Another Morning

In the post about my Evening Routine I shared the questions I ask myself as I wrap up the day and do some quick journaling.

Along the way the evening questions inspired the idea of questions for my Morning Routine journaling. Some of these questions I made up and the rest I took from Donald Miller’s Storyline Productivity Planner (highly recommended).

I try to answer to answer each of these, though I don’t always. Some mornings I don’t do any journaling, but instead use the “writing portion” of my morning to prepare blog posts. And then other days the early mornings slips away and no writing happens. I do find that writing, much like the reading portion of my morning routine is centering and clears my head.

Questions I Usually Answer

  • What would make today great?
  • Sometimes just writing it down makes it concrete and more possible

  • Today I would like to finish:

  • It’s easy to work on lots of stuff, put out fires, and read lots of email, but it feels really good to finish something–finishing things makes me feel good.

  • If I could live today over again I would:

  • This question is from the Storyline Productivity Planner and is kind of a mind-bender.

  • The idea of this question is to pretend the day is over and you are looking back on it in satisfaction. What would be the things that would have made the day satisfying or fulfilling.

  • Things I get to enjoy today:

  • It’s easy to see the day ahead with dread or all the things must get done.
  • Acknowledge or plan some things into the day that will make it enjoyable.

Questions to Get Really Clear on What I Will and Won’t Do Today

I don’t always make it this far. It’s also a section I recently added that I’m playing with.

  • What things MUST get done today? Keep this list short (no more than three)?
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  • What are nice-to-haves for today? If they get done it’s great. If they don’t it’s not the end of the world.
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  • Things I commit to NOT doing today. This might mean staying off social media, checking email, reading the news, etc. Whatever your biggest time wasters are.
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Over to You

Are there any questions you ask yourself or commit to as part of your morning routine?