How do you begin writing?Fitfully. I’ll write something, but it won’t be the beginning or the middle or the end — I’m just getting an idea out on the page. Then, as the words accumulate, I start thinking about how they need to be organized. What is in front of you when you begin to […]
Twenty Hours a Day The Wizzard of Menlo Park, as he was dubbed, reports on his routines in an interview given to Orison Swett for How They Succeed. He was 52 years old at that time: O.S.: “Do you have regular hours, Mr. Edison?” I asked.T.E.: “Oh,” he said, “I do not work hard now. I […]
The following is from Francis Darwin’s reminiscences of his father. It summarizes a typical day in Darwin’s middle and later years, when he had developed a rigid routine that seldom changed, even when there were visitors in the house. 7 am: Rose and took a short walk. 7:45 am: Breakfast alone 8-9:30 am: Worked in […]
He awoke about 7:30 a.m. and remained in bed for a substantial breakfast and reading of mail and all the national newspapers. For the next couple of hours, still in bed, he worked, dictating to his secretaries. At 11:00 a.m., he arose, bathed, and perhaps took a walk around the garden, and took a weak […]
One of my favourite books on philosophy is On The Shortness Of Life (here) – written by a younger Seneca, almost 2,000 years ago. It teaches stoicism that helps you cope with the shortness of your life, particularly if you feel that you are not accomplishing what you wanted to, or if you feel that […]