Habits, routines, and rituals are all frequently written about and discussed. Sometimes they are interchanged in conversation, and many don’t understand the difference.
As I have spent years working on routines and habits, I’ve had question like:
Do stacked habits become routines?
Or is the opposite true, do routines become practiced over time become habits?
How and when has a habit or routine become a ritual?
Today, I found a framework that made sense to me in a great blog post by Anne-Laure Le Cunff. The title was simply “Habits, Routines, Rituals”. Her explanation for habits and routines is that routines have more intention where habits are often unconscious. Adding more intentionality, you get to rituals.
This suggests that the difference between the three is energy and awareness of the activity in your life. Habits require the least energy and awareness. Rituals require the most. Routines fall in the middle.
My Story
I love a good routine. They make me comfortable, help me with transitions in my day, and ensure I do some of the things I want or need to do. My routines adjust and evolve to fit the current time.
My routines look different at different times of the year.
They were very different with life stages – small children, teenagers, and young adults.
Even my priorities in a week can slightly shift routines.
There are some habits that are always part of my routines (brushing my teeth).
Other activities that come and go (meditation). They are part of the routine, but not a habit.
The routines that always exist for me are my morning routine, work start up and shut down (first and last 30 minutes of the day), exercise, and before bed. The exact time of day each of these occurs can vary depending on my schedule, but these five find a space somewhere in the day.
I struggle with the rituals. For me, a routine becomes a ritual when emotion is sprinkled in. If I look at my routines, those closest to the ritual with the most emotion and intentionality are the morning and exercise routines. These are the ones where I intentionally strive to ground myself and be fully present.
Your Turn
How do habits, routines, and rituals show up for you?
Are there changes you are looking into making with some of your routines?
A resource to consider as you build habits is Gretchen Rubin’s book “Better Than Before”. This book offers techniques based on behavioral science that can help build habits.