I just thought I'd share my insight about getting dressed in the morning. I find that I have to know what I'm going to wear before I walk into my closet in the morning. I know some people are organized enough to set out their outfit the night before, but that might be too ambitious for me. I make that my shower task. While showering I identify my outfit, and then after showering I can walk into my closet and immediately select what I'm going to wear. If I don't do this, either I walk into the closet and feel overwhelmed with choices or quickly grab an easy outfit that I wear too often.
For the past 4 years, I have had my first walk-in closet, and in the past few years have upgraded my wardrobe so I have better choices. I have also gotten tired of pantihose, so I have purchased classy socks that can go with my various outfits. Some mornings I do have problems deciding which socks to wear, even if I'm running late, which is common.

I do something quite similar in the mornings. I run through the things I need to gather, what I plan on wearing (what is clean *lol*), and where I last left my keys all while taking my shower.

Since I have problems with getting up in the morning (6 alarms usually do the trick), I try to get as much done the night before. Like: making my lunch, doing laundry, and list making for the next day.

I do find I HAVE to put my keys in the same place when I come home. Since I often leave the house with just enough time to get to the office or a meeting, it starts my day off terribly if I've put my keys in the wrong place, like if I went out to my car the night before and left keys in a pocket or something like that.
I also keep an extra car key in my pocketbook, and only once or twice had to use that key and when I get to work ask the secretary for the extra key to get into my office.
Since I have 2 large dogs in the house and live in fairly safe neighborhood, I often leave my door unlocked. However, I also have an extra house key in my pocketbook.

I try to put my keys in the same place ... but that does not always happen. So I often hang them on myfront door so they are easier to find.

Luckily, my fiance is better at finding things. :) He has to help me 40% of the time to find them. Thank goodness he has a spare!

I had my husband get me one of those keychain beeper things so I could find my keys and the base unit had a magnet and went on the fridge and then someone knocked it off of the fridge and broke the part that connected to the magnet, so now if I can't find my keys, I have to search for the base unit to beep them! lol:D

Toymom

I have a revolving wardrobe, as my mom calls it, because of the variety, I buy most all my cloths from the goodwill, so even if I've only wore something once or twice, it doesn't bother me to send it back to where it came from. I don't have to worry about what I wear to work, I have work clothes ie junk clothes, ( I'm a printer) so it doesn't matter, but I have to set out sometimes days in advance if I plan on going somewhere special, and even if I'm just going shopping or running around errends, I may change 15 times. What I have on must fit my mental attitude, and overall mood for the day, I also have about 40 pairs of sunglasses, I'm not one for jewlery, except for piercings, but I like a hat and my glasses, sometimes I like to be incognito... My grandma whom was a very intellagent person, hated waist thought or time on things she felt were of no matter, so she only had 3 colors to her wardrobe so everything matched. RED-WHITE-&BLUE now thats a easy way out!!!!

This is one of my very biggest challenges!! It can ruin the whole day! My biggest problem is my family (and much less often, roommates, when I'm living outside the house).

If I am living with my family (mother, grandmother, sister), like I am now, it's awful. Half the time I want to get dressed, someone is already in there or has just come out and the thing needs to air out (sorry to be so blunt...don't know how else to say it). I don't dare set up a regular schedule, for fear my sister and possibly my mother and grandmother may take it as a challenge to test my love/respect/tolerance/whatever for them; i.e., use the bathroom during my scheduled time, argue with me when I ask them to get out, and then finish off with something to the effect of "why are you so special that you get to use it and not me?"

My sister even did this once with my breakfast--she hid the oatmeal I was going to make for my breakfast! I spent 15 min. searching for it (each moment feeling more and more like a failure both on my meal plan and schedule). When I asked her where it was, there were of course, fireworks from her and my grandmother about people (i.e., me) not being able to share things (for my sister, share=let her have whatever she wants, plus predict in advance what it is she wants).

I do find that getting ready for work in the morning is much easier when living alone. I know that an item will still be where I left it. When my daughter was a teenager occasionally she would "borrow" something without telling me, for example, a belt that I automatically reach for in the morning, the comb from my pocketbook, my supply of stamps, the remainder of the milk, etc.
The only beings I have to be concerned about are two canine children. One is a diabetic so I have to test his blood sugar and give him insulin in the morning. The other one frequently pees on the carpet so I have to clean that up many mornings.
I have developed a routine in the morning that usually goes smoothly BUT I often seem to challenge myself by allowing just enough time to do this routine before dashing out the door. When I get up I leisurely drink my coffee, watch the Today show, and have breakfast (all about 1 hr.) and then rush through my shower, dressing, hair drying, makeup routine, trying to do this part of the routine in about 35 minutes, but always requiring more time. I don 't know why I almost always put myself under this last minute pressure. Maybe it's stubborness I developed in reaction to a controlling mother, general resistance to living by rules, or ADD-related.

I always mean to pick out my outfit before going to bed at night, but it never seems to work out that way. Instead I am always scrambling in the morn to find something clean to wear. My biggest prob is socks, or finding what I am looking for in that big pile of cloths on my floor!

I always mean to pick out my outfit before going to bed at night, but it never seems to work out that way. Instead I am always scrambling in the morn to find something clean to wear. My biggest prob is socks, or finding what I am looking for in that big pile of cloths on my floor!
HAHA I FEEL YA ...
except my pile is hidden in the closet lol my sort of improvement to the floor lol hahaha ahhh well what can ya do eh? lol:rolleyes:

A life long problem for me...until I realized that the dry cleaners really isn't that expensive. I buy clothes as an outfit and only do my mixing when I have a day off. So, usually, my clothes are clean and pressed...GREAT, BUT WHERE ARE MY SHOES?!?

I generally just buy everything possible in neutral colors (white, various shades of gray, various shades of brown/khaki, jeans, you get it) so that whatever's clean probably goes together. Anyway, I will say this: no matter how foggy I am, no matter the severity of my stupor, I can always dress our son before preschool in a non-hideous manner, unlike my husband, who doesn't seem to understand the concept of coordinating at all. He'll take the kid into preschool without me and let me sleep in, and then at 5, when I go to pick him up, I'm like, "Good Lord, child, what are you wearing?" One girl, one day, said "You know, we've been wondering about that all day..."

Inevitably, 3 things are consistently problematic when I go to leave the house.

1) I cannot find my keys and have to frantically search for them
2) I have to call my cell phone from my home phone to figure out where the heck my cell phone is.
3) I have to search for my house keys for the front door lock, because for some reason, we just never quite got around to putting them on the same ring as my car keys...?

Often, as well, I will realize soon after leaving that I have forgotten my wallet or cigarettes and have to go back because of course, pathetically, I cannot go two hours without having a cigarette. (The wallet's kind of obvious.)

Fortunately, I've never misplaced or forgotten the kid.

Chrys

From Chrys
"My very first childhood joke, first uttered at three years of age...I still love it, even though that might be dorky or politically incorrect:
(Q) What do you call an dyslexic agnostic insomniac?
(A) Someone who lays awake at night wondering if there's a dog."
I love it!

Okay all..Well I went to a Catholic School and wore uniforms till 5th grade. As kids we had to have out uniform shoes socks and books layed out and ready to go. :p

My Mom is a very organises person and was teaching us to be too. Now as an adult when I am in college I have to lay out my outfit the night before. I have to catch the bus and there is no time to waste. I have my book ready to go in my book bag, the coat out and my keys are always on my desk ready to grab. I do have an extra set of keys in my desk just in case I cant find my orginals. It isnt hard to be organised when you have to ...I think having to take the bus has taught me alot about useing your time wisely. auntchris:D