The morning rush

I was recently asked "What takes you so long to get ready in the morning?" And it got me thinking, as I always do, "Well, what DOES make it take so long? Is there some way to get things done faster so I can get more sleep?" I'm an auditor - I plan, I evaluate, I pay attention to detail, I take corrective actions, I improve efficiencies - it's what I do.

So...this morning, I paid attention to what exactly I do in the mornings, and how long it takes.

4:00 to 4:20 -- hit snooze. Oops.
4:20-ish -- Z wakes up. I get Z a bottle, get A to feed Z in bed so I can get up and get ready (after the bottle, Z and A were back to sleep in about 5 minutes)
4:25-4:35 -- hair, make-up, teeth-brushing, etc
4:35-5:00 -- towel dry dishes, put dishes away, dry and put bottles together (we use the ventaire bottles, and there are 6 frigging pieces for each bottle...oye), make breakfast, make coffee, pick up floor (Z had a bit of fun tearing apart the cabinets last night and I was too tired to clean it up then...lol)
5:00 - 5:30 -- pump (i'm still breastfeeding and pump in the mornings), and while pumping I eat breakfast, check facebook / blogs / email / etc
5:30 - 6:00 -- store pumped milk, wash pump parts, stock up pump bag for work, filter water and fill up water bottles for the day, get a few snacks together for work, pack up work laptop, get dressed (I had clothes that didn't need ironing today, time-saver!), stock up diaper bag and R's karate bag for tonight, grab shoes / jacket / purse / keys, load the bazillion bags of stuff into the car.

If I'm up by 4:30, and if I don't need to take care of any wide awake little people, I'm usually out the door on time at 6. But, if I hit snooze too often and get a late start, or if one / two / three kids decide to wake up early and need lots of attention, I'm screwed.

I know there are a few things I could do the night before. Like dry / put away the dishes, pick up the floor, and get the diaper / karate bags ready. But...that's a lose-lose situation. I either lose sleep at night by staying up later getting things ready for the morning, or lose sleep in the morning because I need to get up earlier to get everything done then.

So, I can't really think of any ways to save time. I get up early, go to bed late-ish, I'm always tired, but...I do what I need to do, and it works. And if it doesn't work, there's coffee.

I love coffee. Mmmmmmmmm...  :)