Not everyone has time in the morning to pick out an outfit, handcraft a delicious breakfast, painstakingly tend to a pour-over coffee, and rifle through the newspaper for the day’s pertinent news.
In fact, forget time – who has the energy?
If you’re a busy professional who needs to fly out the door to make that first-of-the-day meeting in a rush, you don’t have time or energy to do things the old-fashioned way.
Luckily, there are hacks you can use to streamline your morning without losing any enjoyment.
Here are a few (chronological) tips for a perfect morning ritual.
1. Wake Up with the Right App
The old “alarm and snooze button” combo might work for some, but if you’re busy, you need a more systematic approach.
Several sleep apps exist to help you get the right amount of sleep, wake up at an opportune time, and avoid that dreaded snooze button.
Sleep monitoring apps like SleepScore and Sleep Cycle (both Wirecutter Top Picks) track your unique nighttime cycle to wake you up at the opportune time in the morning, which cuts down on grogginess.
And alarm apps like Alarmy and Early Bird allow you to configure your morning alarms to ensure you wake up (some feature puzzles or “missions” you have to complete for the alarm to stop ringing).
2. Order a Lightning-Quick Breakfast Delivery
You don’t have time to make a delicious breakfast. You don’t have time to wait in line at a café.
And you certainly don’t have time to wait for lengthy food deliveries. What do you do?
After you tap “stop” on your alarm, and before you hop in the shower, order from a food delivery platform that promises food delivery in 30 minutes or less.
This way, you know exactly when to expect that breakfast sandwich or yogurt bowl to arrive.
And when it does arrive, you know it will be hot and fresh. Few platforms can make this promise, but some – like getREEF, linked above – deliver in under a half-hour each time.
3. Head Toward the Timed Coffee Maker
After you’ve placed your delivery order, it’s time to shakily saunter over to the coffee machine for that morning pick-me-up.
However, making coffee takes time, which is why it’s ideal to own a timed coffee maker.
Timed coffee makers let you pre-set a brewing time the evening before, load the basket with grounds, and expect a reliable cup of coffee, hot and ready, the next morning.
4. Sign Up for a Daily Newsletter
Flipping through a book’s worth of pages in the newspaper to find relevant information is tedious and time-consuming.
Instead, sign up for a daily newsletter from your favorite publication to get the day’s most pressing stories.
This Coolist article offers their picks for the best daily newsletters to keep you in the loop, including several free options.
With your breakfast ready at your door, your coffee ready in the pot, and a list of the day’s salient news items on your phone, you’re ready to greet the day in record time!