Planning Your Outfits For The Week Will Revolutionize Your Mornings
A simple trick to save you time and energy
I believe in planning and organization. It clears my mind and allows me to think, create, and most important of all, be productive. You can usually find me trying to learn the latest discovery to maximize time management, testing a new organization system, and the like. For the past six years I’ve been on a minimalist journey, pairing down my possessions, asking what my essentials are.
In terms of clothing, I have tried Project 333, the 37-item wardrobe, and my favorite so far, and more. I’ve read that decision fatigue can be avoided by automating certain tasks or habits, that great people like Obama, Jobs, and Zuckerberg and also Matt D’Avella have resorted to wearing the same outfit every day. While I cannot go down that road, I’ve discovered the benefits of planning my outfit for the following day. Which lead me to think what would happen if I planned my outfits for the entire week. It completely revolutionized my mornings. Here’s how I did it.
7 day capsule wardrobe
I have chosen an assortment of pieces that amount for a week’s worth of outfits and an extra one just in case. I’ve stored the rest for the time being. This selection includes 7 thermals (it’s cold here), 5 shirts I can rewear if need be, a dress, 4 sweaters on rotation, 4 pants on rotation. Outside of that selection are my two big jackets and accessories.
Hanger tags
You can make your own or buy them. They usually come with the days of the week (Pinterest has some nice ones you can print). However, I’ve discovered that choosing outfits for a particular day was too restrictive for me and that one hanger was not enough. I glued some post-its together and numbered them from one to seven. Each “day” has 3–4 hangers to fit the separate pieces of the outfit without getting them wrinkled.
Plan on laundry day
I’d recommend doing this after you have all your laundry ready. Start building your outfits and putting them in the assigned hangers. As some clothes are on rotation, just leave that space free for when you reuse items. You can hang them there once you have used them for the day. Check the weekly weather forecast and plan accordingly.
Keep accessories in a separate box
Instead of putting scarves, extra thighs, gloves, and more on an outfit’s hanger, I keep them in a small box. If it’s colder, I go to this section to grab the extras I need. If I don’t need them, they are kept neatly organized and out of the way.
Rinse and Repeat
It is up to you whether you change your assortment of clothes every week or whether you do laundry and repeat the same one. I am currently trying to use the same one, since a week’s assortment of outfits allows me infinite combinations and I get to know staples that I love. Try different things and see what works best for you.
Less choice, more freedom
I noticed the benefits of this process during the first week of my testing it. I no longer have to waste time every night planning my outfit, let alone on the day. It takes me about half an hour to lay out my clothes on the hangers, which is less than doing it otherwise. Having the outfits lay by numbers and not days gives me the freedom to still have some options as to my personal preference of the day but the wardrobe is small enough to prevent decision fatigue.
It takes me 5 seconds each morning to decide what to wear
This method has made my mornings more productive but also my nights as I no longer have to constantly think of my outfits. Likewise, it has made me realize that I have more than enough. Seven outfits on rotation have variety, spontainety, but are quite minimal.
After this experiment, which I will continue, I have set the goal to downsize to a weekly setup for each season (and one or two extra outfits). I don’t plan to get rid of my clothes as I do love them and get much use of them but I have decided to not buy anything else and wear them until I can’t anymore. A weekly capsule wardrobe has given me peace of mind and a new tranquility to my morning routine.
