Rites for Writing

When you sit down at your laptop, Alphasmart, PC, yellow pad, etc., do you start writing immediately or do you have a set of rituals?

I was reading the paper this morning and came across this article.  It Just Feels Rite talks about the rituals people perform in the workplace.  For some, it increases productivity, others, rituals are as necessary to their day as breathing.  

When I worked full time, I had a set of rituals I followed when I got to work.  I spent a few minutes checking some websites and reading the news before I started my workday.  I headed to the coffee machine with my friends and caught up on any gossip.  At 3 p.m. we had a ritual of going up to the cafeteria for a cookie and coffee.  It got me through my day.  I also think it helped me get myself mentally organized for my day.

Now, when I sit down to write, I feel the lack of ritual.  Or the rituals I do perform actually waste more time than they should.  I do not drink from the same cup.  I do not have a set snack that I munch on.  I sit down, read through the blogs, post a bit then hit my writing forums.  If this only took ten minutes, it wouldn’t be a big deal.  But I tend to spend more time than I should.  Ten minutes easily becomes thirty.

So I need to find a small ritual that will put me in the mindset and save bloghopping for another time.    Any ideas?  What do you do and how do you make sure you do not over do it?