Much of the world has transitioned to a new stage of the COVID-19 pandemic. We’ve gone from, “We’re in a crisis,” to “This is how it’s going to be.”

An important question to ask ourselves now is: What will enable me to thrive in this new chapter?

In that vein, one aspect of settling into this new reality is to institute rituals that suffuse each day with connection, structure, and transition.

This week, we’ve asked some of our teammates at The Granger Network to share rituals they’ve each developed for themselves over the last few months.

1. Centering, Work-Free, News-Free Coffee Breaks

“One ritual I have is to make a cup of coffee, slowly, carefully, using an AeroPress. As I press it down, I breathe and center. I then take that cup of coffee and sit for a few minutes and read something entirely unrelated to work or the news.”
– Ronni Hendel-Giller (Executive and Leadership Coach)

2. No Drama Pajama Time

“Once my boyfriend and I are done with the day, we have a strict ‘no drama pajama’ time, in which we decide at a certain point in the night that we are no longer going to be productive, and any remaining concerns in the day will be handled tomorrow. We change into the comfiest clothes or pajamas we have and just have fun for the rest of the night.”
– Haley Roberson (Technical Product Manager)

3. Commute Replacement: Creating Transition Time

“My commute has traditionally been really important to me, so I’ve tried to recreate that. My husband and I started “commute walks” back in April to give ourselves 20 minutes of transition time. Sometimes I drive to a Starbucks drive-through just to give myself 15 minutes of a ‘driving commute’ in the morning. If we need it, we ask each other if we can have a little ‘commute time.’”
– Kari Granger (CEO and Principal) 

4. Seeking New Horizons

“I’ve put in place several rituals to ensure my home doesn’t become my whole world. They can be as simple as working from my patio and catching each day’s unique sunset, to going for long drives with my hubby through nearby mountains, towns, and farmlands to get a more dramatic change of scenery.”
– Lindsey Joiner (Director, Marketing and Product Dev)

5. Social Breaks During the Workday

“When I went into the office, I never used I used to make social calls during the day. I’d save that for after work. Now that I no longer have those natural interactions with colleagues, I make a few 5-15 minute “social calls” to random friends/family during the day. This is way of injecting some social interaction into my day, and it makes a huge difference.”
– Noey Jacobson (Content Strategist)

What rituals have you made your own? Or, what new rituals do you plan to start?

We’d love to know!