I have a couple of rituals. Some I do every single day, others I do when the situation comes up.
Morning Ritual
Every morning, I have a ritual. I cant do anything until I finish this ritual or my entire day will feel “off” and most likely, I’ll be irritated the entire rest of the day. And it has to be in this order. This is my current ritual.
- Roll up fleece blanket and place next to towels (which are on my bed)
- Change from pajama’s into “house clothes”
- Put on socks
- Put on slippers
- Pee
- Brush teeth
- Wash face
- Wash glasses
- Wash hands
- Come back to room and fold bath towel, place next to pillow, place feet towel folded on top of bath towel and place clean pair of socks on top of feet towel
If I have to do laundry that morning I do laundry after washing my glasses then I wash my hands, if I dont then I’ll end up having to wash my hands twice that morning.
Night Ritual
- Vacuum bathroom rug
- Wash hands
- Disinfect toilet cover
- Grab towels and socks from my room
- Bath towel on the toilet cover, feet towel on the floor and socks on the bath handle
- Place slippers semi next to feet towel
- Close bathroom door
- Close mom’s bedroom door
- Vacuum room completely
- Disinfect other toilet seat
- Brush teeth
- Undress (in a particular order)
It use to take me an hour to do my night ritual and with practice (not that I had a choice) it was easier and easier to do, now it takes me a total of 10 minutes to set up to shower. On the days I’d work over 12hr shifts at my previous job, doing this at 4AM wasnt my favorite time of the day.
Shower Ritual
- Wash feet
- Shave
- Shampoo hair
- Body
- Face wash
- Rinse face and hair and body at the same time
- Conditioner
- Wash feet again
This use to be different, I use to do everything twice but I realized how much it stripped my hair of its moisture and my skin so I had to force myself to do it only once. And believe me, that was really hard to stop doing.
Like I mentioned, I have other rituals that I do when the situation happens. And today’s one of those days. Why? Because my dad showered today and when my dad showers, he moves everything in the bathroom. It drives me nuts. I have to go and fix everything before I can shower. Seriously, just thinking about it irritates me.
Having two people with OCD living in the same house never goes over well. Ever.