Get Ready Quick: “Tips and Tricks” for Looking Professional in Minimal Time

Today we have a great guest post from Pammy of Pammy Blogs Beauty. Pammy has been a reader of my blog for a long time, and pretty recently she started her own site. She lives in the south with her adorable hubby and works as a Speech-Language Pathologist when not blogging about beauty!

Today Pammy is sharing with us her millions of tips to save time in the morning! I've been rushed in the morning for years, but will fully admit I have no where near as many tips for this as she does. As I'm about to end my maternity leave and head back to work, I'm definitely reading this list with great interest! -Christine


Are you in a hurry in the mornings? Does it always seem to be the “mad dash” to get out the door? Well, hopefully these tips that I have collected over the years will help streamline your routine and get you ready and “out the door” in minimal time!

Background:
I work in a casual, yet professional, environment. I feel more comfortable and confident when my look is pulled-together. I look very young for my age, and want to be taken seriously as a professional. So, we are talking styled hair, nice outfit, and jewelry (but don’t get me wrong, I want to be comfortable too! And, yes, I have pony-tail days too! ☺). That is quite a tall order for getting ready at 5:45/6:00ish in the mornings!

“Tips and Tricks”: Timesavers for getting ready Quick!

General: Do as much as you can the night before!
• Pick out your outfit in the evening. I have a hook on the back of the bathroom door where I hang my complete outfit. My husband is still asleep (and it is dark) in the am. So, it would be impossible to pick out clothes in the dark! I even lay out my shoes with the socks already inside.
• Pack your lunch the night before (I try to eat healthy; so, I always pack lunch).
• Pick out your color cosmetics the night before. Now, everyone might not need to do this. But, I get so distracted digging through my eye shadows in the mornings (because, LOL, I know I have too many). So, generally, I lay out a palette or some shadows that I know I want to use.
• Wash your hair in the evenings. This totally works for me. I shower after dinner and let my hair air dry about 90% while I relax at home. Right before bed I dry my hair the remaining 10% so that I don’t go to bed with wet hair and my hair gets some “style”. This minimizes the damage to your hair as it limits heat application. And, it is such a good feeling for me to get into bed “clean”. So, no rush to dry your hair in the mornings!
• Make the coffee! I don’t know about ya’ll, but I can’t live without my morning coffee!!! It is so worth it to make it ahead the night before and set the timer of the coffee pot. 5:45/6:00 comes too early in the morning, so having a hot pot ready when you wake up will help lure you out of bed. I also have a travel mug set out right next to the coffee maker so that I can drink one more cup on the way to work.

Weekly Items: Some of my “get ready” tasks are done once a week! This really cuts time in the mornings:
• Ironing: I generally do any ironing for the week on Sundays. I pick out, generally what I want to wear that week and iron what needs to be ironed (and thank God for drycleaners! If it’s a super busy week, I rely heavily on my dry cleaned items that are pressed and ready to go). I hang the outfits on hooks that I put up in my bedroom. The night before I just transfer one of those outfits from my bedroom hook to the one on the bathroom door. This may seem like a lot to do ahead of time, BUT, it makes getting dressed in the morning brainless and quick (and let me admit…I am pretty brainless before that coffee is kicks in!)
• Jewelry: Yes, I pick out my jewelry on a weekly basis. Sometimes I switch it up with a particular outfit. But, generally, what I pick out, I wear all week. I wear all silver jewelry or white gold, so everything “matches”. I have a little dish in my bathroom where I keep my “jewelry of the week”. So, when I get home from work and change into my comfy clothes, I just take of the day’s jewelry and lay it in the little dish for the next day. Easy-peasy!
• Lipgloss/Lipstick: While I love trying new colors and testing/reviewing new products (which is a whole separate post, and I have an area that I store my “test” products), for general day-to-day looks I like to select a lip color and gloss that I can wear all week. I keep that in my purse and I apply in the morning either at a stoplight (bad, I know!) or at my desk in the morning. I also keep backups at work of lipstick and lipgloss. Those GWP items are great to keep in the desk drawer!

Other random tips:
• “Grab and Go” breakfast items: I love Greek Yogurt, Quaker Oatmeal Breakfast squares, and frozen egg and cheese bisquits for those super early mornings (some days I have to be in earlier than others). On those days, I skip breakfast at home and either eat a breakfast bar in the car or heat up an egg biscuit at work to have while going through my morning emails.
• I referenced this in the tips above, but have a special little dish or jar in your bathroom for the primary purpose of setting your jewelry, eye shadows, or hair accessories in the night before. Minimizing your “digging around for things” in the morning will get you out the door faster!
• Keep your makeup organized. I keep all mine in Stearlite drawers in my bathroom sorted by category (Yes, I know, you are *not* supposed to keep cosmetics in the bathroom because of the moisture. So, I must state here that I get ready in a *different* bathroom than I shower.) I get ready in the hallway bathroom.
• Keep morning facial cleanser, SPF, eye cream, serums, and moisturizers organized together. Frequently used products should be right at the front for quick application.
• Keep work bag and purse together on a hook either by the front door or somewhere convenient to grab-and-go!
• Okay, I am going to sound like a “hook fanatic” but, we also have a key hook at our house that has all the car keys (so those are never misplaced).

• Mommy Tip: This one is from my friend Kara: she always has 3 baby bags pre-packed (one for each activity: gym, Grandma’s house and on-the-go). She keeps them on, yes, hooks! ;) and replaces or cleans used items right as needed. I am not a Mommy yet, but will totally be doing this once I am!

Using all these tips has me getting ready in under an hour in the morning. This gives me time to take a “rinse” shower (with shower cap), let the dog out, apply facial products, zone out with my coffee for a bit/read personal emails, get dressed, apply makeup, brush/style hair, and eat breakfast. All of that without any rush (rushing gets me stressed, and who wants to start their day with that!).

Hopefully these tips gave you some new ideas! I would love to hear yours as well, so feel free to comment below with your morning time-savers!

It has been a pleasure to guest-blog here for Christine! Feel free to stop by my blog sometime to visit: Pammy Blogs Beauty.
XOXO!



Pammy Blogs Beauty
I declare nothing other than a great blogging friend who wrote a post for me!