Everything ingenious is simple: the daily routine of Beethoven, Hemingway and other famous people.

Rent a secret office, don't grease the hinges on squeaky doors and work standing up - the productivity secrets of great geniuses.

Old-school organizers have been replaced by cloud-based planning services. But not everyone has become more organized and productive. If every new day is like a rodeo for you: either you tame the violent flow of things, or it knocks you out of the “saddle,” this article is for you.

It is based on Mason Curry's book Genius Mode: The Daily Routines of Great Men . The author analyzed the work schedule of 161 recognized geniuses: famous artists, writers, composers, scientists. And I came to the conclusion that everyday routine is part of the creative process.

From this article you will learn how to turn on your “genius mode” and what helped famous personalities not to succumb to the “no inspiration” trick, but to work methodically and achieve success.

A person follows a routine that has become a routine on autopilot, without conscious effort. And at the same time, in skillful hands, the daily routine is a precisely calibrated mechanism that allows us to make the best use of our limited resources: first of all, time, which we lack most, as well as willpower, self-discipline, and vigor. An orderly routine is like a track that allows the mental powers of a genius to move at a good pace and not be affected by mood swings.

Working environment: maximum concentration - minimum deviations

Geniuses have their own quirks and their own ways of isolating themselves from the outside world in order to concentrate as much as possible on their work.

For example, the door to Nobel laureate William Faulkner's office had only one handle. The writer opened the door, took out the handle, went inside, inserted the handle and closed it again. Thus, no one could come in and interfere with him.

The English writer Jane Austen asked her servants to never oil the hinges on creaky doors. Thanks to this, Jane always knew when someone was approaching the room in which she worked.

Graham Greene, an English writer and part-time British intelligence officer, rented a secret office in order to work and not be distracted. Only the spouse knew the address and telephone number, but could use them only in emergency cases. By the way, hermitage is now a popular way to increase productivity .

Mark Twain's family used a horn for such emergencies. Household members had to blow into it if they wanted to distract the writer from the adventures of “Tom Sawyer.”

But the artist Newell Converse Wyeth, who illustrated this same “Tom Sawyer,” valued concentration so much that when he noticed that his attention was scattered, he covered his glasses with cardboard to limit his peripheral vision and look only at the canvas.

Walks

For many geniuses, regular walking is not only part of their routine, but also a way to “air” their brains for more fruitful creativity.

The Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard noted that walks inspired him so much that he often ran to his desk without even taking off his hat or putting away his cane.

Dickens walked three hours a day to “work up” his material. Tchaikovsky - two. And not a minute less. Pyotr Ilyich was convinced: if he cheated, he would get sick.

Beethoven always took a notepad and pencil with him on walks, just in case inspiration struck.

The extravagant French composer Erik Satie also grabbed writing instruments for his evening exercise in Paris. He wandered around the working-class neighborhood where he lived, stopping under streetlights and writing down the notes that popped into his head. It is said that during the Second World War, when street lighting was not used for security reasons, Satie’s productivity also “went out.”

Timing

Time, or rather, the ability to manage it, is another “brick” that makes up productivity.

The successful Victorian novelist Anthony Trollope worked only three hours a day. But how! 250 words in 15 minutes. If he finished the text before the three-hour period expired, he immediately began a new one.

Ernest Hemingway, in addition to working while standing , carefully kept track of his working time. He wrote every day from five in the morning to one in the afternoon, while methodically counting how many words were written. The average is 700–800 words per day. One day, Hemingway did not work out the “norm” - the schedule listed only 208 words, but next to it there was a note: “Wrote urgent business letters.”

The chart was also run by the American behaviorist Burres Frederick Skinner. At the same time, he wrote in sessions, the duration of which he measured using a timer.

A clear line between important and not so important

ProPedia regularly writes about how important it is to check your email and respond to letters not every time you hear an email client alert, but only at a strictly defined time, 1-2 times a day.

In the days of Hemingway and Twain there was no e-mail, but geniuses always knew how (and know how) to separate important work from mediocre work.

Some spent the first half on writing, painting, music, that is, important matters, and after lunch they wrote letters and socialized in social salons.

Others took up non-urgent and unimportant matters at moments when the muse left them and they needed to change the type of activity.

Rest, not work until you drop

Great figures of science and art knew how to work well, but they also knew a lot about relaxation. They understood that creativity is like sports—hard work requires a period of recovery.

The only exception is, perhaps, Mozart. He was a real workaholic. The composer woke up at six in the morning and studied music all day until one in the morning. He spent no more than 2–3 hours a day for walks, lunch, letters and other matters.

The famous Swedish psychiatrist Carl Jung considered this approach wrong. Despite the fact that he was a very sought-after specialist, Jung never forgot about the weekend. “I realized that a person who needs rest and continues to work despite being tired is simply stupid,” he said.

Support from loved ones

While a genius is creating, someone must arrange his life. Typically, this falls on the shoulders of the spouse.

Thus, the wife of the “father of psychoanalysis” Sigmund Freud, Martha, not only completely ran the household, but also provided comfort to her husband in every possible way. She selected his clothes, right down to handkerchiefs, and even squeezed toothpaste onto his toothbrush.

But support comes not only from family, but also from friends. Gertrude Stein, an American writer and literary theorist, loved to work in the fresh air, or rather, she liked to look up from her manuscript and look at the hills and... cows. Therefore, she and her long-term friend Alice Babette Toklas (also a writer) went to the suburbs. Miss Stein would sit on a folding chair with a writing board and a pencil, and Miss Toklas would fearlessly herd some cow into sight of her friend. At these moments, inspiration descended on Stein, and she began to write quickly.

Andy Warhol was helped to run his business by his friend and colleague Pat Hackett. Every morning, Warhol told Hackett in detail about his previous day, and he dutifully took notes. This happened every weekday from 1976 until Warhol's death in 1987.

Limiting social connections

This productivity technique will seem strange to many. This is not about locking yourself within four walls. Nevertheless, many outstanding thinkers had a very narrow circle of contacts and did not seek to expand it.

“No parties, no receptions... Only the essentials, simple, uncluttered life, thought out so that nothing interferes with work” - this was the position of Simone de Beauvoir, a French writer and ideologist of the feminist movement.

In contrast, the painter Pablo Picasso loved to receive guests. He even bought a piano to entertain the public and hired a maid who looked after the guests in a starched white apron. However, Pablo allocated strictly one day a week for social events - Sunday.

“Everyone is afraid of everyday life, as if it carries within itself a fatal inevitability, fraught with boredom and habit; I don’t believe in this inevitability,” said Mark Levy.

These are not all the lessons that can be learned from the everyday life of geniuses. Want more? Learn the 25 daily rituals of the most successful people .