Friday Five: 5 Tips to Look More Put Together During the Week

Navy Blue Wrap Dress (also comes in black with a longer length!) | Tan D’Orsay Pumps | Fendi 3Jours Bag (luxury resale here, new and similar here) | Tortoise Sunglasses | Gold Stacking Rings | Gold Pearl Necklace and Bracelet

When it comes to Monday through Friday, it can be a struggle to look put together. Whether you are heading into an office or have a family to take care of, whatever your daily routine looks like, there’s just never enough time. So here are 5 tips to look more put together during the week.

I got a message last week on Instagram asking me to share my morning schedule because I “always seem so put together”. That was a total compliment. As individuals, it’s so easy to see the bad and so difficult to give ourselves a much needed reality check. Meaning, I wouldn’t have said that I’m always put together. But that message got me thinking. Sure, I can share my schedule but what would actually be more helpful would be to give you a few tips on things I’ve noticed help. Of course, sharing bits of my schedule too!

1. Wake up earlier.

I know this isn’t a fan favorite especially for all the night owls but honestly, it helps. Figure out what works for your schedule and do that on repeat. I wake up at 5:30AM or 6AM every day depending on my workout. It wasn’t easy to start this. But I promise, if you stick to it and don’t let yourself sleep in, it becomes habit. Of course, this means you have to go to bed earlier to avoid falling asleep on your desk but I’ll take it. Eventually, you’ll get addicted to this routine and it’s not a bad thing to be addicted to.

Shifting your waking hours to earlier in the day means that everyone you see gets a more awake (and probably better) version of yourself. No one says you look put together if you’re groggy! So I save that grogginess for the gym. By the time I get into the office, I’ve been awake for 3-4 hours. I also find I’m more productive in the morning with a fresh head so I try to knock out some blog work or get things done around the house.

2. Work out in the morning. 

Right along with waking up early, the best way to start your day is with a work out. Trust me, I know how hard it can be to motivate yourself. But don’t accept no for an answer. Push yourself to do something. Anything is better than nothing. Starting my day in the gym helps me wake up mentally and physically, jump start my metabolism, and be more productive during the day. Starting with writing this blog post on the elliptical earlier this week.

It also helps ensure that I actually get a workout in. I used to work out at night but late nights in the office constantly got in the way of that. So, I started waking up earlier to fit in a workout before I spend 9 hours at a desk all day. Since all of my day jobs have started at 9AM, this is feasible but of course I understand why it might be impossible if you need to be at work by 7AM. But see what you can do, even if it means being in bed by 9PM. Trust me, you’re not missing much at night and your body will thank you for a morning workout (even if it’s 20 minutes long).

Lately, I’ve been alternating between Pure Barre, BBG, and cardio during the morning. I like that Pure Barre and BBG are shorter workouts so I can maximize time getting ready or prepared for the week. Cardio, I’ll always love. Cardio days are my favorite where I can just get on the elliptical or bike for an hour and move. They also take the most time so I try to only do them once a week!

3. Don’t wash your hair every day. 

Wet hair takes forever to dry (I might be exaggerating). The blow dryer is a time suck not to mention a sound way too annoying to hear before 9AM. Start training your hair to withstand oils and cut back a wash to every other day. I know, I know. If you’re saying you can’t do that, I was there at one point. I washed my hair every single day and hated that when I took a day off it looked oily. But I had to suck it up and deal with those oily days before my hair got used to it and stopped producing so much oil. Since your shampoo strips your hair of the oils, your hair is overworking to reproduce them. Another solution? Meet your new best friend: dry shampoo. Besides, second day hair always looks the best.

PS. this shampoo is my new obsession! I also like to use hair oil – I don’t personally care if it looks a little oily for the office. I care that it’s strong, healthy, and is growing back to my longer length! My hair has legit never felt better and you guys ask me all the time what my routine is so… there you go!

4. Refine your makeup routine. 

Most of my day is spent strategizing how I can be more efficient. My makeup routine is no different. Y’all know I use this 5-minute morning makeup routine daily. It’s 100% safe and non-toxic and literally takes 5 minutes. Maybe you don’t need to do every step every day either. Give yourself back another minute or two. And when you really want to look put together, spend 30 seconds putting on a bold lip. While it took time to put it on, you will appear more put together. I got the question about looking more put together on a day I had worn a bold lip! Not ready for bold? Or maybe you want something moisturizing that you can also build? This one is your best bet and it’s 100% safe.

5. Outfit plan.

This activity generally reminds me of elementary school. While you don’t necessarily have to lay out your outfit the night (or weekend) before, give it some thought. I don’t know about you but the moments that I’m trying to rush out the door are some of my least inspired. Which means that my outfits, if I didn’t at least have something in mind before I walk into my closet, would be really basic. And if what I first picked out doesn’t fit right or go together, it is a slippery slope from there that results in me being 20 minutes late to work.

This past weekend was the first time I tried to outfit plan to the full extent. I mean like actually put on the outfits. While it was hugely helpful to figure out if things worked together, I’m not sure this is something I could do on a regular basis. I’ll resort to just giving my outfits some thought for a few minutes during my morning workout. Maybe it will distract me from the intense burning as I go “up an inch, down an inch” and “life, tone, burn” in Pure Barre. Lucky for you guys, I started posting all my OOTDs here on Visions of Vogue so you can scroll through for some inspo!

I hope that helps! Try a few of these next week and let me know what you think!