“There is no sunrise so beautiful that it is worth waking me up to see it.” – Mindy Kaling.

Mornings and I do NOT get along. In college I even received the superlative, “Most Reliable, Unless It’s Before Noon” because mornings are SO hard for me:

Unfortunately, adulthood means I have to get up early for work, but I’ve adapted to real life by making my mornings as short as possible. My morning routine (out of bed to out the door) is about 15 minutes long so that I can stay snuggled underneath my covers pretending I don’t have to go anywhere for as long as the clock will let me.

Here’s how I keep my mornings short and sweet with a 15 minute morning routine:

• 7:50 am: My first alarm goes off. I hit snooze.
• 7:55 am: My 2nd alarm goes off. I hit snooze. I contemplate the state of the world and if I should even bother leaving my bed.
• 7:59 am: The snooze from my alarm snooze goes off. I turn off my alarms and scroll through my social media for a few minutes. This is a definitely a very healthy way to kick-start my day.
• 8:03 am: I tell myself I should get out of bed.
• 8:04 am: I tell myself I should get out of bed.
• 8:05 am: I climb out of bed and shuffle blindly to my bathroom to put in my eyeballs (also known as contacts).
• 8:06 am: I pour myself a bowl of cereal, using the bowl I set out for myself the previous evening (read about my nightly routine here).
• 8:07 am: I bring my bowl of cereal to the bathroom with me and eat it over the sink while I put on my makeup. Dictionary.com defines this as “multitasking.”
• 8:12 am: With my makeup done and my bowl of cereal eaten, I brush my hair and put it in a messy bun. If I’m feeling really fancy, I’ll do a ponytail. If I curled it or straightened it the night before (rare but possible), I just run a comb through and it’s good to go.
• 8:13 am: I get dressed in whatever looks comfiest.
• 8:15 am: I go to the bathroom and brush my teeth (simultaneously, because who has the time).
• 8:20 am: I grab my lunch from the fridge, snag whatever else I need for the day (which is already piled up by the door), and head out!

That’s it, folks! As you can see my 15 minute morning routine has no extra time built in for anything but leaving as fast as I can. I’ve heard tales that it can be good for your day to give yourself time to focus, read, or meditate before work. But life is short and I want to spend as much of it asleep as possible because that is what makes me feel best.

How long is your morning routine?