We will often start our days with the best of intentions and then promptly get caught up in a chain of busywork, messages, opening browser tabs, checking on things, answering email, and so on. Soon the day has gone by and we wonder what we did with it. There’s a simple practice that can shift that in a huge way: the interstitial ritual. Interstitial, for those unfamiliar with the word, means the intervening space or segment. It’s the adjective form of interstice, the gap or break in something that is generally continuous. The interstitial ritual is very simple: When you finish with a task (or email, message, reading something) pause. Don’t go to the next tab or message right away. Take a breath. Notice where you are, how you feel, what’s around you. Write down what you just finished, if it was a task. For me, I have a today list and …