1.  Decide the night before what you are going to wear, including jewelry and/or other accessories. Not only does it take less time in the evenings to do this, the light is usually better and it's one less task to do and decision to make in the morning.

2.  Don't just decide what you're going to wear, however. Actually lay everything out (now there's a concept).

3.  Clean up your kitchen the night before (who wants to face that first thing in the morning). Cleaning up the kitchen is a fine job for someone else in your house, by the way. It doesn't have to be you. But it does have to be cleaned up so you don't see a mess first thing.

4.  Set two alarms if you have trouble waking up. The panicked feeling of oversleeping just starts off the day in a chaotic fashion, and remember, we're trying to avoid this.

5.  Put one of your alarms in the kitchen (near the orange juice; that's what I do).

6.  Get an automatic coffee maker or hot water heater so that your beverage of choice is all ready for you.

7.  Give yourself margins (and you can search EzineArticles.com for a number of other articles I've written on this topic, using Richard Swenson's definition of margins as "the space that once existed between ourselves and our limits. It's something held in reserve for contingencies or unanticipated situations.") For the purposes of this article, give yourself extra time in the morning. Rarely does everything "run like clockwork." If only!

8.  Do first things first and "extras" at the end. Beware of starting on projects in the morning and then not getting any breakfast. Better to get bathed, get something to eat, get dressed, etc. Then if there's time left over, start or work on a project.

9.  Have routines that work for you. It doesn't matter if it works for anyone else if it works for you.

10.  If you have other people who live in your house, set up the "rules" for the bathroom. Everyone deserves some time in the bathroom.

Whether you are a morning person or a night person, if you are an educator, you have to get up in the morning! Getting up and getting ready for your school day can be chaotic if you don't take measures to keep chaos at bay. Take a look at the ideas in this article and see what needs to be in place for you.

Educators have the most influential positions in our society--and need every bit of support that can be mustered.  Two resources that will help increase educators’ sense of peaceful, predictable productivity are Meggin's weekly emails:

*Top Ten Productivity Tips

**Keys to Keeping Chaos at Bay

(c) 2007 by Meggin McIntosh, Ph.D., "The Ph. D. of Productivity"(tm)

Through her company, Emphasis on Excellence, Inc., Meggin McIntosh changes what people know, feel, dream, and do via seminars, workshops, writing, coaching, and consulting.