Life is about streaks isn’t it? Starting good ones, ending bad ones.

I’ve been on a bit of hot streak recently in a few areas of life, and I’m finding that the old adage about momentum is true. Once you’ve got momentum going and on your side, things seem to flow a bit more easily. But working against momentum is almost impossible. It’s one of the reasons why for us at the beginning of another school year, it’s been key for us to establish some early streaks.

Morning Routine Streaks

Coming off of a sabbatical (not simply a vacation) where everything about our pace was slow, relaxed, and expansive, we had to be intentional about making this shift back into the school year. No more sleeping in until whenever, now we have places to be and things to do in the morning. I hadn’t used my alarm in months, did it still work? But, I knew what worked for me and our family. In order for us to feel a similar degree of un-rushed spaciousness in the morning, we needed to pace ourselves.

So, each morning I’ve done a few things to pace myself at the start of each day. First, I get up 30 minutes before my wife and kids to have my own quiet time. For me, this consists of meditation, journaling, and prayer. It helps me settle my mind and breathe. By the time I hear my oldest daughter coming down the stairs at 7am to take the dog out, that’s my cue to move into routine number two, which is making breakfast. For the next 30 minutes I’m making eggs, bacon, oatmeal, hashbrowns, and fruit while the girls are upstairs getting dressed. My daughter Olivia joins me to help cook for herself and siblings (she’s our aspiring chef). I actually had a moment the other morning where we’re both standing in front of the stove cooking where I recognized, this is so cool, being able to cook together. Finally, after everyone has piled into the van (my wife does drop off on most days), I hop on my bike and go for a 25-30 minute ride around the neighborhood. This exercise time has given me life.

Workday Streaks

I’m surprised when people question how folks who work remotely (like myself) can get work done at home. I’ve been working from home since well before the pandemic, in fact hybrid work has been a part of my professional life since I left the classroom in 2007. The key is establishing some consistent routines. For me, again the win is in the streaks. Since we’ve returned from sabbatical and I’ve gotten into our new routines, the first thing I do each day (Monday-Thursday) is write for about an hour. Since I’m at my best in the morning, with more clarity and a fresh perspective, this is when I reserve space to do my most important work. If I don’t do anything else for the rest of the day, this block of time between 9-noon is the ballgame for me. The fact that I’ve been nailing it this past week means I’m on a hot streak, sticking to a routine that’s working for me.

Afternoon and end of day streaks

Admittedly, the early afternoon and end of day is when everything tends to fall apart for me. It happens, especially when you have a lot of young kids running around. I pretty much know that by the time the girls come barreling through the door after 4pm from school, any serious work better be done because nothing else productive will happen. One good routine that has helped us to at least prepare for the next day though is, right before they head outside to play (yep, that’s still a thing), they make their lunches for the next day. At least there’s no rush in the morning to pack. Afterwards, we eat dinner around the table usually between 6-7, do bath and PJs for the littles, and watch a few episodes of Blackish before sending everyone off to their rooms. It works for us thus far, but what’s most important is the consistency we’re building by maintaining these streaks.

Overall, that’s the key to any successful season. Figure out what works for you and your family and then decide how to ritualize those things into the streaks that will build the momentum you need to keep going.

SDW3