# The three-or-four-hours rule for getting creative work done
URL:: https://www.oliverburkeman.com/fourhours
Author:: Oliver Burkeman
## Highlights
> Charles Darwin, at work on the theory of evolution in his study at Down House, toiled for two 90-minute periods and one one-hour period per day; the mathematical genius Henri Poincaré worked for two hours in the morning and two in the afternoon. Thomas Jefferson, Charles Dickens, Virginia Woolf, Ingmar Bergman and many more all basically followed suit, as Alex Pang explains in [his book Rest](https://www.oliverburkeman.com/so/14NZw7Z67/c?w=xXPehKOhA36HzJVe7eUnnmoXELpOWUJ2R5rGJBQD7SE.eyJ1IjoiaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuc3RyYXRlZ3kucmVzdC8_cGFnZV9pZD04NjQzIiwiciI6ImEwOGRhOGFkLTlkMTktNGUyYS02OTdhLTE4ODMwZWNhM2JkOCIsIm0iOiJscCJ9) (where he also discusses research supporting the idea: this isn't just a matter of cherry-picking examples to prove a point). ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01h589rcc5r4zm9xcgm9hf1vww))
> it pays to use whatever freedom you do have over your schedule not to "maximise your time" or "optimise your day", in some vague way, but specifically to ringfence three or four hours of undisturbed focus (ideally when your energy levels are highest). Stop assuming that the way to make progress on your most important projects is to work for longer. And drop the perfectionistic notion that emails, meetings, digital distractions and other interruptions ought ideally to be whittled away to practically nothing. Just focus on protecting four hours – and don't worry if the rest of the day is characterised by the usual scattered chaos ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01h589rp8sv306y3m571s6r3sz))
> Pathological productivity ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01h589rx976ftdxt5fgrqbvnre))
- Note: [[Productivity porn]]
---
Title: The three-or-four-hours rule for getting creative work done
Author: Oliver Burkeman
Tags: readwise, articles
date: 2024-01-30
---
# The three-or-four-hours rule for getting creative work done
URL:: https://www.oliverburkeman.com/fourhours
Author:: Oliver Burkeman
## AI-Generated Summary
There aren't many hard-and-fast rules of time management that apply to everyone, always, regardless of situation or personality (which is why I tend to emphasise general principles instead).
## Highlights
> Charles Darwin, at work on the theory of evolution in his study at Down House, toiled for two 90-minute periods and one one-hour period per day; the mathematical genius Henri Poincaré worked for two hours in the morning and two in the afternoon. Thomas Jefferson, Charles Dickens, Virginia Woolf, Ingmar Bergman and many more all basically followed suit, as Alex Pang explains in [his book Rest](https://www.oliverburkeman.com/so/14NZw7Z67/c?w=xXPehKOhA36HzJVe7eUnnmoXELpOWUJ2R5rGJBQD7SE.eyJ1IjoiaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuc3RyYXRlZ3kucmVzdC8_cGFnZV9pZD04NjQzIiwiciI6ImEwOGRhOGFkLTlkMTktNGUyYS02OTdhLTE4ODMwZWNhM2JkOCIsIm0iOiJscCJ9) (where he also discusses research supporting the idea: this isn't just a matter of cherry-picking examples to prove a point). ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01h589rcc5r4zm9xcgm9hf1vww))
> it pays to use whatever freedom you do have over your schedule not to "maximise your time" or "optimise your day", in some vague way, but specifically to ringfence three or four hours of undisturbed focus (ideally when your energy levels are highest). Stop assuming that the way to make progress on your most important projects is to work for longer. And drop the perfectionistic notion that emails, meetings, digital distractions and other interruptions ought ideally to be whittled away to practically nothing. Just focus on protecting four hours – and don't worry if the rest of the day is characterised by the usual scattered chaos ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01h589rp8sv306y3m571s6r3sz))
> Pathological productivity ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01h589rx976ftdxt5fgrqbvnre))
Note: [[Productivity porn]]