The precept of Order requiring that every part of my business should have its allotted time, one page in my little book contained the following scheme of employment for the twenty-four hours of a natural day.
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- The Daily Routines blog is no longer active. A book based on the site, Daily Rituals: How Artists Work, was published by Knopf in 2013. A sequel, Daily Rituals: Women at Work, came out in 2019.
Miss the blog? Read more about how writers, artists, and musicians got to work (or didn't!) in my Subtle Maneuvers newsletter.
Editor: Mason Currey
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"Time is short, my strength is limited, the office is a horror, the apartment is noisy, and if a pleasant, straightforward life is not possible then one must try to wriggle through by subtle maneuvers."
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- Habit is not mere subjugation, it is a tender tie: when one remembers habit it seems to have been happiness.
—Elizabeth Bowen - Sooner or later, the great men turn out to be all alike. They never stop working. They never lose a minute. It is very depressing. —V.S. Pritchett
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The Slate Series
Can You Become a Great Writer by Emulating Flaubert's Work Habits?
Is Waking Up Really Early the Secret to Artistic Success?
Marcel Proust, Franz Kafka, and Other Artists Who Wouldn't Dream of Working in the Daylight
Artists Who Drink Crazy Amounts of Coffee. (Balzac Was a 50-Cup-a-Day Man.)
The Secret to Ayn Rand's Success: Benzedrine
Did Drinking Make Hemingway and Fitzgerald Great—or Hold Them Back?
Eat Like an Artist: You'll Be More Creative—and Lose Weight!
Why Are Great Composers—Tchaikovsky, Beethoven, Mahler—Obsessed With Taking Long Walks?
Great Architects Love a Good Nap
Edgar Allan Poe, Franz Kafka, and Other Great Procrastinators
Does Masturbation Make You More or Less Creative?
Freud's Wife Put the Toothpaste on His Toothbrush
T.S. Eliot, Wallace Stevens, Joseph Heller:They All Had Day Jobs
Benjamin Franklin Liked Air Baths. Franz Kafka Did Naked Calisthenics.
Great Artists Don't Wait for Inspiration; They Work, Work, Work
Love it! Where'd you get the photo?
Posted by: Matthew Cornell | January 07, 2009 at 11:50 AM
Interesting that he only slept from 10 - 4am.
This is so obvious, but it seems the one that truly achieve great things in life are those that work the hardest and remain the most disciplined about doing so. Thanks for the fantastic blog!!! WOw.
Cheers,
Steve
Posted by: Steve Hopkins | January 18, 2009 at 05:03 AM
Yes really love this. Somehow the description of his noon task to "look over my accounts and dine" sounds hilarious to me.
Love your blog - it explores a topic that has long interested me. Thanks!
Alanna
Posted by: Alanna Cavanagh | January 20, 2009 at 02:00 AM
How wonderful, I am a morning person also.
Posted by: shona | February 16, 2009 at 03:59 AM
I THINK THIS IS A GOOD ROUTINE.....IT WILL REALLY WORK FOR ME......WHERE DID YOU GET THE PHOTO OF THIS PAGE....IT SEEMS TO BE AN ORIGINAL PAGE..........
Posted by: KHUMUJAM HOOTER SINGH | February 28, 2009 at 11:11 PM
a thoroughly enjoyable and insightful piece of sharing. thx a wack :)
atrayah
cape town/south africa
Posted by: atrayah janhe | June 18, 2009 at 08:27 AM
Steve, actually he slept from 10-5. A good 7 hour sleep. A two hour lunch break makes a lot more sense than the hour or half-hour employees are given today.
Posted by: Jason | August 16, 2009 at 07:39 AM
Now that Leno is on earlier, maybe I can finally become a genius like Franklin!
Posted by: miko | September 19, 2009 at 05:55 PM
I just have to figure out how to get a two hour lunch break . . .
Posted by: miko | September 19, 2009 at 05:56 PM
Bear in mind this is what Franklin aspired to, it is not what was carried out on a daily basis.
Posted by: Bob | October 17, 2009 at 04:35 PM
I notice he did not have a 45 minute commute each way. Thank goodness for progress.
Posted by: Richard Scobee | August 07, 2011 at 12:15 AM
The good news is...hard work pays off. I was beginning to doubt that a little bit :)
good blog. Thanks!
Posted by: Rafi Kazorian | January 13, 2012 at 01:16 PM
What good have I done today?
Posted by: Account Deleted | March 04, 2012 at 06:27 PM
I personally think that taking care of yourself is huge with productivity. How clearly you can think and how much energy you have greatly impacts how much work you get done. If you get more sleep or eat healthy you will actually increase the amount of work you can do Pushing yourself to hard and putting stress on yourself can actually long term cause you to lose productivity. You have to have balance in life.
Posted by: Mike | October 03, 2012 at 07:22 PM
To Steve.
He actually slept from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m.
Posted by: Gabriela | July 21, 2013 at 04:04 AM