Note: this note is not About “rituals” in the way that OCD sufferers use the word.
Rituals seem like a good way to interject “just enough” structure into a life. Rituals are nothing other than a “chunk” of behavior undertaken on some frequent basis. Rituals could be triggered through environmental cues or scheduled. Rituals are perhaps just a slightly more ‘formal’ way of characterizing Foundational Habits. Rituals are essentially Templates of behavior.
They seem like a good idea for both personal and interpersonal use cases. You could have your own little rituals, or ones undertaken by your group to facilitate Human Synchrony. In these cases, it may not come as “naturally” to create & use rituals, but perhaps they should be (from time to time) manufactured.
They quite literally can be enabled through the intentional use of templates. They can be established through Contextual Reminders and/or Implementation Intentions.
Rituals can be crafted to “bake in” best practices and the principles upon which you want to act. They can be used as Habit Stacking mechanisms.
Example Rituals
Calendar Driven
- Weekly Review
- Scrum Ceremonies
- Fitness Tests
Environment Driven
- Michael Phelps Race Routine
- Washing your hands after you use the bathroom
- Making coffee while preparing breakfast
- Watching YouTube while folding laundry
Source
- Self