Are You Getting Enough Sleep? Here Are the Sleep Routines of Beethoven, Darwin, and 14 Other Geniuses

Can you work hard, accomplish a lot, and still get a good night's sleep?

Culturally, we seem to think the answer is no. Just like the myth of the starving artist, we also love the myth of the sleep-deprived genius — people like Elon Musk, who put in 120-hour workweeks.

Science has plenty to say about this: Without enough sleep, your short- and long-term memory will suffer, you're more prone to anxiety, and your relationships become at risk.

But the most memorable pro-sleep argument I've ever heard comes from history: When you look back at the sleep habits of timeless geniuses, you see a (mostly) well-rested bunch. Their routines were collected in a book called Daily Rituals: How Artists Work, which came out years ago — but the research always stuck with me.

That's why, here, I'd like to share 16 sleep routines from the book with you. These time spans were logged during the person's heaviest or most influential period of work. Of course, none of these greats can be summarized in the few words I offer below, but I hope their nightly snoozes inspire you towards your own restful accomplishments.

Here we go...

American poet, memoirist, and civil rights activist

Sleeps 10 pm to 5:30 am

German composer and pianist

Slept 10 pm to 6 am

Geologist, biologist, and author of On the Origin of Species

Slept midnight to 7 am

Author of (among others) A Tale of Two Cities and Great Expectations

Slept midnight to 7 am

Author of (among others) The Great Gatsby

Slept 3:30 am to 11 am

American founding father

Slept 10 am to 5 pm

Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis

Slept 1 am to 7 am

German philosopher, central to the Enlightenment

Slept 10 pm to 5 am

Author of (among others) Les Misérables

Slept 10 pm to 6 am

English poet and intellectual; author of Paradise Lost

Slept 9 pm to 4 am

Influential classical composer

Slept 1 am to 6 am

Best-selling Japanese writer, essayist, and novelist

Sleeps 9 pm to 4 am

American novelist, short story writer and essayist

Slept 9 pm to 6 am

Called the most influential psychologist of the 20th century

Slept 9:30 pm to 6:30 am

Russian composer of the Romantic period

Slept midnight to 8 pm

Russian novelist and author of (among others) War and Peace

Slept 1 am to 9 am

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Interesting, right? Of course, I wish this list was less homogenous — such is the downsides of history.

For more discussion on the importance of sleep, check out this podcast conversation I had about self care with You Are Radically Loved author Rosie Acosta. As we discussed the importance of sleep, the details of this book sprung to mind and inspired this newsletter.

Sleep well tonight.

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Cover credit: Getty Images / Tricia Shay Photography

Subject images: Wikimedia Commons / Public Domain