About the book
How 161 novelists, poets, painters, composers, philosophers and scientists arranged their working days is the subject Mason Currey compiles from their letters, diaries and interviews. Franz Kafka complained in a 1912 letter about his office job and noisy apartment. Anthony Trollope wrote three thousand words each morning before leaving for his post office job, George Balanchine did most of his work while ironing, and Jean-Paul Sartre took ten times the recommended dose of Corydrane, a mix of amphetamine and aspirin. Some worked at dawn and others late at night, fueled by coffee, doughnuts, baths or long walks. Charles Dickens, Agatha Christie, Pablo Picasso, Leo Tolstoy and Woody Allen also appear.
James Clear took from it that every great artist keeps a regular time and place to work without interruption. Scott Keyes, co-founder of Scott's Cheap Flights, said it changed how he works by showing that many great figures worked hard, chiefly in the mornings, and kept their afternoons open.
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This book has 3 recommendations
B. J. Novak (Founder/The List App)
B. J. also recommended Daily Rituals by Mason Currey for anyone who would enjoy seeing the daily routines of legends like Steve Jobs, Charles Darwin, and Charles Dickens. "It is so reassuring to see that everyone has their own system, and how dysfunctional a lot of them are".
Scott Keyes (Co-Founder/Scott's Cheap Flights)
Reading Daily Rituals by Mason Currey dramatically improved my productivity and work-life balance. It showed me that most great historical figures weren’t workaholics, but instead worked hard (mostly in the morning) and then had plenty of unscripted time in the afternoon to ruminate, digest, and brainstorm. It’s a model I’ve tried to emulate, waking up early in the morning, churning out a bunch of work before lunchtime, and then taking it relatively easy thereafter.
James Clear (Author)
Many of the individual stories are great, but here’s one takeaway I had from the book: everyone’s rituals are unique to their lifestyle, but all great artists share one thing in common—they have a time and space to do their work with consistency and without interruption.
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