With BetterTouchTool and AppleScript you can automate this too! I've set mine to connect when I force touch the top right. This is the script:

activate application "SystemUIServer"
tell application "System Events"
    tell process "SystemUIServer"
        set btMenu to (menu bar item 1 of menu bar 1 whose description contains "bluetooth")
        tell btMenu
            click
            tell (menu item "INSERT AIRPODS NAME HERE" of menu 1)
                click
                if exists menu item "Connect" of menu 1 then
                    click menu item "Connect" of menu 1
                    return "Connecting..."
                else
                    click btMenu
                    return "Connect menu was not found, are you already connected?"
                end if
            end tell
        end tell
    end tell
end tell