Morning routine? What is it on those early morning days... Help!

Published

It's 6 am and next Monday, I'll be on the road by now! I'm going back to bed!:yeah: I love my sleep! Luckily I have afternoon clinical and my skills are afternoon. But every Monday class starts at 7:30. I need to be On the road by 6 am. When I ultimately move to morning clinical, I'll have to leave by 5. What do you do in the morning to help get you out the door fast! I'm looking for specific tasks so I can make my list of things to do please. Yes, I am mom of 3, but my kids are sleepers too!:D my friend is a dental hygienist and gets up between 4 and 4:30 every single day to get on her treadmill regardless if it s a workday or not! I can't wrap my head around that! Help!

Specializes in Dialysis.

I have to be at work by 6am and it's a 40 minute drive.

I wake up at 4:50... hit the buzzer once, it goes off 6 minutes later.

I get up, use the bathroom and throw on the scrubs.

I tie my hair into a ponytail and put on my shoes.

I heat up the coffee. (I make a 12 cup pot at a time. What I don't drink, the first day, I save in glass jars.)

I grab the breakfast-on-the go. (I'm still figuring this out. I MUST have breakfast or I crash. Currently it's a PB&J for breakfast.)

I'm out the door by 5:15. Showered, made the sandwich and set out clothes the night before. Also, keep all your clinical stuff in your clinical bag. This includes name tags, steth, BP cuffs, whatever.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I found that since I've started school I've become more of a morning person. I always get my clothes ready, pack my bookbag and lunch the night before. I also get up a little earlier to give my self 15-20 minutes of time to relax, watch some news and have a cup of coffee and a bite to eat. It helps me not fell so rushed in the morning.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in PICU, Sedation/Radiology, PACU.

1. I lay out my clothes, scrubs and supplies the night before. I make sure that my scrub pockets or purse have my pens, stethoscope, ID badge, calculator, etc. I put my nursing shoes by the door where I can easily grab them. I make sure my lunch/snacks are ready in the fridge or on the counter.

2. Don't hit the snooze. Tell yourself that when the alarm goes off, you are getting up. Period. No snooze button. It seriously cuts into your time. If you have to hit the snooze, set your alarm for 10 minutes earlier and hit the snooze once.

3. I take a shower first thing. It wakes me up and helps me get moving. I make sure it's quick though- I save shaving for my days off. At most I spend ten minutes in the shower.

4. Simplify your make-up routine. I have a liquid foundation, pressed powder, a little mascara, and that's it. It takes me five minutes. I pull my hair back in a simple bun.

I can be out the door about 20 minutes after I get up, if I need to. But I give myself an hour so that I can spend a few minutes relaxing, reading, finishing a few last minute cleaning projects, or leave a little early to stop for coffee.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Emergency; med-surg; mat-child.

My scrubs go into the washer when I get home so that they're dried by bedtime. I make my lunch the night before, whether it's extra from dinner or something lunch-specific. My keys and wallet go in the same spot every day the minute I walk in the door and my phone goes on the charger. I know I've got too much on my plate when I lose my keys, so I've trained myself to just put the damn things away asap and so far I haven't lost them. Yet.

I also generally take a shower the night before, but for me it's nice because it helps me fall asleep. Taking them in the am is for days I do my C25K runs so I'm not schvitzing on the floor (more than general, anyway). We try to put the kids' clothes out the night before, too, so they can just toss them on when they get up. Coffee gets loaded the night before, my tea cup is next to the kettle with a spoon in it. Really, anything you can do to streamline your mornings is a good thing.

I like the idea of the id in the glove box. I haven't gotten into the habit of putting it in the same place yet, and that's probably the best one. We hardly ever switch cars.

For my bag, I treat it like we did with diaper bags for the kids: remove, restock, and reorder every night. Then it's ready to go when I am, and I'm not having to check for my scope, my penlight, etc. I don't have time to waste in the morning looking for ANYTHING, especially not the things that are critical to my day.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in 10.

I ditto everything that everyones says here. Pack your school bag, or clinical bag the night before and load into your car. You will never forget your books this way.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I am happy to report that overnight I became a morning person! Lol I have been getting up at 5 and going to bed at midnight. I am hoping that once I get into a better routine, I can go to bed earlier than that. Last night I got barely 4 hours so tonight I am going to bed by 9. I only have one chapter left to read for tonight and my dinner is totally prepped and ready to eat after the kids have soccer and baseball. Overall I love school and am excited to be going! Ps, I have used many of these suggestions to get me organized!

Up Vote Up Vote ×

my clinical this semester starts at 6:30, about 15 minutes away but I want to get there with time to spare. Last semester it was at 7:30. My lecture at school starts at 8am. I am NOT a morning person, I haven't been since birth (my mother says I slept through the night the first night home and as a baby and toddler I rarely got up before 9am, and I remember getting woken up in order to attend *afternoon* kindergarten , lol so like at 11am. I don't know many 5 year olds that sleep in like that!).

I have come to accept that I will NEVER be a morning person but the world, especially the nursing school world, is run by morning people. I just prep the night before. Have EVERYTHING laid out and ready. My uniform down to my underwear is on a hanger outside the bathroom, and my badge is either already pinned on it or in my bag. I shower and straighten my hair the night before. My bag and lunch/water are packed, and I try to have what I'm going to grab for breakfast ready too. I also set 3(!!) alarms to make sure I wake up!

And I must make sure to have a lot to eat for breakfast-clinical is way too physical not to have the calories. I HATE eating early in the morning so sometimes I'm literally nauseous trying to eat, and I have to force myself to swallow. But I know around 10am I will be so hungry that I'm shaking and faint if I don't eat before clinical. Learned that the hard way, more than once. I once had to go sit out in the hall because I thought I was going to pass out ( d/t lack of food/the residents room was 10000 degrees-it was long term care). I felt like an idiot (although my instructor and classmates were very nice about it!) But yea, MAKE SURE TO EAT!!

It's not easy but it's only 1x a week and it's only for a short time. I am definately a "b shift" type worker lol

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Join the Discussion