Mornings can be a manic part of the day (understatement of the year!) especially when you have kids!

I am not a natural morning person. I like the idea of getting up with the lark and doing a bit of morning yoga, but I came to conclusion a while ago that mornings were never going to be my forte!  Throw in three kids – one of whom is a slap bang in the middle of the terrible twos – and you have all the ingredients for a Manic Monday, Terrible Tuesday, Woeful Wednesday … you get the idea!

Despite not being at my best in the morning (my husband knows not to talk to me until I have had my first cup of caffeine!) I am also extremely aware that getting a head start on the day ahead is hugely beneficial to my sanity. If I am able to tick some things off my list within the first hour of waking up then I feel calmer for the rest of the day and I won’t be chasing my tail until tea time!

Here are my top tips to maximise your mornings! 

• Put a load of laundry in the washing machine the night before. Then when you wake up all you need to do is hit start on the washing machine and by the time you are ready to leave the house it is finished and ready to be dried. This means you can get one of the every day jobs done really early in the day!
• Make sure everything is put away from the night before. This is crucial. In order to start the day calm, you need to ensure that you are not on the back foot. So before you go to bed, do a quick check. No dishes left out in the kitchen. Clean surfaces. Put the dishwasher on … all ready to go for the morning.
• Get everything ready for the next day the night before. Make sure you have clean clothes ready. If you have kids then make sure that their uniforms/book bags are sorted. Put the non perishable items ready in lunchboxes – so all you need to do is make up a fresh sandwich in the morning.
• Set your alarm 30 minutes before the chaos starts. This is a total game changer! My kids get up around 7am. So I set my alarm for 6:30am – I literally have to DRAG myself out of bed at this time! However the extra 3o minutes gives me time to have a shower and cup of tea in peace. This is so much more useful to me than an extra half an hour in bed, as it means I can get some headspace before the madness starts.
• Have easy go to breakfasts. This one is self explanatory, you need fuss free food when you are up against it. Overnight oats are a really good one to try!
• Put a routine in place and stick to it! Our weekday mornings are the same EVERY SINGLE DAY! We all know what happens when and it saves so much time (and angst!!). We have been following it for so long that we run a bit like a well oiled machine. We eat at 7:30am, the kids get dressed at 8 and we are out of the door by 8:30am.
• Work backwards. Start with the time you need to leave the house, list all the jobs you need to do, work out how long each will take (be realistic!!) – pop on another 15 minute contingency for unexpected events (like a poonami!) and that is the time you need to get up!   Don’t expect to get up at 8 and leave unflustered at 8:30am!