Voltaire's Daily Routine
See what total absorption looks like. Voltaire dictated from bed all morning and worked 18 hours a day, breaking only for a carriage ride and supper.
By Colin PaceUpdated
Overview
Voltaire, author of Candide and the French Enlightenment's most famous wit, fought for free speech and religious tolerance. Late in life at Ferney, his secretary Jean-Louis Wagnière reckoned the two of them worked 18 to 20 hours a day.
Mason Currey's Daily Rituals retells a visitor's 1774 account. From 4:00 AM he read and dictated in bed, dressed at noon and worked on through lunch on coffee and chocolate. From 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM he drove out to survey the estate, then worked until supper at 8:00 PM with his niece and guests. At 9:30 PM he went back to dictating until midnight, as Podio's 2014 chart draws it.
This one is for a short season when one project matters more than anything and others handle the rest. You get 16 hours of your own work in 4 blocks, broken by a drive and a long supper with company. The 4:00 AM start and 4-hour night are Podio's inference, since no bedtime survives, and the day repeats all week.
Who's it for
At a glance
- 4 hr sleep per night
- 126 hr work per week
- 1 meal per day
Sleep
28 hours/week4 hr per night
- Every day12:00 AM → 4:00 AM· 4 hr
No naps.
Work
126 hours/week18 hr a day16 hr writing2 hr day job
- Writing4:00 AM → 12:00 PM· 8 hr · Every day
- Writing12:30 PM → 2:00 PM· 1 hr 30 min · Every day
- Day job2:00 PM → 4:00 PM· 2 hr · Every day
- Writing4:00 PM → 8:00 PM· 4 hr · Every day
- Writing9:30 PM → 12:00 AM· 2 hr 30 min · Every day
Eat
10.5 hours/week1 meal22:2 eating window1 hr 30 min eating
- Dinner8:00 PM → 9:30 PM· 1 hr 30 min · Every day
Off