Rites of Passage

How the ThoughtMatter Staff Adapted to Major Change Over the Last 12 Months

On the evening of March 12, 2020, we all packed up our laptops, left the office and headed home. We haven’t worked a day there since.

That Friday, March 13th , was intended to be a work-from-home trial run. We’d see how things went, and all come back on Monday to discuss what worked, and what didn’t. Instead, on that day, a new way of working, living and thinking officially began.

Now, with more than 50 Spotify playlists and virtual happy hours and countless Zoom meetings under our belt, we wanted to reflect on everything this year of confinement has both brought us and taken away. When we think about what we’ve learned about ourselves and others, one notion that stands out from the rest is the capacity for people to adapt to something new, no matter the scale.

We’ve all had to figure out how to change and adjust as individuals, as communities, and as colleagues. We’ve developed new habits and gotten rid of old ones; engaged in rituals we couldn’t have fathomed before. We even figured out that a lot the ways we were so used to doing things were probably not the best approaches.

To gain deeper insight into how our own studio has adapted, we presented each member of our staff with a prompt: Share with us a new habit you’ve developed or ritual you’ve taken part in over the last year. Who knows? You may have surprised yourselves with what you came up with. For instance, maybe someone took up knitting to pass the time, or baked cookies, or did meditation, or simply joined others from the neighborhood banging pots and pans out the window at 7PM each evening to celebrate healthcare workers. Whatever it was, we’re interested.

What we heard back included an abundance of importance put on new coffee rituals, tending to chicken coops, sharing goods with neighbors via a giving fence, early morning work sessions wrapped in the same blanket, multiple wardrobe changes and much more.

Sam Barbagiovanni, Design Director

I wake up at sunrise to open the coop — the joys or hassles of tending to the chickens, depending on the day. Next up is morning time tunes, dancing ridiculously like no one’s watching, except they probably are because we don’t have blinds on any of the windows.
There’s also actually making and enjoying lunch, chopping and stacking wood for evening, Zen fires, neighborhood walks, weekly Korean and Italian dinners and daily affirmations and words of gratitude for my new home.

Jason Chen, Experiential Designer

I’ve bought many plants over the last year, so as a result one of the new habits I’ve developed is watering plants. It is very meditative to walk around the apartment, take up each pot, and just spray and water them.

A new ritual of mine is taking photos. I started to make videos of me taking photos starting last November. My routine is to shoot every weekend and edit the video during weekday nights.

Wednesday Krus, Design Director

The world is a tangled mess of unpredictable chaos, and while most people have been turning to rituals and habits to help them cope, I’ve gone in the opposite direction. My new ritual is having no rituals. I’ve embraced a less rigid life. Having no rituals or habits to commit to daily has helped me break up the sea of sameness we’re all living in.

Phillip Lauria, Senior Strategist

Something that I started doing over the summer that’s had the greatest impact on my day has been my morning pages. I pour myself a cup of coffee and write what’s on my mind until I’ve filled three pages in my notebook. It usually takes me about 30 minutes. It’s been such a great way to clear the cobwebs and get myself in the right mindset for the day.

Whitney Burnett, Design Operations Manager

My morning coffee ritual has been very important. I invested in a grinder and I love waking up each morning going through the steps of putting the kettle on, grinding a handful of beans, placing them in the filter, and slowly brewing my first cup of the day. Best enjoyed with oat milk, duh!

Ben Greengrass, Creative Director

The Giving Fence

If we we’re ordering produce, baking cakes, making masks, buying in bulk or could offer anything helpful, we thought of neighbors and asked if they wanted to join the party.
We started leaving things on the fence and they started doing the same. Now we have a fully-fledged swap shop on the go.

Items exchanged on the giving fence include:
Levain Cookies
Bagels on a Friday
Ramakins
Hand-made face masks
Insect Repellant
Yeast and baked Bread
Cup of Sugar
A plastic dinosaur
Magazines

I had to go out in a snow drift and clear a space on the giving fence as even a blizzard couldn’t stop this new ritual.

Sarah Mohammadi, Senior Designer

Since moving to the USA in early 2000’s my parents have been planning (plotting actually) their return back to Iran. The goal was to start building a house in 2020, visit a few times during the year to make sure it was going as planned, and eventually move in during 2021. Then the pandemic hit; they never got a chance to finalize the house plans; and I fled NYC for Maine — only to find myself as their new architect, designing their home on my 15" MacBook Pro using a tool that was never intended to be used to build a home, Illustrator.

My weekend ritual for the past year has been mapping out every inch of their house, drawing up floor plans, figuring out if the shower doors swing in or out and, most important, choosing the fruit trees for their backyard. (In case you too are blindly building a home in another country via WhatsApp, 6 feet is the appropriate distance between trees.) It’s an unexpected ritual I’ve come to terms with; one weekend I’ll learn to love it.
PS. Adobe if you’re reading this, please add 3D rendering to Illustrator.

Debra Katz-Velazquez, Controller

Since I have “gained” 2 hours a day not having to commute, I wake up a bit later than normal. However, I use an hour in the morning to just get going before work. I put coffee on, check emails, pay bills, check in with family via text and read a few news articles.

These are things I would do when I got home. Using morning time starts off my day as productive and I don’t feel rushed when I start working. I can then use that “going home” hour to cook and/or catch up on shows.

Nicole Duval, Design Strategist

Before the pandemic, during the early morning train ride my ritual was reading and daydreaming facing the window frame of the moving train. I got my best ideas sitting on the same old brownish seat, recognizable by its stitches as my favorite spot.

During the lockdown, I anchored my morning habit by working religiously at the end corner of the long wood table at home while wrapped in a warm, red, rather ugly poncho-blanket. It was a present from my parents when I was still a teenager and which, in a sneaky way, has travelled with me through all these years on another continent. It emerged a year ago from nowhere to warm my chilly body and began to be my comfortable blanket to mark the beginning of my day.

Brianna Jacobson, Copywriter

After much experimentation over the last year, I’ve discovered the perfect recipe for a great cup of iced coffee: pint glass, metal straw, 4 large ice cubes, one shot espresso, unsweetened cold brew (which I buy a big bottle of at the grocery store), and a splash of oat milk. There’s no better way to start the day.

Roe Bressan, Business Advisor

I change my clothes 3 times day now.

WAKE UP: change from PJ’s to camo sweats and a down sweater
AFTER SHOWER: change into ‘work clothes’
AFTER WORK: change into camo sweats and a down sweater
BED: change into PJ’s

Hua Chen, Designer

I make a lot of loose-leaf tea and matcha at home now in the mornings.

Johan Vipper, Art Director

Daily long walks. The time varies but they can go anywhere from 45 minutes to four hours. We’ve been trying to pick as many different areas as possible to walk so as not to get bored with the same scenery, but there have been a lot of walks along East River since we live close by.

Kalina O’Donnell, Human Resources

Over the last 9 months I have been working on my morning routine and have continued to fine-tune it as my needs changed. The routine is a simple one.

I preset the coffee machine the night before. I wake up to with a nice warm cup of coffee, sit on my couch under a blanky, and I read a book/novel for the next 30–45mins (depending on how early I wake up and how good the book is). After reading, I set up my yoga mat, put on work-out clothes, light some incense and meditate for 10–15 minutes. Following meditation, I begin a 30-minute Yoga exercise. After I am done with my exercise I shower, get ready, take vitamins, grab my 2nd cup of coffee and usually some sort of breakfast.

This is a routine that I struggled with for a while. What I realized was that I first had to start focusing on what I wanted to do that would bring me joy and make me want to wake up early. I also realized that I need to ease into exercise and that focusing on my intentions first can help me get in the mood to work out.

D’Angelo Heyward, Design Intern

Over the last year I developed this habit of the “hustle”. In other words, I’ve learned what it means to really grind and stay busy — whether I’m working on client projects, teaching virtual afterschool or completing an intensive course. Working remote has its pros and cons. One must learn how to really balance, and it’s difficult but not impossible.

Joahnnalee Ucol, Marketing and Business Development Intern

A new habit I’ve developed this year working from home is deep cleaning my apartment daily every chance I get throughout the day! Pre-COVID, I found it very challenging to upkeep my apartment since I was always out and about in the city every day. But since WFH life, It’s just been so much easier to maintain my apartment. Mr. Clean would be proud!

Martha Kirby, Client Services Director

I eat dinner at 6:30 now — a time that I would normally still be at the office. I now understand the early birds. Being able to begin cooking dinner at 6pm, eat at 6:30 and still have time to wind down and decompress before going to bed is a game changer for me. I’ve always gone to bed a bit early and this routine fits more within my natural rhythms.

Dylan Stiga, Integrated Brand Strategist

FaceTime

Pre-pandemic I essentially despised the app and got irritated anytime some tried to get my face on screen instead of a regular call or simple text. However, as quarantine went on I found myself appreciating these video calls from friends and families, and also started to reach out to them in the same manner. Maybe it’s a habit that stemmed from daily Zoom sessions with colleagues, but over this year it’s also been the one of the closest things to sharing the same space as your loved ones. I’ve definitely grown to appreciate this once vexing app.

Katie Williams, Senior Account Manager

It’s been part of my morning routine for many years to do the New York Times crossword on my phone on the subway ride to work. While I don’t have a commute anymore, I’ve still been waking up just as early to have a cup of coffee and do the crossword, and the other new NYT puzzle games, in the morning! To slowly enjoy a cup of coffee, rather than quickly drink it to get my morning jolt, and wake up my brain with some puzzles is something I really look forward to each day.

Tom Jaffe, Founder

Radio

When I get up in the morning I always listen to WFMU’s 6–9AM Wake and Bake show DJ’d by Clay Pigeon. I used to turn it off once I was ready to leave the house and head to work. But over the past year being stuck at home thanks to COVID-19 I haven’t needed to do that so now I can keep WFMU on as long as I want throughout the day. Heaven.

The pandemic has caused tremendous damage, struggle and heartache. It has also provided an opportunity for many of us to take a step back and reflect on where we are and where we want to be. The habits and rituals developed over the last year by our staff show both a renewed importance on self-care, as well as the desire to build stronger connections and support systems with others. As the world begins to open back up, we’ll want to observe how these personal habits and rituals hold up, and what their impact will be once we start to share and partake in them more with others.

ThoughtMatter is a creative branding, design and strategy studio in New York City’s Flatiron District. Find us on Twitter.