By Isabel Ortiz
As a seven-time champion procrastinator, I know all about that snooze button. I have seven alarms in order to get me out the door and off to work by 5:30 a.m. for my 6:00 shift.
But some days it's almost impossible to even open my eyelids after I've been staring at a blinking screen and eating anything edible in arms reach all night and then finally realizing I have to get up in two hours.
As for you, there's no need to worry because in my several years of being irresponsible, I have made up a few rules that can help you or the terminally late friend in your life. (We both know this is for you. Don't deny it!).
Let's start off with the day before. Make sure that you have all your clothes good to go and in a place where you can see them. You don't want to have the perfect outfit in your head and end up having to look for a t-shirt, which happens to be stained with something you ate a week ago.
If you know that you take forever to wake up, you need to have a bajillion alarms. You should have them throughout your morning process in order to help you stay on your toes and keep you on time. Another way to help you keep track of time is to have different sounds for each alarm. It'll let you know how much time you have (or don't have).
A shower the night before is always the best choice for those who can't get anywhere on time, but showering in the morning before work makes some of us feel just a little bit cleaner. A way to have the best of both worlds is to get all of your body work done the night before and take care of your hair in the morning. It might seem a little unorthodox to take two showers, but they'll be two shorter showers if that helps. You could always go with a quick airplane shower, but you don't want to be disgusting.
Last and certainly never least, have things in your bag to help you while you're scrambling out the door. You forget to put deodorant on -- boom! -- you have a baby armpit stick in there. You just completely forgot about your teeth and your stink-breath -- a travel-size toothpaste and toothbrush are your friends. A lot of these travel-size items are usually really, cheap so that's a plus, too.
There you have it, ladies and gentlemen -- a few tricks and tips I've collected through the years. They've served me well, and I realized it was time for me to share them with the world. Hopefully, these will help you be a little more efficient with your time and also help you get you anywhere safely -- and on time!
Graphic by Pam Black
