During our back to school series, we talked about the importance of daily routines to get everyone out the door each morning and into bed at night.

Even if you don’t have kids in school, having daily routines can help you arrive at work ready to go and create a bridge between work and home. Today we’ll look at the morning routine and on Friday, evening routines.

How detailed you should make your morning routine will depend on a few things, including whether or not you are a morning person, the number of other people you need to get out the door each day, and the length of your commute. Regular readers of the blog know that I am a fan of doing things at the first reasonable opportunity instead of leaving everything until the last minute. That approach might have some effect on the daily routine as well.

Here are some things that may be part of your morning routine:

• Wake up
• Shower
• Hair and makeup
• Dress
• Breakfast
• Morning prayers
• Walk the dog
• Work out
• Do breakfast dishes/load dishwasher
• Read the newspaper/check social media
• Do initial dinner prep (clean and chop veggies, gather ingredients, etc.)
• Five-minute tidy-up

Now, not everyone will do all of these – especially before leaving for work – but they give you an idea of what might become part of your morning routine. Decide on a routine to try for a week or two and adjust as necessary. Once you settle in on something that works, write it down and post it as a reminder and to keep you accountable.