Here is my routine right before I build a LEGO set:

1. I look at the box.
   
2. I wash my hands.
   
3. I wipe down my desk, or wherever I am going to build at.
   
4. I wash my hands again to get the germs off for sure.
   
5. I touch the box and look at the back of the box.
   
6. Fearing I dirtied the box, I go back to the bathroom and scrub my nails clean.
   
7. I open up the box, dump out the contents, and open the piece bags.
   
8. Fearing I might dirty the minifigures, I wash my hands again.
   
9. Right before each bag, I wash my hands just in case.
   
10. Before applying stickers, I wash my hands and put all my focus on application.
    
11. After building, I wash my hands.
    

Yea, I like my stuff clean.

I pretty much always have a snack and a big Mountain Dew with me for builds. I try to get my 6 year old involved on easy steps, but he's much more of a freelancer right now, doesn't like directions. I always have the TV on, but doesn't necessarily have to have a similar movie one, usually a ball game.

I build with my 4 year old all the time he has a little bit of motor skills issues and could barely get 3 bricks together 6 months ago but now he can build the great vehicles line pretty much all by himself! But yeah we love building together.

I think my son is just not quite ready to build something from instructions but that doesn't keep him from staring longingly at my sets. Especially the Clone Turbo Tank, for some reason he loves that one. I have been really interested to hear some of the routines other AFOL have. I kinda thought I was the only one who had to watch something during building, all the while wiping the sweat off my hands with a rag.

Still, my favorite part of the build is when they include one of those little prefeorated bags. For some reason I love the little holes in the plastic. It must remind me of the sets I got when I was a kid.

I just sit down and build. I usually end up with a big mess when I finished a MOC. I toss all the loose pieces into a box to sort later but later never seems to come.

I don't think I have any rituals... I can't build with anything video based on, too distracting. I need concentration when I MOC. I do put on music, usually 80s stuff.

Sometimes little sets I'll build while watching the news or during commercial breaks.

I don't sort sets, but I sort MOC fodder of course.

I find the right music helps along with as few distractions as possible. A quick trawl through the billions of images on t'internet or in reference books related to what you are building also helps to kickstart the creative process. Often I keep a pen and paper handy to jot down any ideas I have while watching TV or while surfing the net, so I can quickly jot down an outline of whatever project I am involved in.

I always listen to the music when I build MOCs unless when my elder son is 'helping' me as he doesn't particularly like the repertoire yet. And when I build with TV in line of sight it must be turned off, it's just too distracting.

Here is my routine for building a new LEGO set, provided it is one with tape seals and not punch tabs:

• Cut open tabs.
  
• Pour out contents.
  
• If there are numbered bags, I start with Bag 1, tearing open the bag (and any bags it contains) and spilling out the contents. If there aren't numbered bags, I open all the bags and spill out all the contents.
  
• Open the instruction manual.
  
• Follow the instruction manual, being careful to never look at piece callouts because I didn't need my hand held when I was a kid and I don't need my hand held now goddam it.
  
• Repeat previous step until the set is finished.
  

Then I leave the set sitting out for years so that it accrues a healthy coat of dust. I keep my face stoic but my heart cries enough metaphorical tears to fill all the oceans of the world thrice over.

I can't build with anything video based on, too distracting.

Same here. If I watch something like the news, I get to plugged in and end up leaving my unfinished set sitting there unfinished.

Exactly my process!

Usually I have a YouTube video or some music playing as I build. Sometimes I have the TV on in the background, and I usually have a drink with me (Typically coffee or tea).

It depends on the set, all my modular building were build on special dates like Easter or Christmas. I do not sort the bricks, I like searching and the sound of it. (My parents hate me for it when I build in the kitchen.)

But this is my routine for a set like the Apple Tree House from Creator:

1. Going to my LEGO cupboard and selecting the set I want.

2. Get the instruction manual from my card box stands or whatever you call them.

3. Get my different small (empty) boxes I use for sorting when I build big sets.

4. I don't build in my room because the chance of loosing bricks would be too high. (My room is a mess.) So I go into our kitchen and build there. (I'm still living with my parents.)

5. Build the set.

6. Going to my mini figure collection (all sorted into hair, heads, body's,...) and build the figure who fits into the set.

7. Done. :)

Here is my routine right before I build a LEGO set:

1. I look at the box.
   
2. I wash my hands.
   
3. I wipe down my desk, or wherever I am going to build at.
   
4. I wash my hands again to get the germs off for sure.
   
5. I touch the box and look at the back of the box.
   
6. Fearing I dirtied the box, I go back to the bathroom and scrub my nails clean.
   
7. I open up the box, dump out the contents, and open the piece bags.
   
8. Fearing I might dirty the minifigures, I wash my hands again.
   
9. Right before each bag, I wash my hands just in case.
   
10. Before applying stickers, I wash my hands and put all my focus on application.
    
11. After building, I wash my hands.
    

Yea, I like my stuff clean.

That sounds like someone suffers from a mind case of OCD.

Ask for me,I just open the box and get building.

Here's my routine:

1. Tear open box.

2. Tear open the bags of contents.

3. Tear apart the instructions manual.

4. Start building something random which is not even associated with the set.

It depends on the set I'm building.

If it is a small set I can get built in an hour or less, I normally just sit and build.

But, if it is a set I'm going to be working with awhile. I normally make sure the house is clean, I can't justify building a Lego set for hours when laundry, dishes, and vacuuming need to be done. Yes, I am OCD!

As for what I do when building. Sit in my chair, pull up my coffee table, find a movie or show on my always full DVR and play.

Jamie

For some reason I always need background noise... Sometimes music, but most of the time it's YouTube. Right now I'm addicted to Cinemassacre and the Angry Video Game Nerd, so as I'm sorting/MOCing, I always have him ranting off to the side. Also a big fan of Simpsons, MST3K and Arrested Development as Lego accompaniments.

Oh, man some of you guys had me laughing. Seriously though, I usually watch a movie or tv show that reflects a theme I might currently be interested in. Then when I actually have time to build, I will choose a set. Sometimes my four-year-old will help me decide. She really likes Avengers and anything DC or Marvel. I will clean up the kithcen if I haven't already. Then I will clean the table twice to make sure it's clean. I lay down a white sheet to work on, then I go wash my hands. My little girl likes to sit on my lap and help. We follow the steps, count the studs, and sort the shapes and colors and all that. My older ones are too big to sit with me anymore , but I buy them their own sets to build. They like Friends and HP and some City, and have a similar setup routine as I do.

The set might sit out on the table for a day or so. To avert the risk of said set becoming soiled by dirty, sticky fingers, I must retire it to one of my dedicated display shelves in my room. There it will sit, being periodacally swooshed or rolled, or role-played, what have you. Eventually being disassembled, cleaned, and put in sealed and labeled bags to make room for something else.