1-Sentence-Summary: Daily Rituals is a compilation of the best practices and habits of successful people from different fields aimed to help anyone increase productivity, get past writer’s block, and become more creative and efficient in their everyday work.
Read in: 4 minutes
Favorite quote from the author:
Everyone is struggling with increasing productivity, reducing procrastination, and overall improving themselves both in their professional and personal life. Certain daily habits can help us tap into the productive, undisrupted state of mind that we’re so desperately seeking to achieve.
Sitting at the same spot in the morning, enjoying our usual cup of coffee at the same hours, or other small habits like these contribute to increased efficiency. How do I know? Daily Rituals by Mason Currey explains how geniuses and successful people have developed certain minuscule habits in their daily routines that helped them achieve greatness.
This is not something humanity discovered recently, as history shows. Psychologists and researchers have tried to wrap their heads around ways to trick the mind into being more focused and centered for a long time now. Luckily, they did discover some pretty interesting habits and practices that can help us do so.
Let’s explore them by looking at three of my favorite lessons from this book:
- You can become more productive by establishing daily habits, drinking coffee, and finding inspiration around.
- Become ready for work by connecting with what speaks to you the most.
- Keep your relationships healthy to keep being productive and focused on your work.
Exploring these lessons in depth will help you understand their main point, so that’s what we’ll do in the following lines!
Lesson 1: Inspiration can come from anything, from daily rituals, a warm drink, or a sunset.
There are certain things that artists, thinkers, or overall successful people in their field have in common. While they don’t do these things similarly, they do repeat certain actions that help them become more productive.
One of them is working at a certain time during the day. Some artists prefer working at night, while others rely on the daytime to do things. Find your best time and try to focus on work as much as possible during those hours. The other way people become productive is by consuming certain drinks, like coffee.
Beethoven and Mozart were both known for drinking large amounts of coffee to become productive. While the book recommends staying away from too much of everything, and completely avoiding dangerous substances, it’s alright if you indulge in cups of tea or coffee to get in the mood for work.
These accomplished people usually enjoyed such treats in their favorite spot right before work, which is also psychologically proven to boost efficiency. Our brain associates these actions with a prework sort of workout that gets us in the mood.
Lastly, writers and researchers often look for inspiration within their surroundings. They try to draw inspiration from a sunrise, plants, animals, or other elements from natural words. People that are close to you can also help you get into the mood for work. So make sure to surround yourself with these types of humans.
Lesson 2: There are numerous ways to get inspired and stay connected to your craft.
The book talks about different authors and their ways of staying close to their craft, becoming inspired, and writing effectively. Some found peace and motivation in nature, so they’d take long walks until inspiration struck them. Then they’d rush home to create and design their pieces.
Others found that sexual intercourse or pleasure derived from bodily functions gives them enough inspiration to write for days. Baths or long showers also seemed to be popular choices for some authors. The point is, that everyone has different ways of becoming connected to themselves and becoming inspired.
As a writer, it can be challenging to start creating out of thin air and seeing a blank page can be that much more demoralizing. For this reason, you have to find what can help you get in the mood for work and practice that when you feel like you’re lacking motivation.
Lastly, keep in mind that there’s no wrong or right in the creative process. Everyone gets inspired or works on their craft in their particular way. What worked for these people might not prove to be efficient for you, but that’s alright. The point is to find your muse! Whether it means working during the day or night, drinking coffee, taking a shower, or anything at all.
Lesson 3: Your connections to the people in your life can make or break your creative mind.
Any social science in the world can agree on one common fact: Our relationships define us and they also affect our mood. They are the pylon of our social life and they strongly impact our mental health. Friends, partners, parents, and other family members, all have a great impact on our work.
Keeping relationships in good parameters and also nurturing our ties with those we love keeps us in great mental and physical shape. The main point is to draw inspiration from these good ties and keep our souls at peace.
Authors have long relied on their partners for their well-being, treating them as a muse in the process of creation. It doesn’t come as a shock to find out that this is largely how many famous pieces of writing emerged.
Partners or friends can also help us with everyday chores and alleviate some of the pressure from mundane tasks. This way, you can append more time creating and designing your craft. You can see this type of relationship in the lives of Karl Marx, Immanuel Kant, Gustav Mahler, and many more.
Daily Rituals Review
Do you want to inspire yourself as a writer and become as successful in life as the writers of Daily Rituals? Then this is the book for you.
In this compilation of biographies from the most notorious writers in history, you can learn the habits and practices that helped them become so successful!
The book reveals how history’s greatest minds have developed their daily habits and rituals, to help the reader develop their own creative process.
Who would I recommend the Daily Rituals summary to?
The 40-year-old writer who is suffering from writer’s block and wants to overcome it, the 24-year-old wannabe writer who wants to learn about the lives of famous artists in history, or the 50-year-old person who is fascinated with history and literature and wants to enjoy a good read from their area of expertise.
Last Updated on October 6, 2022
