Rituals of some of the greatest artists & how can we start ours as designers.

I started re-reading Daily Rituals. This time to transfer notes to my index cards for book notes. Until I publish the book notes, here are some of the rituals of the greats and some small activities to follow daily for modern-day creatives.

Pablo Picasso worked intensely in his studio for hours. He used to switch between painting and sculpting.

Haruki Murakami woke at 4 a.m., wrote for 5–6 hours, then exercised with swimming or running.

Charles Darwin followed a a structured day: morning study, midday walks, and relaxed reading in the evening.

Albert Einstein worked in short, intense bursts; relaxed with music and took regular long walks.

Stephen King wrote 2,000 words every morning. No exceptions.

Inspiration exists, but it has to find you working. — Pablo Picasso

Try making one of these your daily ritual:

1. Take a midday walk — Step outside or walk around your office to clear your mind. Go to a nearby park for a friendly chat with a colleague, talk about various things you spot around.

2. Warm-up the day with sketching — Start the day with emails/ meetings… you’ll find it hard to create something good throughout the day. Start the day by spending 10–15 minutes sketching ideas or writing new questions to explore throughout the day. This helps to ease into creative work.

3. Write in focused blocks of time — Dedicate 15–20 minutes to jot down quick ideas, notes ongoing projects. Structured, brief writing sessions are very powerful and help your team get your valuable inputs.

4. Look at inspiration — Every day, before starting the day, spend 10–30 minutes to browse design blogs, ID blogs, portfolios, or other creators’ work for inspiration.

5. Redesign an everyday object — Pick one small, common object (like the AC remote control or coffee machine interface) and sketch a quick improvement. It keeps the creator muscles active with new things without friction.

6. Ten-minute audio therapy — Listen to a new genre of music or soundscapes while you work for 10 minutes. You can also do it when you go out for a quick walk.

7. Daily documentation of life — Journaling is a heavy word. Just document something everyday. I made a small notebook to just write one sentence everyday. Today’s is the quote by Salvador Dalí — which is also the title of this post.

8. Practice a visual prompt — Play with a generative AI tool for 30 minutes everyday. Try Runway, Midjourney, Visual Electric or similar. Keep it running in the background. Whenever you need a quick break from usual work… play with it for a few minutes throughout the day.

Routine, in an intelligent man, is a sign of ambition. — W.H. Auden

It’s easy to get time for yourself, it’s easy to not get bored. It’s easy to not rely on intoxicants to come up with good ideas, stay in a surreal zone….

…if you’re genuinely curious, ambitious & are willing to follow a boring routine.