DAILY ANCHORS

Mar 30

Written By Sarah

Now does not necessarily seem like the time for rigid daily schedules.

Our world is throwing curve balls right and left, and our everyday reality is changing rapidly before our eyes.

Rather than daily schedules, now is a great time for Daily Anchors.

Daily Anchors are the things that ground us, the things that help us to feel human, the things that nudge us toward having a joyful and fulfilling day no matter what else is happening around us, or out in the world.

Daily Anchors are the things that we can incorporate into our daily rhythms, in order to have a pretty decent day, every day.

Many great thinkers, entrepreneurs, and leaders credit (what I’d call) Daily Anchors with their success and happiness.

Melissa Urban (co-founder of Whole30) doesn’t schedule anything until 10 am, because her Daily Anchors are: exercise, Mind Right meditation, breakfast, and time in the morning with her son. She does these things everyday, almost religiously, because she knows that if she does these things and nothing else, her day will still be pretty great.

Benjamin Franklin asked two questions each day:

What good shall I do today? (in the morning)
What good did I do today? (in the evening)

His schedule included lots of white space with just a few key notes about what we might conclude were his Daily Anchors of: working, writing, reading, and reflection.

Twyla Tharp eats the same thing for breakfast every morning before heading to the studio.

Austin Kleon is a fan of doing one thing that matters every day, crossing it out with an X, and doing it (preferably) in the morning. (Here’s a printable checklist if you want to try to do something every day for the next month, as well).

Anthony Fauci finds time to run amidst his currently grueling schedule (although some sources have said that these days, he’s resorted to walking on the weekends).

The idea, in short, is this: what are the few key things that help us to have a joyful, productive, and fulfilling (or at least relatively decent) day, that are (mostly) within our control?

This is not about “living our best lives” or “playing big” or “going all out.” Rather, this is about a few simple but powerful things that we can do everyday to show up for ourselves and for the world around us - or, at least, for whoever we are interacting with right now in this time of sheltering at home.

It helps to make them as simple, straightforward, and attainable as possible.

A few of my Daily Anchors include:

Morning reflection
Time outside
Movement
Cooking
Connecting with others in a meaningful way

I often shorten my list down to an essential 1-2 when I’m traveling for work or onsite all day with clients. I notice the impact when I do.

With travel being eliminated in this time of social distancing, I’ve found it to be a great time to reconnect to my daily anchors - especially the ones that are easiest to do at home (like cooking).

What are the Daily Anchors that you would add to your list?

And what could it look like to incorporate them - even in some small way - over the course of the upcoming week?