Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Daily Routine

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart completed more than 800 works, Don Giovanni and The Magic Flute among them, before he died at 35. His daily routine in 1782 Vienna shows how he made room: he earned a living by teaching, and composed at both ends of it.

In a letter to his sister, which Mason Currey's Daily Rituals quotes and The Marginalian retells, he describes being dressed by 7:00 AM and composing until 9:00 AM. Lessons filled the hours until lunch. In the evening he composed when no concert claimed it, visited his fiancée, Constanze, then came home and wrote again, often until 1:00 AM.

It suits anyone building something of their own around a job that pays the bills. It's especially good if the job leaves only scraps of time.

You get three chances a day to move the work on: before work, in the evening and late at night. He slept about 5 hours, so give yourself more and keep just the split. The afternoon after lunch is our estimate.