Karon L. Phillips

Morning! Some mornings I arrive to work as early as 7:00am. My friends have been calling me early bird but I honestly do not think I am. I can wake up early but I don’t jump out of bed and float around my house singing. Okay, maybe that’s a little dramatic version of an early bird. I normally wait until the last possible minute to get out the bed, and go into auto pilot.

Lately, I have learned and incorporated a few things that have helped me arrive early to work and ease into the day.

1. Preparing and packing breakfast and lunch on Sunday nights. I have been doing this for three weeks now and I can never go back. Cooking my meals was never the issue. Packing them up ahead of time so that they were ready to go was the challenge. Now, on Sunday nights I cook and put five meals for breakfast and five meals for lunch in containers. I also prepare and pack snacks like nuts and fruit. Keep in mind that I do not make complicated meals for breakfast and lunch. I want them to be tasty meals, but do not want spend a lot of time preparing them. Salads in jars and sandwiches are easy fixes (for sandwiches I would keep the bread separate and build the sandwich once you are ready to eat it). I love roasted veggies (especially broccoli) so I make a lot of that to supplement my main meal for lunch. I often make one pot meals and divide that up for the week.
   

   
2. Figuring out what I am wearing the night before, not in the morning. I have been investing in staples (solid dresses, pants, long skirts, etc) that I can just pull together without much thought. Some nights I may not decide exactly what I want to wear. I will, however, make sure that I know exactly where two to three options are and make sure they are hanging up so that I am not looking for them in the morning. I don’t even want to mention how many mornings, in that past, where I have thrown clothes all over the place trying to decide what to wear. I have a coworker that irons all her clothes on the weekends. I tip my hat to her.
3. Making my coffee/tea at work. I invested in an electric kettle and I love it. I also bring in water for the week. While I am heating up breakfast, I pour some water in my kettle and get ready for a warm cup of happiness. I’ve noticed that a lot of people have coffee makers in their offices. There are a few coffee shops in the area, but those are additional stops that add to your morning.
4. Packing any extra things I need at night. This seems intuitive but anytime I have a performance or any after work plans, I get all of those items together at night. Good time to get those deep water running clothes together. I also get any DSW coupons, grocery lists, etc together as well.
5. Getting a diffuser/warm light for my desk. I have a diffuser at home on my night stand and I read that having one in the office can help with energy levels. It definitely does. This one has a warm light and it has really helped on overcast days when sun can’t peak through.
6. Listening to a good playlist. Spotify understands me and creates the best playlists for me. They have quite a few playlists to get you going in the morning.

Love to hear if you have any additional tips!