What did Charles Darwin, Sigmund Freud and Mozart have in common? At least two things: 1) they were fiercely creative thinkers and 2) they followed daily routines that nourished their creative work.
Although being consistently productive is desirable, the wild spirit of each person’s creativity can resist the control of a rigid work schedule. The challenge for each creative worker is to discover the ideal timing and balance of activities to maximize their power of original thinking. I just posted about finding the optimal ratio between working and resting (How Long Should You Work Before Taking a Break?). The next step is creating an overall schedule for the usual activities in your life: using each one to fuel or offset others.
Examining the lifestyles of some of the most celebrated creative thinkers in history, we can see that most followed daily routines. An interactive infographic published by Podio shows the Daily Routines of 23 some of the world’s most celebrated original thinkers. Based on Mason Currey’s book, Daily Rituals, it depicts the proportion of time each one spent sleeping, being creative, doing “day job” and admin work, exercising and other tasks. Click around on it to reveal more detail about each person’s habits.
Want to develop a better work routine? Discover how some of the world’s greatest minds organized their days.
Click image to see the interactive version (via Podio).