Time for PANDA! (morning routine)
It’s become “a thing” to discuss your morning routine as a practice, a strategy, a secret for success. Now that the kids are learning from home in the “During Times,” my morning routine has much more flexibility. If my kids were little, rather than independent high schoolers, I’m sure my morning would start much earlier, with much more hands-on parenting. (Prayers ascending for all who are in that boat- getting up early to work/support young learners/everything else you do.)
A couple of weeks ago I decided to return to a more routinized morning to ensure that my days started well. When I neglect such a routine, I end up feeling crappy at some point during the day- as though my day started without my consent; as though the day was happening TO me.
My morning routine is about AGENCY. I have some agency in how I design the day, in how I set priorities, in how I approach tasks. Of course there will be emergencies, crises, and unexpected happy surprises that I could not foresee, and I’ll shift and respond as best as I can. Nevertheless, when I start the day with some clear focus, space to organize my heart and mind, and delicious French press coffee with a splash (make that three splashes!) of milk, the day can go off the rails and I still feel that sense of agency, peace, readiness.
My morning routine:
I sit down with that French press, a colorful pen (seems essential to keep my interest) and as I sip, I write in my Panda Planner the following…
3 items for which I am grateful
2 items in the day ahead about which I am excited
3 priorities
The day’s schedule
And if I did not do it the night before, I fill in yesterday’s 3 wins, and some way I will improve on yesterday in today.
Panda Planners are designed to promote your happiness and productivity, and I learned about it from my friend Spencer, who is both filled with joy AND productive! In the words of Panda Planner’s founder Michael Leip:
“My hope with Panda Planner is that it will give you the motivation, the inspiration, the system to set aside your stress and challenges, start living a fulfilling life, and crush your goals.”
For those of us with a spiritual practice of prayer, when I “Panda” in the morning with that beaker of hot coffee and colorful pen, I’m praying. I’m haviong my first meeting of the day with God, getting clear about the top things for which I say “thank you, God!” I look for two things to be excited about in the day ahead, which gives me energy.
Over the last six months, which I refer to as the “During Times” of the COVID-19 pandemic, the challenge has been finding something to which I look forward with excitement. Today, it is a packet of tikka masala for lunch and a seminar this evening with people I really like and respect. Somedays, I draw a blank. I have no travels planned, I have no big events on the calendar. I’m not meeting up with colleagues or friends from church for lunch.
I’m a “seven” on the Enneagram, which means I like to bop from exciting adventure to exciting adventure without much rest in between. Being excited is what I do best, and so the “During Times” have rocked my Enneagram Seven boat a bit. I’m more in touch with loss, lament, and the general lows of life. I have to consciously bring the excitement in at times, even as I allow myself to feel the lows, to offer up the laments, to face the losses honestly.
Each day I force myself- and yes, it feels forced sometimes!- to think of two things about which I can muster some shred of excitement. Walking out to collect eggs from the chickens, perhaps. Or feeling some sushine on my face when I walk down the driveway to get the mail. Or trying a new recipe. Or watching Schitt’s Creek with my daughter in the evening.
Whether you panda or pray or organize or walk/think in the morning, I bet your day goes more smoothly if you start with yourself, and get yourself clear before you jump into whatever deep end awaits.
As Rob Voyle, a favorite mentor of mine, says often: “What we water with our attention will grow.”
All the best as you claim the first moments of your day and water it well - may it grow in all the ways that satisfy and delight you.
