Opening and Closing Ceremonies
My Eleven-Week Streak!
I am eleven weeks into a consistent practice of opening and closing every workday with a ceremony.
These "ceremonies" are short sequences of small actions that I use to transition into, and eventually out of, a focused work state. They're also opportunities for me to realign with what's most meaningful about the work that I'm doing, and they create a structure that makes it easier for me to get into a working flow.
In the words of Annie Dillard,
"How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives."
Today, most of us spend most of our waking lives working; therefore, our quality of life is directly connected to how we show up to the work that we do. These daily opening and closing ceremonies have improved my experience of being at work and supported healthy boundaries for the time I spend not working.
I didn't make it this far on my own.
For the past four months, I've been a member of George Kao's Joyful Productivity Club (aka JoyPro). The program combines productivity strategies with a focus on joy, values alignment, and community support. It's not just about "getting more done," but about doing the most useful things in a way that feels meaningful and sustainable. JoyPro (and the rest of George's impressive body of work) is designed for solopreneurs and freelancers, but the principles and strategies can be applied in many different "work" contexts.
George's teachings identify three "levels" of Joyful Productivity that can apply to a work session, each with a different mindset and motivation. This is how I understand the three levels:
Level 1: Getting Things Done
This is the most common use of the word "productive" in our culture. It means doing the thing. The work process is simply a means to a gratifying end: completion.
It might sound like "I have to get this over with so I can _______."
Level 2: Excellence & Skill Building
At this level, we care about producing a quality result because the thing we're doing is meaningful to us.
We're slightly more conscious of our thing-doing process; we might notice how we are improving as a thing-doer.
Level 3: Mindfulness & Spiritual Growth
Here, the act of working itself becomes a spiritual practice--a way to directly experience our growth as an individual or as a team.
We are deeply aware of the thing-doing process beyond the outcome. We practice mindfulness of the present moment in which we're working, and consciously bring values, intentions, and positive energy into the act of doing the work.
I've found that being so consistent with my workday's opening and closing ceremonies reduces my resistance to starting work, allows me to reach the third level of Joyful Productivity more often, and cultivates a sense of completion at the end of each workday that makes stepping away easy and gratifying.
Last week, I got to lead a Ceremonies workshop for Jess Serrante's Soulful Climate Leadership Circle.
I supported folks to create opening and closing rituals for their work containers, and the group loved it. Everyone left with a ceremonial experiment worth running to open and close their work sessions, as well as some support to hold themselves accountable to stick with it. One participant just let me know that their new ritual has proved both calming and energizing and has them feeling excited to step into their work.
The more people I've told about this practice, the more interest I discover!
So I'm offering to lead a workshop like this for you and your team (or your friends) to design an opening and closing practice that is meaningful, and, most importantly, doable.
If you're curious about this, let's chat: