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Original poster

How much time do you designate to getting ready in the morning?

79 replies

FigitBit · 18/02/2022 19:30

I feel like since Covid I just don’t fit any time for me to get ready into the mornings, basically I’ve been WFH and as I had a 1 year old when Covid started I was finding it stressful to get myself ready as toddler was running riot so I have literally got out the habit of getting ready & just chuck on a pair of jeans Blush

I need to change this. Feeling crap about myself.

So if you have little kids & work, how much time do you allocate to getting ready & what’s your routine?

OP posts:
JMAngel1 · 18/02/2022 22:14

I get up 2 hours before leave for work.
Eye patches whilst brushing teeth.
500 mls water with supplements.
Write in journal/goals for day
Make coffee - add collagen
Empty dishwasher/reboot laundry
Get DCs lunches/snacks/drinks ready - lay uniforms out/polish shoes
20 minute workout
Shower - don't wash hair (takes ages to wash my hair)
Skincare - including nu face/numerous serums etc
Body lotion
Wake DCs and sort their breakfast
Do make-up and get dressed
Chivvy DCs to get dressed/teeth/hair
Pack my bag with my lunch/snacks
Out the door at 7am

nocoolnamesleft · 18/02/2022 22:19

20 mins. Wash hair the night before. Loo, shower, clean teeth. Dress. Hair up. Morning medication and a drink. Grab breakfast bar and out of the door.

TulipsGarden · 18/02/2022 22:23

I have a 3 year old and have been WFH since Covid when I had a 13 month old, so almost the same as you OP.

We take it turns to get DS ready and do nursery run. On days I'm doing it, I set my alarm early to try to get a shower in before child wakes up (thankfully he usually wakes up around 7 so it's not too bad). I tend to sort out what I'm wearing the night before (even if it's just leggings and a jumper, it helps to not be scrabbling around). Quick shower, hair dries naturally, get dressed, five minute make-up. Breakfast, change child's clothes and brush teeth, out the door to nursery. If (horror of horrors) child wakes up early, I stick him in front of a screen with the monitor on while I do a very quick shower etc. He's fine.

If I'm going to be in Teams meetings all day I might take 5 mins to do a bit more make up when I get home from the nursery run, and maybe sort out my hair if it's gone wild. I really miss spending my commute doing my make-up!

On the days my partner does the getting up early and nursery run jobs, I either go for a run or spend some time having a nice long shower, pluck eyebrows, generally do a bit of self-care.

snowone · 18/02/2022 22:23

Alarm goes at 6.25 and I leave at 7.45. Have 2 DDs (7&2) and DH WFH. I normally shower the night before so all I have to do is get dressed, hair, makeup, teeth. The rest of the time is spent sorting out the kids breakfast, getting them dressed, doing hair etc.

ChicCroissant · 18/02/2022 22:27

In the toddler years I used to split my getting ready tasks up a bit, so I might get washed and dressed, get toddler ready/fed, then eat/put makeup on - I wouldn't expect to do it all at once.

I work shifts and on my early starts I allow an hour to get dressed, LFT test, eat, pack DD's lunch and put a bit of makeup on. I usually shower the night before and have all my clothes ready and hanging on the bathroom door. If I shower in the morning my face is blotchy, so I always regret it if I do!

ffiffi123 · 18/02/2022 22:35

Wake at 6.30am

Coffee
Shower
Teeth
Wash face
Makeup
Wake up husband & toddler (husband dresses toddler most mornings for me, he's WFH)
Hair
Get dressed
Take vitamins

Out the door by 7.45/50am every day Grin

FunnysInLaJardin · 18/02/2022 22:39

It takes me about an hour if I need a shower and to dry my hair. 40 minutes otherwise.

I do a full face of make up and style my hair, plus getting dressed !

IvorCutler · 18/02/2022 22:41

25 minutes. 20 minutes to brush teeth, do makeup and hair and 5 to get dressed.

IvorCutler · 18/02/2022 22:42

I shower at night.

FunnysInLaJardin · 18/02/2022 22:50

actually I take ages. Up at 7 to get the teens off to school at 7.45 and I don't leave until 9 as start work at 9.30. Tis bliss tbh

I sort lunches, drink coffee and do dishwasher well before I have to go up and start getting ready.

Also finish work at 4 pm! I am sooo lucky!

IvorCutler · 18/02/2022 22:52

Takes me an additional 30 minutes to get the kids organised and their school lunches made and packed! I don’t know how people are able to sort lunches the night before? Surely cut fruit and sandwiches etc go a bit stale and smelly (even if refrigerated)?

eurochick · 18/02/2022 23:02

45 mins. We both get up an hour and a half before we need to leave for work and school run. He has 45 mins to get ready while I get child up, sort breakfast, feed cats, empty dishwasher, etc then I get 45 mins while he clears breakfast and gets child dressed and ready for school. I can do it half an hour if I am showering but not washing and drying hair.

RoseMartha · 18/02/2022 23:06

1 hour and ten mins. This includes getting myself washed etc and dressed and make up on and some stretching exercises and making breakfast for me and the dc and doing the dishwasher, getting teens to get up and eat and dress.

LovelyYellowLabrador · 19/02/2022 00:39

I like an hour so I can have a bath

FormerlySpeckledyHen · 19/02/2022 05:55

30/40 minutes . 30 if going to work and 40 on days off.
Shower , hair wash, teeth, dry hair, light makeup, dress, contact lenses in.

Always got up an hour earlier than the kids to do it.

amylou8 · 19/02/2022 06:13

I can be out in 15 minutes when I have an early start (scruffy outdoor work wear, no make up) including a coffee, slice of toast and sorting the cats. 30 mins on a normal morning. Quick wash, bit of makeup, straighters though hair, coffee, toast, cats, out.

YouWereGr8InLittleMenstruators · 19/02/2022 06:46

I really enjoy threads like these, they definitely show me other ways of doing things are possible!
Out of bed at 7, flannel wash, dress for work (professional role, not WFH) in about 5 mins. Don't make time for make-up or skin-care routine, although that would be lovely. I apply eyeliner in work car park before I go in.
7.10 wake DC and spend 35 mins getting them ready for school, serve breakfast, make lunches, pack school bags, feed pets, wash up etc, before getting us out of the house at 7.45.
I occasionally think of setting the alarm earlier, but rarely finish work before midnight, so would be too knackered.
OP, are you saying that you are able to wear jeans to work in a non-WFH role, or that the jeans are for when WFH? Sorry if I have missed something.

StarlightLady · 19/02/2022 07:03

I very much suffer from Parkinson’s Law. That is to say that something takes as long as the available time allows.

So, coffee, shower, makeup, getting dressed, changing my mind about what to wear, getting undressed and dressed again(!), scrolling through the news and sometimes MN, breakfast (fruit and yogurt) and a cursory glance at work and personal emails; l would say around one hour 15 mins. If needs be l can do it in half the time, but l enjoy the “time space”.

I tend not to dry myself after a shower though, l simply wrap a towel round myself and get on with other things about the house until l’m dry.

ithoughtisawapuddycat · 19/02/2022 07:08

Hour to hour and a half. The longer is if I wash my hair. But I do spend some of that time scrolling on my phone and playing with the cats. I also listen to audiobooks while I get ready and like to take my time with my makeup. I also get my lunch and breakfast sorted as I eat breakfast at work as I start at 8am.

Coffeepot72 · 19/02/2022 07:54

Just over an hour for shower, coffee, breakfast, hair, make-up, then get dressed (I sort out my clothes the night before). I have tried so hard over the years to get out the door a bit quicker in the morning, but that’s the best I can do. Thankfully I only have to go into the offices twice a week these days

Quamora · 19/02/2022 08:20

About 20 minutes for just getting myself ready (quick shower, dressed, basic make up, hair tied up)

Another hour on top of that to get kids dressed, get their breakfast, make lunches, empty and reload dishwasher, put a load of washing on, make beds etc

Avarua · 19/02/2022 08:22

20 mins. Shower comb hair moisturiser dressed.
Sometimes take the dog for a walk if dh does the kids.

WorkEvent · 19/02/2022 08:25

About 5 minutes tbh (not including a quick shower). It helps that I wear uniform for work. Throw on clothes, skincare, brush teeth, mascara if I’m feeling really fancy. I can stretch it to 10 minutes and put on some makeup on a day off but it does mean parking the kids in front of a video 😂

Wiennetta · 19/02/2022 08:54

@ffiffi123

Wake at 6.30am

Coffee
Shower
Teeth
Wash face
Makeup
Wake up husband & toddler (husband dresses toddler most mornings for me, he's WFH)
Hair
Get dressed
Take vitamins

Out the door by 7.45/50am every day Grin

@ffiffi123 why does your husband get your toddler ready for you? Is your husband not the child’s father? Hmm
Balcmange · 19/02/2022 09:03

I have to allow an hour in the morning. But that includes making and drinking my very precise coffee, having breakfast, getting the kids' breakfasts. I also have a few 'waiting time' points - wait for my hrt to dry, wait for eye drops (have to tilt head and press the corner of my eye for five minutes, then add cream and wait fifteen minutes, then add drops and wait fifteen minutes for vision to clear) - time spent fixing decrepitude basically.