We all have 24 hours in a day, but some people seem to get so much more out of their hours than others. So what scheduling trends can be found amongst some of the most famous people throughout history that might be replicated and leveraged to help today’s entrepreneurs, real estate professionals and investors maximize their time and achievements?
The Huffington Post recently ran a feature covering data from a book on the daily rituals of successful individuals and infographics breaking down their respective days. Some of the notable individuals, innovators and leaders covered include: Beethoven, Benjamin Franklin, Sigmund Freud, and Mozart. It wouldn’t be a surprise if today’s leaders like Donald Trump, Warren Buffett and Bill Gates had a few of these habits in common.
Here are 7 common scheduling characteristics of brilliant people:
1. Little time ‘making ends meet’
While some of these famous individuals certainly made a good living from their creative work, they seemed to spend little time ‘making ends meet’ or trading their personal labor for a paycheck.
2. Social
Whether networking, sharing meals or people watching in the local pub with a newspaper, these individuals seemed to spend as much time in social situations as working or creating. In many cases, this may be the single biggest difference between these elite individuals and today’s real estate professionals. Of course, they didn’t have the internet, infographics, blogging or Facebook back then, but it will be interesting to see how this difference plays out over the next generation.
3. Life included a lot more than work
With the exception of a few true workaholics, most of these famous figures only spent a fraction of their 24 hours working and creating. They spent a lot of time on a whole variety of other activities on this list. In America, having two or three jobs is far from unusual and putting in 100 hours a week far from an eyebrow raiser. Yet, how many Mozarts and Benjamin Franklin level game changers do we see today?
4. Sleep
While many innovators and entrepreneurs today do seem to be night owls out of this crowd, few apparently went to bed past midnight, with 6 am appearing to be a median rising time.
5. Bad Habits
While this may not be one of the categories today’s real estate pros should be emulating, the geniuses of yesteryear apparently had many notorious habits including plenty of tobacco and alcohol consumption. Given the recent displays of some of today’s celebrities, not much may have changed in the music world. However, following the path of Justin Bieber is highly unlikely to help many real estate professionals advance their careers.
6. Reading
Reading and focusing on education is another of the most common traits of brilliance throughout history. Many may now substitute traditional books and newspapers with blogs, digital magazines, podcasts and YouTube videos. Whichever format it comes in, it is obviously essential to keep on learning and self-educating.
7. Exercise
The power of regular exercise to fuel productivity has now been scientifically proven through various studies. Even a couple centuries ago, the most successful recognized the value of daily exercise with some taking as many as three walks a day or performing calisthenics in the morning.
