Rituals Circa 2023

I have a lot of checklists and systems. Definitely too much. My friend Errin asked if he could steal the templates, so some quick thoughts.

Rituals help me by…

  • Providing a sense of progression and time-pass when working remote.
  • Holding long-term goals in front of my daily thoughts.
  • Correctly balancing lead and lag measures.1
  • Highlighting Weak Signals2 before problems escalate with health or relationships.

I am a crazy man. I have built this up over years. Don't copy this verbatim. Steal one thing that's good, but be inspired but terrified by the rest.

🗒️ Daily: journal/daily/YYYY-MM-DD.md

---
follower:
husband:
father:
health:
create:
work:
plan:
---

This is the template for the daily note. I rate myself on my intentions from 1-3 in areas of my life: - 1 = Didn't try. - 2 = Showed up. - 3 = Broke a sweat.

The following becomes a sort of "bullet journal" for what happened that day. Highlights, funny things my kids said, insights from meetings at work… etc.

🌅 Daily Plan (Workdays @ 9a)

# 🧩 Daily Plan

In order to be effective with my day, I design my day with the right balance of focus, time, and effort.

- [ ] 🙏 Pray. Wisdom to know, strength to do.
- [ ] ⭐ Protect the [essential](things:///show?id=today&filter=@Meazure%20Learning,$High).
- [ ] 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Prioritize [family projects](things:///show?id=anytime&filter=@Family).
- [ ] 👨 Choose [personal tasks](things:///show?id=anytime&filter=@Me).
- [ ] 📅 Check schedule.
- [ ] 🕊 Make room for margin.

Tags: Rituals: Daily

This ritual gets done 50% of the time. I mostly plan my day the previous night in the Workday Shutdown ritual. This one is designed to help me remember what's important, fill the remaining plan with useful intention, and stay healthy.

🌇 Workday Shutdown (Workdays @ 4p)

# 🗃 Workday Shutdown

As a faithful steward, I put my work in order to be prepared for the next day, identifying the essential task for the next day.

- [ ] Open the [Daily Note](obsidian://advanced-uri?vault=wiki&commandname=Periodic%20Notes%3A%20Open%20daily%20note).
- [ ] 🕰 Review [time logs](https://track.toggl.com/timer) and time blocks. Mark misspent time on Calendar blocks.
- [ ] 📓 [Log tasks/projects](things:///show?id=logbook).
- [ ] 📝 Process notebook.
- [ ] 📨 Process [Drafts inboxes](drafts://).
- [ ] 📥 Dump your brain into the Inbox. Get it all out.
- [ ] 📤 Process [Things inbox](things:///show?id=inbox). (:estimate, $focus, !modality, priority)
- [ ] 🗓 Time block [tomorrow](things:///show?id=tomorrow).
- [ ] 😴 Shut down. (Close. Speak. Shut. Trash. Door. Go home.)
- [ ] 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Go live in Coram Deo this evening.

Tags: Rituals: Daily

This ritual is the rock of my whole system. I go through my inboxes, give all the straggling thoughts a home, log everything I intend to log, and leave the desk for the evening.

This I originally installed as a response to overworking after reading Deep Work, but it's expanded to be "manager time" to keep me on track.

🗒️ Weekly: journal/weekly/YYYY-W[week number].md

---
Goal1:
Goal2:
---

# Weekly Review: date%3Agggg-%5BW%5Dww

<div class='admonition  tldr'><p>![[journal/yearly/2023#Theme]]</p>
</div>

## Planning

## Review

### 👍:

### 👎:

### ✅:

---```dataviewjs
let p = function(b) {
  switch(b) {
    case "": return ""; break;
    case " ": return ""; break;
    case 0: return "⚫"; break;
    case 1: return "🔴"; break;
    case 2: return "🟡"; break;
    case 3: return "🟢"; break;
  }
}

let f = function(d) {
  return `[[${d.obsidianLink()}|${moment(d, 'YYYY-MM-DD').format("dd")}]]`;
}

let start = moment(dv.current().file.name, "gggg-[W]ww");
let end = start.clone().add(6, 'd');

dv.header(2, `Dailies: ${start.format("MM-DD")} - ${end.format("MM-DD")}`)
dv.table(
  ["📆", "🙏", "👫", "👨‍👩‍👧‍👦", "💪", "🖌", "💻", "🎯"], dv.pages('"journal/daily"')
    .filter(d => moment(d.file.name).isBetween(start, end, undefined, '[]'))
    .sort(d => d.file.day, 'asc')
    .map(d => [f(d.file.link), p(d.follower), p(d.husband), p(d.father), p(d.health), p(d.create), p(d.work), p(d.plan)])
)
​```

This is the weekly template where all the weekly events show up. It rolls up the daily ratings into something digestible… it's pretty common for me to spot little patterns that I need to address.

The Goals at the top are found in the Quarterly note and roll up there eventually.

🗃️ Weekly Review (Fridays @ 4p)

<div class='admonition  info'><p>Live <em>coram deo</em>. Plan this week in the presence of God.</p>
</div>

## 📓 Prep

- [ ] 🙏: Pray. Ask the Lord for wisdom and clarity on what is important eternally.
- [ ] 📓: Review journal and [daily notes](obsidian://advanced-uri?vault=wiki&commandname=Periodic%20Notes%3A%20Open%20weekly%20note).
- [ ] ✅: What did you [accomplish](things:///show?id=logbook)?
- [ ] 💭: What can you learn from last week?
- [ ] 📈: Put logged successes in [OKR system in ADP](https://workforcenow.adp.com/theme/index.html#/Myself/MyselfTabTalentCategoryPerformanceGoals).
- [ ] 📝 Get Clear:
  - [ ] Do a brain dump. Add any tasks or projects you come up with to the Things inbox.
  - [ ] Process your physical inbox. Create tasks in Things for each item in your physical inbox that you want to take action on.
  - [ ] Process your email inbox. Use Mail to Things to forward emails you need or want to take action on to your Things inbox.
  - [ ] Process your Things inbox. Assign each task to an area or to a project. Tag appropriately. (:estimate, $focus, !categorize, priority)
- [ ] Go through each of your projects. Use the checklist[^checklist].

[^checklist]:
    ## 📂 For Each Area:
    - [ ] Are your projects in correct priority order?

    ### 📁 For Each Project:
    - [ ] Is this project still relevant?
    - [ ] Can I delegate this project?
    - [ ] Should I move this project to Someday?
    - [ ] Are there are tasks I have already completed?
    - [ ] Are there any tasks I want to delete?
    - [ ] Am I happy with the structure of the project? E.g., should I add or change headings?
    - [ ] Do all tasks with deadlines have the correct deadline set?
    - [ ] Could I add useful notes to any tasks or to the project itself?
    - [ ] Are any new tasks for this project not yet in Things?
    - [ ] Should I convert any tasks to separate projects?
    - [ ] Is there a clear 'next action' for this project? (If not, break down your projects or tasks into smaller tasks until there is a clear next action.)
    - [ ] How can you serve and surprise in this area?

## 📅 Plan

- [ ] Look ahead at the week. Using Deadlines and Upcoming, examine the week and month to find tasks that need to be done, and space them out through the week.
- [ ] Make time for important work. Create 4 hour strategic blocks and identify some buffer blocks.
- [ ] Schedule in the most important task for the day. Using [Upcoming](things:///show?id=upcoming&filter=%40Meazure%20Learning%2CEstimates), schedule the important task for the day.

Besides the Workday Shutdown, this is the other ritual that keeps everything running.

Parts of the list came from Peter Akkies, some of it is automated now.

🫂 Family Weekly (Fridays @ 7p)

# 📖 Weekly Meeting

## Rapport
- [ ] 🙏🏻 Prayer.
- [ ] 👂 How are you in one word?
  - [ ] Screen Time Check

## What's the plan?
- [ ] 🗓 Check [last week’s entry](obsidian://advanced-uri?vault=wiki&commandid=periodic-notes%253Aprev-weekly-note).
- [ ] 📉 Check the [Monthly Plan](obsidian://advanced-uri?vault=wiki&commandid=periodic-notes%253Aopen-monthly-note).
- [ ] 📈 Check our progress against [12WY Scoreboard](obsidian://advanced-uri?vault=wiki&commandid=periodic-notes%253Aopen-quarterly-note).

## What should we change?
- [ ] 🚦 Start / Stop / Continue:
  - [ ] 🟢 What should we start?
  - [ ] 🟡 What should we continue?
  - [ ] 🔴 What should we stop?
- [ ] 🪨 Big Rocks…
  - [ ] Spiritual Leadership?
  - [ ] School?
  - [ ] Next House?
  - [ ] Good Vibes Only?
  - [ ] Leaving and Cleaving?

## Follow through.
- [ ] ❓ Any [questions](things:///show?id=anytime&filter=@Family) to answer?
- [ ] 📆 [What are we committed to next week](fantastical2://show?date=week)?
- [ ] 🧱 Set aside time blocks:
  - [ ] Groceries and errands?
  - [ ] Family-together time?
  - [ ] Fellowship with other families?
  - [ ] Time to work/talk together on the Big Problems?
  - [ ] Projects? (Walking project dictation to unpack and delegate)
- [ ] 💴 Budget Update.

## Reset our purpose.
- [ ] ⛰ What are you going to look forward to this week?
- [ ] 🤗 Express gratitude.

Tags: @Family, Rituals: Weekly

This ritual changes a good bit as my wife and I find new things to work on together. One recent adjustment is to have a 🪨 Big Rocks header that contains nudges to check in on important conversations or projects.

🗒️ Monthly: journal/monthly/YYYY-MM.md

(Monthly doesn't have a format at the moment.)

🗓️ Family Monthly (Last Friday of Month)

# 📆 Family Monthly Meeting

The goal is to be through this in less than thirty minutes,[^format] in addition to the [[Family Weekly]].

- [ ] 👈 Review the [last month's plan](obsidian://advanced-uri?vault=wiki&commandid=periodic-notes%253Aprev-monthly-note) and [quarterly plan](obsidian://advanced-uri?vault=wiki&commandid=periodic-notes%253Aopen-quarterly-note).
- [ ] 📆 Look ahead at schedule for the month…
- [ ] 🔨 Identify this month's most important event or project?
- [ ] 🏆 Define success for the month. In this month…
  - [ ] What is a task or routine that will help us work towards best possible week sometime this month?
- [ ] 📈 What micro-adjustment do we want to make to our daily schedule?
- [ ] ⛰ What Real Life Experience are we going to have this month?
- [ ] 🧘 One way we can protect margin this month is…
- [ ] 🏠 Prioritize home maintenance backlog.
- [ ] 🗑️ Pick a declutter space and budget time.
- [ ] Pick a "Deep Cleaning" day.
- [ ] 💸 Create/adjust budget goals.
- [ ] 🛑 Block off days to succeed at our projects…

Tags: @Sarah Travers, Rituals: Monthly

[^format]: Taken in part from Plan Your Year 2020.

Family Monthly is a touchstone for making sure we understand how crammed our current commitments are and make space for weekend projects like painting or tackling a closet.

🗒️ Quarterly: journal/quarterly/YYYY-Q[N].md

---
# rate your outcomes from 1 to 5 in the following roles…
roles:
- Follower:
- Husband:
- Father:
- Friends:
- Work:
- Hobbies:
- Emotions:
- Mental:
- Health:
- Rest:
- Finances:
---
## Plan

### Goals

#### Goal 1: _Goal_

#### Goal 2: _Goal_

## Review

### Where are you in each area of life?```dataviewjs
// we have to sort somehow, so we convert the names to numbers and sort
const s = function(i) {
  return Number(i.replace('-Q', ''));
}

const allQuarters =
  dv.pages('"journal/quarterly"')
    .array()
    .sort(function(a, b) {
      return s(a.file.name) - s(b.file.name);
    })

let currentIndex = allQuarters.findIndex((q) => q.file.name == dv.current().file.name);

const quarters = allQuarters.slice(currentIndex - 3, currentIndex+1);

let datasets = [];

let trans = function(color) {
  return color.replace(', 1)', ', 0.5)');
}

let colors = [
  'rgba(105,105,105, 1)',
  'rgba(169,169,169, 1)',
  'rgba(211,211,211, 1)',
]

const purple = 'rgba(139,108,239, 1)';
let highlight = '#fff';

if (document.body.classList.contains('theme-light')) {
  colors.reverse();
  highlight = '#000';
}

colors.push(purple);

for (let i in quarters) {
  let quarter = quarters[i];
  if (quarter.hasOwnProperty('roles')) {
    let values = quarter.roles.map(o => Object.values(o)).flat()

    datasets.unshift({
      label: quarter.file.name,
      data: values,
      fill: true,
      backgroundColor: trans(colors[i]),
      borderColor: colors[i],
      pointBackgroundColor: colors[i],
      pointBorderColor: highlight,
      pointHoverBackgroundColor: highlight,
      pointHoverBorderColor: colors[i]
    })
  }
}

let data   = dv.current().roles
let keys   = data.map(o => Object.keys(o)).flat()

const chartData = {
  type: 'radar',
  data: {
    labels: keys,
    datasets: datasets
  },
  options: {
    scales: {
      r: {
        suggestedMin: 0,
        suggestedMax: 5
      }
    }
  }
}

window.renderChart(chartData, this.container);
​```

### Scoreboard```dataviewjs
let check = function(bool) {
  if (bool) { return "✅" };
  return "⛔";
}

let quarter = parseInt(dv.current().file.name.match(/Q\d/)[0].replace('Q', ''));
let year = dv.current().file.name.match(/\d{4}/)[0];
let start = (quarter-1)*13+1

dv.table(
  ["", "Week", "Goal 1", "Goal 2"], dv.pages('"journal/weekly"')
    .filter(function(f) {
      let num = f.file.name.match(new RegExp(`${year}-W(\\d+)`));

      if (!num) { return false; }
      num = parseInt(num[1]);
      return num >= start && num < start + 12;
    })
    .sort(w => w.file.name, 'asc')
    .map(w => [(parseInt(w.file.name.match(new RegExp(`${year}-W(\\d+)`))[1]) - start)+1, w.file.link, check(w["Goal1"]), check(w["Goal2"])])
)
​```

I've previously written about this template… it's pretty complicated. It rolls up the weekly reports on my 12WY goals and provides an opportunity to rate myself on my roles… and see whether my goals effected any change in those roles.

📈 12WY (Every 12 weeks)

# 🎯 12WY Review

- [ ] Open [12WY Note](obsidian://advanced-uri?vault=wiki&commandid=periodic-notes%253Aopen-quarterly-note).
- [ ] Go through week reviews in Obsidian.
- [ ] What can you learn from 12WY?
  - [ ] Rate your intentions on the Wheel of Life.
- [ ] Talk to Sarah.
- [ ] What are you going to do next 12WY differently?
- [ ] What are your new goals for the new 12WY?

Tags: !Planning, :4h, Rituals: 12WY

This is the accompanying check list that goes with the Quarterly template. It's a work in progress. I could probably stand to re-read 12 Week Year and adjust.

🗒️ Yearly journal/yearly/YYYY.md

No template at the moment… it keeps changing.

The past few years I've picked a yearly theme and written it in a ## Theme header near the top of the document. This gets referenced in the Weekly template above so that I see it all year long.

🥂 Yearly Review (Year end)

I traditionally journal, do Plan Your Year… just think and journal. It's come naturally to me.

It's funny because writing/journaling about my year is probably my first and oldest ritual. A lot of the ones above exist because I realized that the clarity of review and thinking was helping me get out of trouble… and once a year is too infrequent to stay out of trouble.

I try to focus on gratitude. I also try to count things that are important to me:

  • good dinners with my wife.
  • vacations
  • weekend adventures with the kids.
  • meaningful conversations.
  • prayers answered.
  • books read.

I repeat… don't copy my setup. Find one useful idea and run away. 🏃


  1. There is a weird thing about measuring: you should weigh yourself daily, but pay attention to your weekly or monthly average. Most of us pay too much attention to the progress equivalent daily weight and give it more mindshare than we ought. 

  2. First encountered in Dan Luu's Normalization of Deviance

    “Pay attention to weak signals” sure sounds like good advice, but how do we do it? Strong signals are few and far between, making them easy to pay attention to. Weak signals are abundant. How do we filter out the ones that aren't important? And how do we get an entire team or org to actually do it? These kinds of questions can't be answered in a generic way; this takes real thought. We mostly put this thought elsewhere.

    Weak Signals carry the same information as a Strong Signal but they usually manifest much earlier as little ripples… long before the tidal wave.

    Weak Signals are very hard to recognize and learn from.


Changelog
  • 2023-11-13 18:32:17 -0600
    Use zero-width space to escape code blocks

    https://github.com/vmg/redcarpet/issues/208

  • 2023-11-13 18:26:45 -0600
    Trying to fix blocks

  • 2023-11-13 18:24:13 -0600
    Fix final paragraph

  • 2023-11-13 18:23:55 -0600
    Fix weak signals

  • 2023-11-13 18:01:48 -0600
    rituals 2023