Behind the curtain of success is this belief that you need to do the same thing every day for the entirety of your life. Any slight deviation from your routine could cost you everything. But if routine is that powerful, history begs to differ, at least when you look at some of the world's greatest artists.
W.H. Auden said,
Routine, in an intelligent man, is a sign of ambition.
The composer and conductor John Adams shared the same sentiment,
My experience has been that most really serious creative people I know have very, very routine and not particularly glamorous work habits.
When you get into a system of doing the same thing, day in and day out, it's a sign of your desire for something bigger. A goal. A dream. A destination. While others need novelty, you're comfortable with doing the same thing over and over.
It's what Stephen King did. He writes every single day of the year. On holidays. On his birthdays. Even when he's sick. Mason Currey explains in Daily Rituals,
King writes every day of the year, including his birthday and holidays, and he almost never lets himself quit before he reaches his daily quota of two thousand words. He works in the mornings, starting around 8:00 or 8:30. Some days he finishes up as early as 11:30, but more often it takes him until about 1:30 to meet his goal.
Writer Haruki Murakami is an early riser, waking up at 4:00 a.m. and proceeds to write for the next five to six hours. Haruki explains,
I keep to this routine every day without variation. The repetition itself becomes the important thing; it’s a form of mesmerism. I mesmerize myself to reach a deeper state of mind.
But for every artist who had a strict structure, who showed an uncanny amount of discipline, there's an equal and opposite who didn't follow such a strict, rigorous routine. Novelist Ann Beatie, who has written twenty-four books, doesn't write every day,
I really don’t adhere to schedules at all, and don’t have the slightest desire to do that. The times that I’ve tried that, when I have been in a slump and I try to get out of it by saying, ‘Come on, Ann, sit down at that typewriter,’ I’ve gotten in a worse slump. It’s better if I just let it ride.
She writes when she wants to write, and there are times when she won't write for months. Doesn't sound like the disciplined person society tells you you need to be. But if you ask me, it looks like it's working out well for her.
Routines are powerful. They provide direction. They provide guidance. They provide consistency. But routines can have some downside.
When you get in the groove of doing the same thing every single day, you build momentum. When the day comes and your routine is thrown out of wack, it feels as if you've been stabbed in the heart. It's a day wasted. And when a day is wasted, momentum breaks.
And often with routines, you need certain conditions. Some like complete silence and isolation. Others, like Andy Warhol, prefer noise in the background. Some prefer early morning, others late night. Some, short bursts of work. Others, long periods of uninterrupted study.
When you condition yourself for a specific environment, you become a victim of that environment. You can only work when it's dark and quiet, or in an office with some light chatter. When you become a victim of a condition, your work can suffer.
So maybe it's not about a routine, but a variety of routines.
Author Anne Rice explains,
I certainly have a routine, but the most important thing, when I look back over my career, has been the ability to change routines.
Woody Allen dives even further into the importance of new stimuli' and how they can provide spark and creativity to your work,
I’ve found over the years that any momentary change stimulates a fresh burst of mental energy. So if I’m in this room and then I go into the other room, it helps me. If I go outside to the street, it’s a huge help. If I go up and take a shower it’s a big help. So I sometimes take extra showers. I’ll be down here [in the living room] and at an impasse and what will help me is to go upstairs and take a shower. It breaks up everything and relaxes me.
The new stimulus isn't just about getting away from the work, it can be the nature of where how, and when you work. Novelty breeds novelty. If you want your work to evolve, maybe you should evolve how you work.
As I write this, I am sort of a hypocrite myself, as I glue myself to my desk every day from 6 a.m. to 10 or 11 a.m. working away on my books and projects. The routine, as mentioned earlier, helps build small amounts of progress, that with time, compound into something special. But I like to remind myself of what Rick Rubin said,
Beware of the assumption that the way you work is the best way simply because it’s the way you’ve done it before.
It's not just that the routine you have can limit your work, it may not be the best way to work. Often the routine you stick with is the one you started with. And since it's worked for you, you convince yourself it's the best way to work. But novelty breeds novelty of thought and ideas. So maybe a new routine, or a handful of different routines, or the ability to change routine can offer sparks that never would've been found before.
With all that said, the one thing that matters most with any routine, any habits you create, and any system you follow, is sustainability. The world's greatest artists, even entrepreneurs and athletes, worked for years and decades. Hard work is important. Discipline is essential. But nothing matters more than long work.
American novelist Henry Miller explained,
I don’t believe in draining the reservoir, do you see? I believe in getting up from the typewriter, away from it, while I still have things to say.
You need to create conditions where you want to work every day. If you drain yourself, putting in sixteen hours day in and day out, you might get a head start on others, but is it sustainable?
It's not about winning today, it's about winning a decade from now. And the only way to do that is to create a system of work that promotes progress with freshness and excitement. Be less concerned with what your routine is and more concerned if your routine is something you can maintain for a lifetime.
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Check out Mason Currey's book Daily Rituals for more insights on the routines of the world's most fascinating artist.
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