“‘It is only half an hour’ — ‘It is only an afternoon’ — ‘It is only an evening,’ people say to me over and over again; but they don’t know that it is impossible to command one’s self sometimes to any stipulated and set disposal of five minutes — or that the mere consciousness of an engagement will sometime worry a whole day… Whoever is devoted to an art must be content to deliver himself wholly up to it, and to find his recompense in it. I am grieved if you suspect me of not wanting to see you, but I can’t help it; I must go in my way whether or no.” — attributed to Charles Dickens, in rejecting a friend’s social invitation

In so saying, Dickens predates Paul Graham’s insight on the difference between makers and managers by about 150 years. Just like Wharton Psychologist Adam Grant, Dickens was keenly aware of the need to tend the spark of inspiration into flame.

As Amos Tversky famously replied when asked about the secret of devising the fantastically inventive experiments he did with his partner, Nobel Prize-winning economist Danny Khaneman, “The secret to doing good research is always to be a little underemployed. You waste years by not being able to waste hours.”

Indeed, one of the most insidious restraining forces that inhibits most professionals’ creative output is the incessant sequence of back-to-back-to-back meetings throughout the day. Constantly shuffling from one fire drill to another, it’s no wonder there’s no space for fresh thinking.

In contrast, the most productive innovators wield their calendar as a weapon that enhances their practice, rather than be a victim of their schedule. Like Dickens. Like Tversky.

I’ve been thinking a lot about how structure one’s time to cultivate creative output, and thought it might be nice to suggest practices, from the macro to the micro, and include the references to each here.

Annually - Book A Think Week, like Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, and Lin-Manuel Miranda
Monthly - Block A Learning Day, like I’ve been trying to do
Weekly - Experimentation Days, like Oliver Smithies, Carl Liebert & Claudia Kotchka
Daily - Block Recovery Time between meetings
Daily - Align Your Meetings with your Chronotype
Daily - Take A Walk, like Beethoven
Daily - Take A Nano Nap, like Thomas Edison & Salvadore Dalí
Meeting by meeting - Write Yourself a Love Note
All the time - Carry A Notebook, like Robin Williams, Jerry Seinfeld, and Jeff Bezos

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