Daily Rituals: How Artists Work

I am currently about halfway through Daily Rituals: How Artists Work by Mason Currey, and I am finding it incredibly interesting. It is a compilation of several dozen routines of famous artists, musicians, and other creative people. I am really enjoying reading the details of the different artists, and I am learning a lot. Currey writes the following in the introduction:

The book’s title is Daily Rituals, but my focus in writing it was really people’s routines. The word connotes ordinariness and even a lack of thought; to follow a routine is to be on autopilot. But one’s daily routine is also a choice, or a whole series of choices. In the right hands, it can be a finely calibrated mechanism for taking advantage of a range of limited resource: time (the most limited resource of all) as well as willpower, self-discipline, optimism. A solid routine fosters a well-worn groove for one’s mental energies and helps stave off the tyranny of moods. This was one of William Jame’s favorite subjects. He thought you wanted to put part of your life on autopilot; by forming good habits, he said, we can “free our minds to advance to really interesting fields of action.”

Currey hits the nail on the head so to speak. Routines are important because they enable us to manage our limited resources. Self-control and self-discipline are like muscles: they fatigue with use. Routines allow us to minimize thinking about each little decision and preserve our energy for the big decisions. “Routine, in an intelligent man, is a sign of ambition,” wrote W. H. Auden. This is why President Obama sticks mostly to a grey or blue suit. He has bigger decisions to worry about. “My wife makes fun of how routinized I’ve become,” President Obama says. Taking it one step further, Cal Newport suggests we should plan out each minute of our day, noting “the best knowledge workers view their time like the best investors view their capital, as a resource to wield for maximum returns.” This includes planning out open-ended activities and time for relaxation. As we noted in a post before, Tim Ferriss writes “alternating periods of activity and rest is necessary to survive, let alone thrive. Capacity, interest, and mental endurance all wax and wane. Plan accordingly.”

Daily Rituals focuses a bit more on artists and creative work; however, routines are just as important for other goals as well. When I was studying for the CFP® examination, I had a specific routine for my study plan. In addition, I wrote out a specific routine for the day of the exam so I could focus my energy on the examination questions. However, as Shane Parrish noted, “if you’re looking for some insight into what makes an ideal daily routine, you’re out of luck. One big insight to the book is that there is no one way to do things.” While there are a few general principles that always apply, each individual has their own preferences, and one’s routine will most likely evolve over time. Overall, Daily Rituals by Mason Currey is an entertaining read and an interesting starting point to explore more routine ideas. 

Letters From a Stoic Investor

Seneca (4 BC – AD 65) was a Roman Stoic philosopher, statesman, and dramatist. His works include a dozen philosophical essays and over a hundred letters dealing with moral issues and tragedies.

Seneca’s writings helped build foundational themes in the Stoic philosophy. Messages such as the development of self-control and fortitude are conveyed in an attempt to be used as tools to overcome destructive emotions.

Endless takeaways are to be had from Seneca’s letters, which can be used in various ways: self-improvement, outlook on life, or building lasting relationships to name a few. What I am presently most interested in is how Seneca can make us better investors.

A constant struggle for any investor is filtering out the continuous wave of noise that is the media. If we were all to follow every “hot stock pick” and “5 companies to short now” headline that came across our computer we would be constantly stressed and fall into delirium. Seneca has a clear message to the investor that is capable of ignoring the media, and sticking with his core values when it comes to long-term conviction:

You do not tear from place to place and unsettle yourself with one move after another. Restlessness of that sort is symptomatic of a sick mind. Nothing, to my way of thinking, is a better proof of a well ordered mind than a man’s ability to stop just where he is and pass some time in his own company.

This is of course not to say that we should ignore all voices that demand of our attention. Seneca frequently speaks to authorities on their subjects of expertise and the attention we should give to them.

You should be extending your stay among writers whose genius is unquestionable, deriving constant nourishment from them if you wish to gain anything from your reading that will find a lasting place in your mind. To be everywhere is to be nowhere.

As wise investors we should be focusing the vast majority of our time reading the thought leaders that are tried and true - the Warren Buffets, Charlie Mungers, and Benjamin Grahams of the world -as well as the Nobel Prize winning Eugene Fama and Daniel Kahneman.

People who spend their whole life travelling abroad end up having plenty of places where they can find hospitality but no real friendships. The same must needs be the case with people who never set about acquiring an intimate acquaintanceship with any one great writer, but skip from one to another, paying flying visits to them all. Food that is vomited up as soon as it is eaten is not assimilated into the body and does not do one any good.

Constantly glancing through tweets looking for answers, reading random blog posts speculating on the future of commodities, and Google searching how to hedge yourself against the threat of high-frequency trading does little to put things in your brain that will find a lasting place. These are nothing but a distraction from attempting to identify the true authorities, those that have produced lasting content and have the ability to provide you with objective council. False shortcuts exist all around us, as they did in Seneca’s time, it is in our nature to seek out the path of least resistance. This is one of the reasons his logic and messages are still applicable today.

And if you say, “But I feel like opening different books at different times,” my answer will be this: tasting one dish after another is the sign of a fussy stomach, and where the foods are dissimilar and diverse in range they lead to contamination of the system, not nutrition.

As human beings, we are all naturally at the whims of our emotions. However, recognizing this is a good first step to guiding them, and by doing so, we avoid chasing the one-off dopamine releases that accompany short-term addiction and gambling. As Seneca said, “There is nothing the busy man is less busied with than living; there is nothing harder to learn.” Similarly, there is nothing the busy investor is less busied with than investing. Restlessness, impatience, and fussiness are a sure way to failure. Worse yet, they may create the illusion of productivity while actually working to one’s detriment. One can avoid this by looking to Seneca and stoicism for a guide. 2000 years later the lessons are still the same: listen to the thought-leaders that are tried and true, practice self-control and willpower, and filter the signal from the noise.

The Actual Way To Read More Books

I read an article over the weekend that I passionately disagree with and think needs addressing. The article was entitled “How Could I Read More Books?” and was part of BBC News Magazine. Now there are some fine points in the article – for example, a charity to help people who are unable to read at all. However, a majority of it is about speed-reading.

Speed-reading is a terrible idea. Skimming passages and chunking – grouping words together so they can be read as a single chunk – are awful strategies. In fact, the opposite is preferable. Read slowly. Take notes. Contemplate the subtleties of the text. This is how one learns and enjoys a book.

The article was trying to answer the question of the title: “How Could I Read More Books?” Unfortunately, the speed-reading answer is wrong. Yes, one can read more books that way, but it misses the point entirely. Speed-reading is a solution to reading more books just like steroids are a solution to becoming healthier. It may seem like you are getting results, but you’re actually making it worse.

So what is the real answer? How can we read more books?

The answer is simple but not easy – sacrifice something else. We all have 24 hours in a day. In order to do something more, one must give up something else. Considering we are still in the first few weeks of January, this applies to all New Year’s resolution as well. If your resolution was to add something to your life – 10 minutes of meditation, spending more time with family, learning a new language, etc, there is a second part to that goal that requires some consideration as well. You are going to have to give up something else.

The unavoidable truth is that if you want to read more you are going to have to sacrifice something else. Facebook, texting, and television are good choices, but it may be some social time with friends too depending on how far you want to take it. 

My last semester of college classes was in the fall of 2013. During the month of October I set a goal of reading one hour a day. I wouldn’t go to bed until I had read at least one hour. I sacrificed sleep and television mostly. (The former is not recommended.) I ended up reading 18 books that month. The takeaway was not “life-hack-and-productivity-trick your way to achieving your dreams” like some might have you believe. Rather, it was this: adding one hour of anything requires sacrificing one hour of something else. Speed-reading and multitasking are for frauds. If you want to get anything done it will require giving up something else.