The morning can be one of the most stressful times of day: trying to get up and out of bed, get washed and dressed, squeeze breakfast and a morning coffee in and get out of the house on time for work can feel like a mammoth task when you’re running on little sleep because you stayed up binging TV again (we’ve all been there).
With so much to do (okay, the morning routine isn’t that complicated, but when you’re that bleary-eyed it can feel like you’re moving in slow motion) sometimes it feels like you can’t squeeze it all in. With so many of us looking for a way to get out of the house quicker (or steal an extra few minutes in bed), we’re looking for something to give in the morning. The problem is, a recent study has found that one in five Brits only brush their teeth once a day – meaning the part of their morning routine they’re letting slip is their morning brush.
There are endless health benefits to brushing your teeth (which you can find on our website), and being so important, simply not worth skipping out on. So how can you squeeze brushing your teeth into your morning routine when it feels like there’s simply no time?
If there’s one thing we make a priority in the morning, it’s teeth-brushing (I mean, we’re hardly going to show up to the Brushbox office without having brushed our teeth, are we?) So if anyone knows how to make sure your teeth get the brush they deserve in the morning (that’s a full two minutes), it’s us. Thing is, we rush as much as anyone else, and when thinking about whether we really always manage to stand in front of the mirror for a full two minutes, we discovered that most of us have a few tricks up our sleeve to make sure our teeth get brushed – even if that means multitasking.
It’s the oldest trick in the book. Toothpaste on the brush, get brushing and get rushing. Standing in the doorway, using your free hand to flick the kettle switch, pull your shoes on, or stuff your laptop in your bag, this run-around-toothbrushing-scene is all too familiar in our morning routines. It’s living proof that there’s never too little time to brush your teeth – two minutes can always be found in the morning, even if they’re the same two minutes you use to do something else!
The only problem with that route is that you’re probably not going to do as good a job as you could without your shoelaces taking up your time, too.
That led us to our next problem: how can we make sure we’re always setting aside two minutes every morning and not neglecting a task that’s central to our oral and mental health?
We’ve compiled a list of top tips that encourage us to make sure we’re always setting aside the time we need for our dental routines.
Dance to the music
It’s our favourite, so it goes first. There’s no easier way to make two minutes speed by (and enjoy them, too) than sticking on your favourite 2-minute long song and brushing from start to finish. Plus, you can get some dancing in, or in the mirror pretend you’re starring as the main character in the opening titles of a new film (say what you like – we all do it!).
The alarm doesn't stop once you're up
We talked last week about memory, and one of our tips is perfect for that morning rush. Setting an alarm to sound a few minutes before you’ve got to leave (or at any point you’ve got in the morning, whatever works best for you) that’s labelled reminding you to brush your teeth is a great way to make sure you give the task the priority and attention it deserves.
Take your toothbrush to work day
If in doubt, take the toothbrush out. That’s right – if you’ve really not got the time to brush your teeth in the morning because you pressed the snooze button one too many times, stick your toothbrush and some paste in your bag to take with you and brush your teeth in the bathroom of your workplace (though, be prepared that some people might ask what you’re up to before you’ve had the chance to spit).
So there you’ve got it – even on the days where it feels like you can’t possibly squeeze anything in, there’s always two minutes to spare for your teeth!