How to use the online timer
Half an hour covers the sequence that gets a household from the end of the evening to lights out: the kitchen dealt with, bags packed for the morning, uniforms found, the last round of teeth and water and one more question. It is the part of the day most likely to overrun, because every item in it is small and none of them look like they will take long.
The countdown works better started at the beginning of the routine than aimed at the end of it, since knowing there are thirty minutes changes the pace of the first ten. Keep this page open on something in the kitchen or the hallway rather than in a bedroom. Closing the tab stops the count, which in a busy half hour nobody notices until it is far too late.
A routine done in the same order every night does most of the work by itself, particularly with younger children, because the order becomes the instruction and nobody has to be told. Doing the morning's preparation the night before — bags by the door, clothes out — moves fifteen minutes from the worst part of the day to the calmest part of the evening.
Common questions
Should the count start at the beginning or aim at bedtime?
At the beginning. Knowing there are thirty minutes changes the pace of the first ten, whereas a countdown to lights out only becomes visible once it is already too late to change anything.
How do I stop it overrunning?
Keep the same order every night, so the sequence becomes the instruction, and move what you can to earlier — bags by the door and clothes out the night before shifts fifteen minutes to a calmer moment.
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