I’d been up for a couple of hours to get my personal time in before the busyness of the day began.  My 11-year-old came down the stairs and announced that he was going to take on a task he really didn’t want to do as soon as he finished breakfast.  I actually loved that moment.

Ever get up in the moment with a sense of dread because of something you had to get done and didn’t want to.  We each have days when we have to tackle many things and don’t want to.  It can be paralyzing.  For some, the heaviness of dread may even inspire us to hit snooze for the second or third time.

I used to be a “snoozer” in the mornings.  When that alarm went off I didn’t want to get started.  A lot of the times I felt that way because I had no idea what I was going to do that day.  Don’t misunderstand, I had many things to do.  I just had no idea which things I would prioritize.

I’ve realized that my life works better when I place healthy rhythms into my day.  I call these rhythms and the guidelines for how I live my “Life SOPs.”

What are Life SOPs?  They are the rules you live by in your own life. They guide you through practices and processes to create predictability when we may be inclined to drift.  

When I worked retail many years ago we had very specific opening routines.  I was required to arrive before all the customers.  I had to stop by the office and pick up the money bag to put cash in my drawer. I then went to my department and powered up the cash register.  I had to put the cash in the drawer in a specific sequence (from left to right it went 1’s, 5’s, 10’s, 20’s).  After that was completed, I would walk the department and to make sure it was ready for our customers.  If I noticed some inventory was low I would put out new inventory to fill the spots.  All of this had to happen before the doors opened and customers arrived.

This routine was very specific every day. Whether I was there or another team member was there, this was how you were trained and how management expected it to operate.

Imagine if there was not an established SOP for the store.  If the department started every day with different procedures it would eventually become less and less predictable.  If someone came in later in the day and I hadn’t gotten the cash or powered up the register it would have created stress for my colleague and our customers.  If we want things to run smoothly and predictably we need to start them off the same way every time.  This same principle can be applied to our lives.

How you start your day has significant implications on how smoothly your day will run. When every day starts off with a different rhythm our results of the day ahead become less predictable. 

Consider how you “open your store” each day. Is the first thing you do a habit that prepares you and adds value?  Or, is it a habit that creates less predictability?  Many of us grab our phones and look at Social Media, emails, or news.  Before long we realize we spent 20 minutes and made no progress in our day.

Want to increase the likelihood of having a productive day?  Try this exercise out:

If you had an important day to plan for, how would you intentionally set the tone for your day?  When will your morning start?  Will you take a shower? Will it include quiet time? Exercise? Coffee?  Prayer?  What will your routine look like on this day when you need to get important work done? 

Now that you know what you plan to do on that important day, consider if that routine can be implemented daily?  If yes, write it down as your “Open the Store” SOP.  If this is not a sustainable practice, modify it accordingly and write it down.  Congratulations, you’ve established your “Open the Store” SOP.  Now get out there and implement it.
NOTE:  If you’re interested in developing your own Life SOP for the rest of your life, you might be interested in a course I’ll be offering this fall called “Building Your Life SOP.”  If you’d like more information on this course click here and we will let you know the details.