The One Hack I Use To Save Time In The Morning

One of my favorite things in the entire world is staying in bed, because literally nothing is better than sleeping. That said, I also want to look flawless while perfectly striking a balance between beauty-application-time and beauty-sleep-time. Learning ways to save time in my morning routine has been an absolute must in my life for this reason.

On some days, I simply don't eat breakfast so I can cleanse, tone, and moisturize properly. On others, I'll do half of my makeup on the bus. And on a few very rare occasions, I'll wake up early enough to do everything I need to do before I need to leave the house.

But more often than not, I hurriedly make my way through my hair and makeup so I can get out the door on time. Cutting corners is a necessity, and there's one thing I do every morning to save time — even if I'm in no rush at all.

And that is planning my look the night before. This means organizing my outfit, making sure that it still fits and that I like it, and pre-arranging what makeup look to pair with it. By setting these plans in motion, I can go into autopilot when getting ready in the morning. When your brain is basically turned off, it's a hell of a lot harder to get stressed, too.

It might sound like this won't actually save you that much time in the morning, but I promise that it totally does. Too much time is often spent deliberating over outfits, after all.

If you're anything like me, you hopefully think that creating outfits and makeup concepts is actually a hell of a lot of fun. So why leave it to the early hours of the morning? I even find planning outfits as I'm trying to fall asleep a pretty soothing exercise to nod off to. Counting sheep just isn't my bag.

For this method of pre-planning, be sure to know your wardrobe in and out, á la Cher Horowitz. Take the time to look through it often, because you'll probably find a super cute skirt you forgot you even owned.

But beware: An outfit in your head may not look so hot IRL, so be prepared with back-ups or different options just in case it gets to 7 a.m. and you suddenly remember you loaned that shirt you were hoping to rock to your old roommate.

Of course, this practice is working under the assumption that your appearance is one of the most important parts of your morning routine. Even though I encounter the most stress when making sure my hair, makeup, and outfit are all coordinated as well as gorgeous, you might be looking for faster shower tips or quick breakfast ideas.

In those areas, I can't help you. But with my advice, I can promise that you'll definitely look great while stressing about them.

Images: Georgina Jones; Paramount Pictures (2)