The majority of creative people have daily rituals. These daily rituals of creative minds can prove fascinating.
Also how do you do the creative work while also taking care of the business side of your career? Is it better to devote entire weeks or months to business, paperwork, hustling or to set aside a small portion of each day for it?
And when there doesn't seem to be enough hours in the day to achieve all your goals, must you give things up (TV, sleep, income), or can you learn to condense activities, to do more in less time, to 'work smarter, not harder'?
These are questions all creative minds struggle with. I don't think there is a general rule on how creative individuals spend their time to achieve their goals but I have noticed certain commonalities amongst the successful artists I've worked with and I wanted to share those with you.
As the writer Mason Currey says: "A solid routine fosters a well-worn groove for one's mental energies and helps stave off the tyranny of moods". This is especially the case with creative people who often have a wider range of moods than the general population.
My suggestion is to put part of your life on autopilot and this is best achieved by forming some good habits in order to free your mind to advance the really creative areas of your life.
Beethoven wrote music from dawn until 2pm and then would spend the rest of his time walking, going to concerts and hanging out with friends. Mozart was a night-owl and would teach during the day and write music at night, often staying up until the early hours. Some are at their most creative in the morning while others, because of work or family, prefer to spend the wee small hours honing their craft and generating new ideas.
The main point here is that there are no 'rules' as such but you've got to discover for yourself when you are your most creative and productive and work to your strengths
For example for myself I prefer to do my creative work (writing, filming) in the morning and then spend the afternoon taking care of business with calls and emails. However a very successful musician I know rises late, spends the day traveling to his next show, the evening playing the gig and then does his songwriting and emails until he falls asleep around 3am.
You've got to find your own groove and make it a ritual.
So try reflecting on your own rituals and habits.
If you are interested in learning more about the psychology of habits or the habits of famous musicians, writers and other creative minds then you might enjoy these books:
