To make your morning commute a breeze while getting as much sleep as you can, make sure you have enough gas to get here in the morning and shower the night before if you need to. It’s also good to organize your book bag before you go to bed to ensure preparedness in the morning. | Photos.com
Commuting to campus every day is extremely frustrating, especially for people like me who live about an hour away from UH and are not morning people.
I can’t help but feel a little crabby when I finally get on campus after sitting in bumper-to-bumper traffic for half an hour and then see other students stumble out of their dorm rooms in their pajamas as if they don’t have enough time to throw some clothes on in the morning.
I would likely do the same thing if I lived on campus, but I like to think that I am a lot more disciplined. However, I have learned a couple of easy tricks to make sure I am on campus on time, and getting as much sleep as possible.
Here are a few ways to save time getting ready in the morning and reduce the likelihood that you will run into traffic during your commute.
Fill up your gas the night before. There is nothing more frustrating than sleeping through your alarm and then realizing after you have gotten into your car that it is almost on empty.
Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, so make sure your car has something to eat during the commute.
A couple of weeks ago I forgot to fill up my tank the night before, and I didn’t have the time to stop somewhere on the way to campus. I ended up driving on empty for about half of my commute, scared my car was going to run out of gas fumes and be turned into a pinball on Interstate 59. I made it to campus without this happening, but I’m not going to risk that again.
If you are not particularly concerned about looking fresh in the morning, consider showering the night before. Showering the night before will enable you to hit your snooze button a couple more times without having to worry about going to campus without showering.
It will likely be hard to tame your hair in the morning, but it would be better to go to class with clean, feral-looking hair instead of looking like you just went swimming in an oil spill. If you are really worried about your hair looking messy, just wear a hat or a jacket with a hood.
Organize your backpack the night before. I have found that this is a great way to ensure that I won’t forget anything I need for that day at home.
I fell asleep studying one night and then had to get ready for class in a rush. I forgot to put my wallet in my bag and had to buy two meals from a certain taco restaurant with loose change I harvested from the floor of my car. My intestines have informed me that I am no longer allowed to do this.
Try to pick out what clothes you will be wearing the night before. This will prevent you from being late to class because it took you forever to pick out your outfit, or going to class looking like you assembled an outfit out of clothing you found on the side of the road.
These are obviously really basic tips, but if you follow them you can assure yourself that you will be on campus on time every morning. Or, you can use these tips to give yourself thirty minutes of extra shut-eye in the morning, and couple of extra hits to your snooze.
