I need my workout clothes packed. If I am going to a yoga class, I need to have my yoga mat with me. In case I want to stop by the Home Depot to return something for my DIY project at home, I need to have that packed.
Your list likely looks different than mine, depending on your lifestyle and family situation.
3. Stay focused
Now that we are only doing what’s really necessary in the morning, we need to just focus on those things and not get distracted if we want to get ready in 30 minutes.
This means, if you brush your teeth, brush your teeth. Don’t try to pack your bag while brushing your teeth. Switch-tasking, whether in the office or at home, slows the process down.
Here is a rough list of things I do in order in about 30 minutes.
- Drink a pint of water.
- Make coffee.
- Turn on MPR news.
- Wash my face.
- Get dressed.
- Do my hair and make-up.
- Make my bed.
- Get my meals from the fridge.
- Brush my teeth (after finishing my coffee).
- Check that I have everything.
- Get dressed for the outside world.
Leave.
4. Have a time queue e.g. MPR News
My 30-minute morning routine is roughly from 6:40a.m.-7:10a.m. . My bus leaves at 7:18a.m., so I have to leave the house at 7:10, if I don’t want to run.
What really helps me to stay within the 30-minute window is a time-queue right around 20minutes of getting ready – the “It’s seven-oh-one and the news is next” announcement from MPR news. This lets me know I have about 10 more minutes before I need to be out of the house.
I have a running watch with a timer on it. So, that’s an option too. Or a kitchen timer for that matter.
Something organic, like listening to the radio or music of a specific length, is a little bit more natural than a timer.
For example, a friend of mine once shared that she times her showers by listening to the “All too well – 10-minute version”. Whatever works for you 😉
No matter what it is, I recommend having some sort of time queue. This keeps you on track while you’re getting ready because your inner clock is not perfect.
5. Practice – a habit takes 60 days to form
Remember that it takes about 60 days to build a real habit. This also goes for a morning routine that starts at night.
You don’t have to do it perfectly. I don’t either. Currently, I am writing this at 9:24p.m. and I do not have my meals in containers for tomorrow morning. But I did last night for today’s work day.
So, baby steps.
Getting ready in 30 minutes might be a challenge at first, especially if you currently take more than an hour in the morning.
You’ll get there. I hope this helped.
With clarity,
Susann
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