Small Rituals

A few rituals I have collected, none of which are profound, all of which I keep.

Morning

I make coffee before I touch my phone. The coffee takes nine minutes. In those nine minutes I look out the window, or I do not. Either way, the day starts in a room with one person in it.

Before writing

I read one paragraph of something I admire. Just one. Not for inspiration; for calibration. I want to remember what good sounds like before I begin.

At noon

I close the laptop and walk for twenty minutes. No podcast. No call. I have solved more problems on these walks than at the desk.

End of the workday

I write tomorrow's first sentence today, while the context is still warm. In the morning I do not have to begin from nothing. I have to continue.

Before bed

I read on paper. Twenty pages of fiction, usually. The screen stays in the other room. Sleep arrives faster on the nights I keep this one.

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None of these are non-negotiable. I skip them often. But on the weeks I keep most of them, the work is better, and so am I.