Ritual Vs. Routine

A Peak-Season to-do list worth checking off

Jul 22, 2025

Hi team!

Happy Monday! I hope your weekend was filled with sunshine. I was so enamored with today’s weather—75, sunny, light breeze, total hammock weather—that I completely forgot to write and post this newsletter.

How was your weekend?

Are you settling into a new routine now that peak season is here?
Or are you like me—feeling a touch frustrated because your routine has changed? The extra time I had just a few months ago feels like a luxury. The days feel shorter (even though they’re longer), and I’m jumping from task to task and place to place with far less breathing room.

Until I realized something today…

You know that old saying: “You can’t do the same thing and expect different results?”
Well, in hospitality’s peak season, the opposite is also true:

You can’t do different things and expect the same results either.

In pre-and post-season (our 9–5 desk job ha), I’m much more likely to do the self-care things much more routinely: meditate, eat well, stretch, read, socialize. And in the past few months, I’ve been missing that routine so much that the longing for it started to hold me back.

And then it him me—it’s unfair to expect the same routines to work when my schedule and environment has changed.

Imagine a marathon runner or professional athlete who trains in the spring in the Northeast and then heads to Colorado for the summer. They can still train, of course—but with the elevation and climate shift, they’ll need to adjust their technique, their type of training, their time running and even their recovery time. AND they’ll need to redefine success mentally too - especially when they feel slower or out of shape due to lack of oxygen in the mountains. If they expected to train the exact same way they do at home, they probably won’t be a professional athlete for very long.

So, since our “climate” has shifted into peak season, I reframed two options for myself:

1. Create a new routine. One that fits the time and schedule I actually have. One that’s lighter, more realistic, simpler, and still rooted in care.

2. Prioritize ritual over routine. There are rituals I’ve built in the off-season that I can still carry into this one. Rituals are more flexible than routines, but they can still offer the same sense of continuity, calm, and happiness. Here’s an example:

Let’s say your pre-season routine was a 60-minute morning yoga practice before you start work at 10 am. During peak season, that may feel impossible.

But a ritualized version might be:

Lighting a candle and taking three deep breaths before opening your inbox.
Doing one cat-cow stretch while your coffee brews.
Setting an intention for the day while washing your face.
Doing a 10-minute at-home Peloton yoga class.

These are flexible, don’t require much time, and still help you come back to yourself. Rituals are rooted in meaning more than duration—they’re small acts that carry emotional or symbolic weight, even when life feels busy.

I asked ChatGPT for some data on rituals and here’s what came up:

Rituals increase a sense of control.
A study published in Personality and Social Psychology Review (Norton & Gino, 2014) found that rituals help reduce anxiety, especially in unpredictable or high-pressure environments. That’s because rituals offer structure when life feels chaotic.
Rituals enhance emotional well-being and connection.
Harvard researchers found that when people engage in meaningful rituals (even mundane ones), they report stronger social bonds and more positive emotions—especially when those rituals are shared.
The power is in the intention.
Unlike routines, rituals don’t have to be productive. A 2020 study from the Journal of Experimental Psychology found that rituals (even invented ones) increase feelings of groundedness and meaning, just by giving significance to an act.

Sounds legit to me. ;)

When I think about us in the relation to the athlete in CO, our time and environment has shifted during peak season. But these two strategies can help create a new routines, or uncover the rituals.

Shrink to fit. (physical)
Take your past routines and scale them down. Cut them in half—or even quarters. A little bit of something is better than nothing of everything.
Redefine success (mental)
Lower you bar—on purpose. If it supports you, even just a little, that’s a win. Consistency over intensity, especially in this season.

Here’s how I’m creating a new routine and prioritizing rituals:

No matter what time of year it is, I’ve found that if I do just three things, I feel like myself:
– Drink water
– Move or meditate (equal benefits for me)
– Read or write

So to make these happen—and only these—I added a simple checklist to my fridge. Just three daily, doable wins:

Read 3 pages or write down 3 things I’m grateful for
Do 5 minutes of movement or meditation
Finish 2 Stanleys of water

That’s it. Probably the easiest checklist I’ve ever made—and that’s the point. These rituals are flexible and achievable, and for me, they have meaning. They mean I’ve prioritized myself. They can happen any time of day and always help me reset.

How about you? What’s one small ritual you’re holding onto right now?

I’m talking ‘bare minimum but it still counts’ ritual?

Happily Ever After

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