Routine Matters More Than Ritual
Good routines are portable. And good routines are pliable. By all means, sanctify your spaces. If you are able to craft a workspace that inspires you then enjoy that coveted place to begin the hard work. But let your ritual adorn your routine instead of dictating it.
If you work best with classical music while sitting at your west-facing desk with a paperweight-heavy Himalayan pink sea salt candle deionizing your air, it’s wonderful that you’ve discovered that and cultivated an inspired atmosphere for your creativity.
But if you absolutely cannot work without your lucky pen, your ergonomic desk chair, and your favorite notebook what happens when you go out of town? Or family obligations arise? Or work conflicts? What happens when your writing makes you so successful that you need to travel for speaking engagements and book tours? That’s the goal, isn’t it? So how do you maintain that routine in hotel rooms? On layovers? In different time zones with jet lag compromising every lobe of your wobbly brain?
Ritual is how you decorate your space. Routine is how you use your time. Wherever you are. While there is some overlap there, and ritual can be emotively beautiful, you can’t be beholden to it. If you are it has become superstition instead of the steady grind.
