Inspired by a friend’s recent experience where she was kindly told that her skirt zip was still undone by the coffee shop owner amidst her mid-morning regime, I thought I would share a few tips I use to help get out of the house fully dressed and with my sanity in check.

With kids in tow, getting out of the house in the morning can be an arduous task.

Some days run swimmingly and others you seem to hit a hurdle whatever you are trying to accomplish.

To get out of the house with less stress and a smile on your face is similar to that of any good time management and follows these simple five steps:

1) Evaluate

Be realistic about what you can accomplish in the morning before leaving the house and determine if there are things you can either do the night before or readdress what time you get up to fit everything in.

If getting up 10 minutes earlier means you can breeze out the door rather than in a mad scramble with one shoe still off, surely that would feel a lot better and reduce your stress levels.

2) Plan ahead

Know what the next day is going to hold for you and the rest of your family and prepare for it as best you can.

This includes checking the weather forecast, getting your outfits laid out, paperwork and school bags together and next to your keys and bag (hopefully by the door).

You could even have your daily to do list already updated so you are clear on all the actions required for the next day.

3) Be Focused

There are always things that can be done either around the house or checking your emails/ facebook etc but keeping in mind what is required to get you out the house is key.

4) Communicate

Depending on how old your children are, this may or may not help.

My girls are three and four and they have come to appreciate knowing what the next day holds and what we will be doing.

This may be ‘Mummy has a really early meeting so we need to eat our breakfast and get dressed quickly in the morning’.

If your children are older, you might like to use a before school chart, so they can get themselves ready in their own way.

It also means communicating to my husband on who is walking the dog in the morning or who is on dinner duty and therefore needs to get something out to cook.

5) Be Flexible

Allow for the unexpected and give yourself a little buffer.

This allows for potential wet beds, kids indifference (I don’t want to wear ‘insert any clothing article here’, especially if you have girls) or any other little hurdle that may arise.

Knowing that you have allowed some time for this in your morning routine hopefully will mean that it won’t add stress and you can take it in your stride.

Job done! You can leave the house feeling calm and in control and ready to take on the day.

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