Ways to Save Time in the Morning

5 Ways to Save Time in the Morning

By Elizabeth Graves

Always running late? Try these elegant instructions for fast makeup and hair, and more.

Speed-Dry Your Hair

Enfold your freshly washed hair in a towel (preferably a super-absorbent one, like the Microfiber Hair Towel, $20, at sephora.com) and let it partly dry naturally while you go about getting wearing clothes and having a fast breakfast. Not only will this cut drying time but it will also give your humid bathroom time to clear out. Moisture is the enemy of a fast—and smooth—blow-out: Imagine drying your hair in a vapor room.

A fast blow dry starts with successful tools: the right dryer, plus a big round brush for straight hair (bigger brushes also cut drying time) and a diffuser for curly hair. For easy-to-follow blow-drying instructions detailed to your hair, either straight or curly, see 3 Easy Steps to a Perfect Home Blow-Dry.

Time saved: 50 minutes each week.

Cut Nonessential Beauty Items From Your Routine

First tip: You don’t require to use a toner. Ever. Toners assist moisturizer trickle into your skin, but leaving a slight water on your face after washing facilitates inclusion equally well. Also, leave out the eye cream. These treatments are magnificent to use at night, when skin is repairing itself (and when there’s no sunlight around to break down the eye cream’s vigorous ingredients). But it’s smarter and quicker to just use your face lotion around your eyes during the day. Better yet, apply one with SPF to save more time by avoiding that additional sunscreen step (see The Best Face Moisturizers with SPF.)

Time saved: 15 minutes each week.

Do Your Makeup Faster

Trench exacting and unforgiving makeup and use multitaskers. Fluid liner, for example, looks wonderful when it’s carefully applied, but unless you have the firm, practiced hand of a pro, skip liners and other tricky cosmetics in the A.M. (Note: If you ignore this advice, a pointy cotton wash doused in makeup remover is a huge time-saver when touching up a mistake.)

In its place, rely on stick formulas and other cosmetics that multitask (The Best Multipurpose Beauty Products runs down Real Simple’s current favorites). Stick fundamentals act as both concealer and foundation, thanks to their thick steadiness: Just swipe one over a flaw and mix together with fingers. Then use a dual cheek-and-lip tint to add fast color. And to give eyes liquid liner–like definition without the fuss, gently wiggle a mascara baton at the base of your lashes to deposit a subtle line.

Time saved: 25 minutes each week.

Make a No-Brainer Breakfast

A no-brainer breakfast does not mean skipping breakfast! Breakfast is completely the most significant meal of the day. It fuels your body with vigor and nutrients; and studies have exposed that eating breakfast is essential to losing weight—and keeping it off—since people who skip breakfast tend to overeat later in the day (see Busting 10 Diet Myths for more surprising, smart eating tips).

Lack of time habitually stops people from eating in the morning. So here’s a quick, no-excuse strategy: Every Sunday purchase five individual containers of plain Greek yogurt, a immense source of protein and calcium. Scoop 1/3 cup of low-fat, high-fiber cereal into five snack-size plastic bags. Toss a yogurt and a bag of cereal into your bag each morning, then join the two and enjoy them at work. When you crave a little sweetness, add fresh fruit or drizzle on a bit of Agave Nectar Syrup, which you can accumulate in your desk drawer. (Find more nutritious eat-on-the-go meals in 9 Fast, Healthy Breakfast Ideas.)

Time saved: 50 minutes each week.

Work Out Faster

Good news: There are ways to exercise in less time. First, studies indicate that you don’t need to stretch before exercising. Instead, just do a light warm-up—a few minutes of jogging before a run or five minutes of cardio before weight training. Second, you can get a quick, full-body workout without even leaving home. Try to do 15 repetitions each of crunches, push-ups, triceps dips (off a stable chair), squats, and lunges. Do each rep in a slow and controlled manner (count three seconds on the way up for a crunch and three seconds on the way down), and do three sets of each move. This will help strengthen your biggest muscles, including your abdominals, back, arms, and legs. See 15 Minutes and You're Done: Workouts for efficient exercise routines for your abs, glutes, thighs, and more.

Time saved: 75 minutes each week.