What entrepreneurs can learn from the routines of creative geniuses

Entrepreneurship is a creative activity. You’re building a business to solve problems and typically in unique and never-before-done ways. And the qualities of resourcefulness and creativity become especially important when you’re trying to work with limited resources.

We can look at the lives of geniuses to get ideas and inspiration on how to improve the way we work. Here, I’ve outlined some of the routines of geniuses. You can learn more about the habits of creative personalities through online content and with books like Daily Rituals: How Artists Work. I’ve found these routines and habits to be highly effective and believe that they’ll improve your productivity and problem-solving capabilities.

Hard work precedes inspiration

There’s a common assumption that geniuses are able to conjure up their art, writing, or inventions with ease. But the truth is quite the opposite. Geniuses often work very hard. While hard work seems like the most obvious factor that leads to success in entrepreneurship, people don’t realize that creativity and inspiration are born from routine work.

So, if you’re waiting for a good idea to appear or for the ‘right time’ to come about to take your business forward, don’t.

The key to the success of geniuses is that they don’t let their thoughts stay in their minds. They carry out the difficult work of realizing them by working on them day after day while feeling self-doubt and tremendous resistance.

Creativity needs structure and routine

Geniuses like Mozart, Beethoven, and Hawthorne followed a strict routine when it came to working. Beethoven would wake up at dawn and after a cup of coffee would work until two or three in the afternoon. This was something that he did on a daily basis. Creative people follow strict routines to get their work done.

Organizing your time with the help of time-blocking techniques will make you more productive. Routines are conducive to great work because they reduce the need for you to make decisions every day and to expend mental energy.

So, organize your time and create specific times for your work. Keep your work and personal goals separate and you’ll find that you’re better able to focus and get work done.

Mornings are essential time periods for creativity

Creative geniuses like Maya Angelou and Jane Austen are known for being early risers. Waking up early in the morning allows you to approach your work with a fresh mind.

You’re less likely to be disturbed during this time and can do your creative and business work with minimal interruptions. In fact, the early morning is a great time to finish off the most challenging work you have. For the rest of the day, you can manage other important jobs and make time for personal activities.

The smallest amount of time counts

The great writers, inventors, and artists of the world still had to hold full-time jobs and run their households. Writers like Sylvia Plath and Alice Munro were forced to write in the tiniest available moments of free time they could get. They were mothers and faced a lack of space and had to deal with constant interruptions.

However, it’s consistent work and not enormous bursts of furious activity that lead to their success. It’s important to use these examples as inspiration in your own work as an entrepreneur.

You can still build a business and achieve your goals even when you have other commitments. But it is critical to keep doing every little thing you can and to focus on taking one step at a time. Every single action you take adds up to growing your business into what you envisioned.

Conclusion

We need to get rid of the notion that creativity and genius are things that just happen to people. If we look at the lives of past and present creative geniuses, we’ll see that their best works often come from hard labor and by following stringent routines.

In this post, we’ve covered a few habits of geniuses. The important thing is to structure your day and to put your head down and focus. You won’t always be certain of the results that you get and that’s part of the creative process too. Use the ideas presented here and you’re certain to move your business forward through creativity that arises from dedication and consistent hard work.