Back in Week 2 of Daily Shoring, I wrote about establishing a morning ritual, bookending your day, and a bedtime ritual.  Today, I want you to think about protecting your most important daily routines.

Over the past weeks, have you progressed in establishing or refining your daily rituals?

How do you protect the time for these rituals in your day?  How can you protect these habits when life is especially stressful and chaotic?  Times of stress are when you most need the grounding of daily rituals, but also when it’s easiest to let life get in the way.

So today, I want you to identify the “absolutes” in your daily rituals.

It’s a good idea to winnow down your “ideal” daily routines to the most meaningful few minutes–your “absolutes.”  These are the rituals  that you get the most out of and shouldn’t skip, no matter how stressful life becomes.  On a daily basis, aim for the ideal, but commit yourself to the absolutes, no exceptions.

Which part of your daily ritual has the greatest positive impact and how can you protect that time?

It can be as simple as planning your day with your morning cup of coffee or 5 minutes of gentle stretching before bedtime.

If you have not made progress with daily rituals, here are a couple of posts for inspiration!

Steven Pressfield’s Morning Routine

Asian Efficiency’s Evening Rituals

What daily rituals are most important to you?