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As you get ready for back to school, consider how you can set yourself up for success this school year. It’s not only about your kids. It’s also about your needs and success as a working mom. Let’s face it. As a working mom, your morning routine can set you up for success or be a hurdle you must overcome Monday through Friday. I’m sharing tips to help working moms tweak and stick to a morning routine.
(If you need help with creating a morning routine, I’ve got you covered. Check out the Mompowerment blog on creating a morning routine.)
Consider what you want from your morning
Don’t simply get going in the morning. It’s not about getting through the morning routine. Consider what you want from your morning. Start the day on your terms as part of your morning routine.
Do you want a few sips of your coffee while it’s still hot before you interact with your family? Would it be helpful to start with a sense of calm? You could take a few minutes to meditate or do a mindfulness exercise. Maybe start with some deep breaths, which can help with stress levels.
Do you want to squeeze in a workout to help you get the blood pumping? Or even take a shower to wake you up? Would journaling help you each morning? Do what’s needed to be at your best!
I start my day with a morning self-care check-in. I do a mental check to see how I’m feeling and make adjustments (often mental shifts) to set myself up for success for the day. It’s a small moment with a big impact.
Consider what your family needs from you in the morning
Let’s start with your significant other. Do you both need a moment of connection before the kids get up? You could have your coffee together or do a home workout as a team. Especially if you feel like you run out of time each day, it’s could be helpful to get this connection in each day in the morning.
Do your kids do better when they get an extra morning cuddle when they get up? Do they need some positive vibes flowing their way because they’re not morning people? Maybe make a fun playlist to get everyone into the right mood. It’s not only about what you need that impacts your morning and routine. Knowing others’ expectations of you could impact the start of your day, so factor this in as you create your morning routine.
Bonus tip. Especially with young kids, sometimes you need to get kids into the school mindset before you leave the house. We bought something from Dollar Tree that helped our boys practice letters at home in the morning when they attended preschool. It helped them shift to the idea that it was almost school time and they were ready when we arrived at school instead of having to make that mindset shift at drop-off. It helped avoid tears and a whole lot of mommy guilt too since drop-off was so easy. Even having your child do a coloring book first thing or practice his/her name could help.
Step away from your phone
This is something I share in my workshops. Want to maximize your time in the morning and have a better morning routine? Step away from your phone. By engaging your phone, you’re letting others’ needs (outside of your home) impact your morning time. Whether reading the headlines on your phone or responding to an email, you let others impact how you start your day. Focus on setting yourself up for success upfront and rock that morning routine. Chances are that most of these things can wait.
Decide how your morning needs to flow
Does it work better to get dressed before you wake up kids? Do you need to start your coffee before anything else? Better to jump in the shower first or wake up kids first to give them time to actually wake up? These decisions impact your morning routine. Think about how you want things to flow as you start your day. Consider your natural energy and rhythms as well as those of your family. What works better for you and your household?
Use the night before
Having a morning routine that sets you up for success isn’t only about the morning. Strategically using the night before can really help.
- Get backpacks or baby bags ready. Put any snacks that don’t require refrigeration into the bags/backpacks. Our boys grab their snacks when they empty their lunch boxes. When our boys were still in diapers, we labeled all the diapers in the whole box and put those in the boys’ bag each night when they were little. That was one less thing to do each morning as we were trying to get out the door.
- Get work stuff ready. Make any hard copies of anything you might need for work if you’re back in the office or heading to a meeting in person. That also means you won’t have tech issues to trip you up in the morning. Talk about stressful!
- Lay out clothes. This is especially helpful for really young children who might have recently started having an opinion on what they wear. Provide input on “special” days ahead of time (e.g., picture day at school or the first really cold day of the year). You can lay out your stuff too since changing outfits can take up valuable morning time.
- Get stuff ready for the next step. Put stuff out and together and ready for the next step (e.g., lunch box and containers on the counter). This way you’re not searching for items in the morning.
- Prep whatever you can. Can you prep anything for lunch the night before? Some working moms prepare entire lunches and put them in the fridge overnight. I don’t, but I might wash fruit to speed up the process.
Create systems
I often say that work-life balance isn’t generally about a formulas, but you can create formulas and systems in some specific areas. These systems make managing all the things work better. Remember, you want many elements of your morning routine to become habits. The helpful thing about habits is that they require little thinking so that you have the mental space when things do come up.
- Have a place for everything. Put items that need to go with you by the door or always in the same place. For us, all our kids’ items like shoes and backpacks go in the mudroom. That way you’re not looking for them the morning of and not wasting precious time. It’s annoying one day if this is the case, but you start losing time if you’re looking for things over and over.
- Create a lunch formula. I include an entree, which is usually a sandwich, bagel with yogurt, pasta, or pizza. I include 3 kinds of fruit or vegetables or a fruit salad for our boys. And I also include a small treat, which they can have after they eat the rest of their lunch. I can switch things up without having to recreate the lunch plan since I use this consistent formula for what they get. And it’s pretty healthy and filling for them. If your kids are old enough to make their own lunch, consider putting all their stuff together in the fridge so it’s easy for them to find/choose options.
- Consistent options for breakfast. Don’t recreate breakfast options each day. Have a selection of options during the week. Some moms I know have created a weekly breakfast menu as part of their meal planning, so kids know what to expect. Leave new options or ones that take a lot of time for the weekend.
What tools can help?
Tools can help you make the most of your morning routine. And those tools can be anything you can imagine. This is really based on you and your family’s specific needs. I’m sharing a few options, some of which we use in our home:
- A timer or alarm can help. Your oven timer can indicate when it’s time to go or give a 5-minute warning (or whatever time interval works for you.)
- Consider a coffeemaker with a timer. If you drink coffee each morning, is it time to get a coffee maker with a built-in timer you set the night before? That way it’s already starting when you get up. It’s one less thing to think about, but you get the benefit of having your morning coffee.
- Label everything. I’m talking diapers (use a permanent marker for this), water bottles, and food containers (my favorite stick-on labels are Mabel’s Labels (please note this is an affiliate link). I like the TagMates, but really any of the labels stick on everything, even after being in the washing machine or dishwasher.
How can you partner with your significant other?
My husband and I divide and conquer in the morning. We each have our roles related to getting breakfast or lunch ready. One of us wakes up the kids. My husband often takes morning carpool duty since he generally can’t help with afternoon pick-up. I know of couples who have one parent do the morning and one parent do the evening routine with their kids. Decide what works for you as a couple.
Empower your kids
It’s not only about you and your significant other making it all happen in the morning. Your kids can help. It’s a matter of what they can take on. I’ve got a few suggestions:
Your kids can be the ones to get their stuff ready the night before. As I mentioned, my boys get their backpacks ready when they get home from school. They also empty out their lunchbox so we can wash and get their containers ready for lunch the next day. The carrot I dangle to get their help is that emptying their lunchbox is tied to their getting a treat at lunch.
If you have younger kids, get them to help you as you walk out the door. Have your kids count the number of items. Growing up, our boys knew they had to remember 4 things: backpack, lunch box, snack, and water bottle. If you’re wondering when we started this, we started at age 4. It was a huge help when they were young. So thankful for that great tip from one of our boys’ preschool teachers years ago. It can help kids learn accountability and responsibility in a small way.
At some point, kids can make their own lunches. Facilitate making this happen, so it requires very little from you. Ask for their preferences before you go to the grocery store for your weekly shopping. Put everything in a consistent place in the fridge so there is no question about what kids can use/take.
Think through solutions for your roadblocks
Is there a place where you stumble in your morning routine? Dig into the root cause of that challenge. Is it that your kids can’t find their shoes or consistently forget their water bottles? Is it that you run out of time for yourself? Don’t get a sip of hot coffee or tea? What causes these hiccups?
Think through solutions to their challenges. It might be that you need a system to help. It could be your flow is off. Actually take time to understand where things go off the rails and then look for solutions. It might be helpful to brainstorm with your family so you get their input upfront. You might also consider using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to help you. Check out the Mompowerment post from Sarah Dooley to get ideas in this area.
Give yourself grace on off days
We all have those off mornings when it feels like we’re herding cats. Don’t feel like you’ve failed, especially if you’re creating a new routine. Don’t get down if your kids leave things behind. Change takes time. And kids will learn their lessons over time too.
Hopefully, these tips will help decrease stress and start the day off with more calm or smiles for all. You can download my schedule template to help you create a schedule that works for you. You’ll also get access to other templates that will help you divide household and childcare duties with your partner at home and talk to your manager or senior leadership about changes at the office.
What does your morning routine look like? Do you have tips or steps that help with your school morning routine? I’d love to hear them in the comments.
