14 Time Management Tips To Get You Out Of The House On Time.

Are you the type of person who is always late getting ready in the mornings; always late leaving the house? It doesn’t matter what the reason is, something always happens to make you late.

Are you one of those people who only remembers the car keys when you’re stood outside your car rummaging through your pockets or handbag? The type of person who leaves the house, only to find you forgot to pick up some much needed item or you forgot to turn the lights off?

Such traits are common to many. How many of us for example spend our mornings rushing around the house trying to get ourselves, the kids, the husband, ready in time for the bus, the train or the shops? How many times do we find ourselves returning to the house to pick up some important paperwork for a meeting, or even our wallet or purse?

In this post I list 14 practical tips that I hope will help you beat the habit of forgetfulness and always be out of the house on time, every time. The secret of course is to prepare in advance.

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1. If you take a packed lunch to work or school, make it the night before and leave it in the fridge.
2. Prepare your briefcase or school/shopping bag with everything you’ll need the next day and leave it by the coat hanger.
3. Have a dedicated place where you keep your house and car keys. Whenever you return home, immediately return them to their designated place so you’ll always know where they are.
4. If you recharge your cell phone overnight, plug the charger in next to where you keep the keys. Then when you pick up the keys, you’ll remember the phone as well.
5. Decide what you’ll wear the night before and lay them out in readiness.
6. Roughly time what you’ll need to do the following morning and set your alarm clock to allow for this time. Include hitting the snooze button if you must – but only once.
7. Always set your alarm clock to the correct time. There’s a myth that adding an extra 10 or 15 minutes to your alarm clock will gain you time and avoid you getting up late - but it doesn’t work.
8. Put your alarm clock on full volume (unless it disturds the neighbours) and place it a good distance away from the bed, so you’ll be forced to get up and turn it off.
9. Avoid using your cell phone as your alarm clock – when you do it’s actually easier to forget.
10. Plan entering the bathroom when it is least used.
11. When having a shower, use an egg timer set to 3 minutes to time your shower. When the timer goes off, you know to finish your shower.
12. For men, wet shave once or twice a week when you have time to spare, and use an electric shaver the other times. Shave as you walk.
13. For women, choose your make-up in advance and leave them out in readiness.
14. If you drink coffee, put the kettle on a soon as you go downstairs and whilst waiting for it to boil, get on with pouring out the cereal and making a final check that every thing’s ready for when you leave. Coffee’s best made with hot, not boiling, water so don’t worry if the kettle stops boiling before you’re ready.

Ideally eating your breakfast should be the very last thing you do before leaving the house. Everything you need should be ready in advance and by following these tips you will be better prepared to leave the house on time, every time.

If you have any other hacks to beat the morning rush, let us know below.

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