Before I sat down to write this post, I changed out of the clothes that I wore to sleep. I put on a button-up shirt, pants, socks, put my coffee on the left side of my keyboard, and put on Ludovico Einaudi.
Embedded in my ritual is a message. It’s a message that says that it’s time to do good work.
Rituals create boundaries between activities. I can’t get into flow if I’m near the objects that remind me of sleep. I can’t sleep if I’m near the objects that remind me of work.
Of course, rituals and standards will vary. Your standard and my standard are different. What works for you won’t work for me. But it might. So we borrow. We borrow and adjust to fit our temperament, size, climate, skill, interest, hobby, economy.
Adjusting to fit is necessary. The alternative is to superimpose somebody else’s routine onto ours. And all that does is lead to burnout.
I can’t wake up at 4:00 in the morning everyday, and you can’t handle the sheer intensity of the coffee that I drink.
p.s
Episode six of the podcast is up. It’s about flow. Click here to listen.
