5 Wardrobe Hacks for the Busy Man

Who is the busy man?

He is the type that works in an office all week, goes out to meetings regularly and gets caught up in commuter traffic, morning and evening. Every minute is precious, so the less time he has to spend on low level tasks the better.

With a few adjustments the morning getting ready routine can be streamlined, saving minutes every day, just by being slightly more organised.

Here are some of the best wardrobe hacks for the busy man.

Pre tie your Ties

If you are the type of man that can tie his ties blindfolded then this hack isn’t one for you. However if, like many, you need to redo your tie several times before getting it right, take note.

There are several factors that can go wrong with a tie, the knot can be too big, it can be too short, too long or it can simply just not work. Get ahead of time by pre-tying your ties and loosening them. You can do this nightly or if you really want to get ahead, do your ties for the work week ahead.

You can place all the pre-tied ties on a hanger or even on the hangers of the suits you plan to wear. This way you save several minutes in the morning rush to get ready, while also ensuring that your tie always looks perfect.

Place all the pre-tied ties on a hanger or even on the hangers of the suits you plan to wear.

Non-Iron Shirts

Does anyone like to iron? It isn’t something a lot of people look forward to, whether it is done in the morning before you head out the door, or done in advance, the time spent ironing your shirts could be better spent doing something else.

On average, it takes three minutes to properly iron a shirt, let’s add one minute for the iron heating up and another minute to set up the board and get the shirt ready. Five minutes per shirt.

You wear a shirt every weekday for work so that equals 25 minutes a week. For a year, minus the 5.6 weeks average holiday allowance, that equates to 1,160 minutes a year ironing a shirt.

In that time you could:

Watch the Office (UK) three times

Watch the theatrical cut trilogy of Lord of the Rings twice

Or just spend an extra five minutes in bed each morning

Still, it is time that could be saved with the investment in some Savile Row Company non-iron shirts. These shirts simply need to be tumble dried and then hung up. They are then ready to wear straight off the hanger. Enjoy that extra time!

Pair Your Socks

This tip seems more like something your mum would repeatedly yell at you when you were younger, rather than a hack, but it is a massive time saver.

Most will be guilty of mindlessly throwing their socks in their underwear drawer, only to be confronted with a wave of rage the next day when looking for a matching pair. One solution is to only buy the same colour socks, all black socks go together right? But what about those rogue pairs that were given as gifts? You are unlikely to make the right impression in a big client meeting wearing one of those rogue ‘cheesy feet’ socks from your niece.

Take a couple of minutes when you put the washing away to ball your pairs of socks up, making it easier to grab a pair in the morning when you are rushing to get out the door on time.

Take a couple of minutes when you put the washing away to ball your pairs of socks up, making it easier to grab a pair in the morning

Sort your Hangers

Although making the effort to hang your suits is a huge step in the right direction for organisation, the busy man can take their organisation skills a step further by changing the way they hang their outfits for the week.

The best way to avoid having to look through every dark suit in your wardrobe is to decide on a particular day of the week, Sunday for example, which suits you will wear for the week ahead. When you have selected the outfits, place the coat hanger hook the opposite way round to the rest of the items in your wardrobe.

So instead of flicking through a multitude of suits and other outfits like the pages of a magazine, you can just look at the top of the hangers and select one of the suits you set aside for the week.

Unlace your Shoes

The desire to slide those stiff dress shoes off at the door after a busy day in the office is all too tempting. But this thoughtless habit can cause delays the next morning.

Everyone has experienced the frustration of needing to get out the door and not being able to get that shoelace knot undone. What could have been a two-minute job the night before, turns into a ten-minute ballet of man vs laces, often involving a lot of cursing and shoes being launched across hallways.

Make a new habit of unlacing your shoes as you take them off in the evening and pair them together by the door. This makes them ready to go the next day without any added stress. Slip on the shoes, tackle those bunny ears and off you hop.

Make a new habit of unlacing your shoes as you take them off in the evening and pair them together by the door.

These hacks may seem basic, but a surprising amount of men won’t be actioning some if not all of them. Sure, only a few minutes each day are to be gained from implementing each of these into your routine, but these minutes soon add up, so get organised!