“You waste years by not being able to waste hours”
In Rest, I talk briefly about Amos Tversky's and Daniel Kahneman's time at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences as an example of a super-productive
Martin Lindstrom: “I’ve literally written all my books while swimming”
Thrive Global, Ariana Huffington's new enterprise, has an interview with Martin Lindstrom (whose biography describes him as a "Change Agent. Brand Futurist. Bestselling Author.") that touches on exercise, boredom,
“You will eat vegetable soup again today and like it; Mommy’s beginning chapter three:” Shirley Jackson and creative lives
The author and critic Ruth Franklin has a terrific article about Shirley Jackson in New York Magazine (it's a selection from her new book, Shirley Jackson: A Rather Haunted Life,
“We need to start viewing time for reflection as a necessity, not a luxury”
In a 2015 interview, David Ryan Polgar explains how busyness interferes with creativity: We need to start viewing time for reflection as a necessity, not a luxury. Unfortunately, we
“I have often been in the unpleasant position of having to wait for lucky ideas:” Helmholtz and the frustrations of creative insight
The canonical (or stereotypical) view of the creative figure is one who is struck by inspiration, often after long periods of hard labor and frustration. This is an
The most important creative collaboration of your life is with your own Muse
Henri Poincaré was one of the most astute observers of the relationship between the conscious and subsconcious mind in creative work, and he developed a pretty high degree of
John Littlewood’s advice to mathematicians: 4-hour days, acquire the art of “thinking vaguely,” and “work all out or rest completely”
Cambridge from the bell tower at St Mary's Church I've quoted from this before, but I love John Littlewood's essay “The mathematician’s art of work,” In this extract, the
Darwin at work and at home
One of the enduring myths of creativity is that creative people who treat their families badly do so because the weight of their genius keeps them from being good spouses and
“To create, we need both technique and the freedom from technique”
One of the great Silicon Valley tropes is that inexperience is a positive. The extreme expression of it-- I'm simplifying here, but not that much-- is that young people who
Francine du Plessix Gray on her writing studio and “becoming something I can begin to call myself”
When I was researching REST, I discovered that one of the best sources for material on writer's routines was The Paris Review. (I've posted quotes from other Paris