Einstein's 3 Most Efficient Habits That Helped Him Tap Into His Inner Genius

Einstein needs no introduction.

He is one of the greatest physicists of all time.

Here’s what you may not know about his career before his incredible year of scientific discoveries.

After he graduated from the Swiss Federal Polytechnic in Zurich, Switzerland, Einstein couldn’t secure a job for almost two years.

He moved to Bern, Switzerland, to work as a patent clerk when he failed to get a job in his field of work. He managed to publish his breakthrough papers whilst he was still a clerk.

Einstein published many papers in his career, but his scientific papers in 1905 defined his career for good and changed our perception of the world.

Einstein was not a lone genius.

His first wife, Mileva Marić, friends, teachers, and mentors made valuable contributions to his ideas earlier in his career.

But when the time was right to explore his ideas further, he made time to dig deeper outside his clerk duties.

The question is: how did someone working as a full-time patent clerk manage to publish four revolutionary papers in a single year?

What valuable lesson on productivity can we learn from Albert Einstein? How did he produce so much great work in such a short period of time?

1. Einstein was a curious genius

He nurtured his passion for exploring the world.

Einstein is known for his prodigious and revolutionary mind, not his productivity habits. But the genius scientist wasn’t above working hard and staying focused to meet his goals.

When Einstein had a bit of time alone to think outside clerk responsibilities, he pursued his intellectual curiosities without holding back.

“The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing. One cannot help but be in awe when one contemplates the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the marvellous structure of reality.”

The greatest minds in history have all understood that the key to great work and creativity is to stay curious.

The problem today is, that our jobs are so complicated, mundane, and uninteresting that we’re left with very little motivation to do them.

Einstein and Leonardo da Vinci both understood the importance of staying curious and worked tirelessly to find new and exciting ways to solve old problems.

The greatest productivity lessons of Einstein are all about staying curious.

2. He valued solitude

Einstein blocked quality time alone to think and write. Thought experiments were one of his famous thinking habits.

“He would regularly go for long walks, wander off to quiet cabins in the mountains, play his violin, or sail the seas with his wooden boat to find serenity, writes Mayo Oshin.

“I have never lost a sense of distance and a need for solitude,” Einstein said.

Time to think is as valuable as the time to work. The brain connects ideas better when given time alone from distractions. Einstein made time to think through his ideas outside work and managed to publish world-changing ideas.

3. He was a prolific writer

How do you publish four deep scientific papers in a year? “Writing, at its best, is a lonely life.,” Ernest Hemingway once said.

Albert Einstein is famous for his theory of relativity and his work on the photoelectric effect.

What’s lesser-known is that Einstein was also a prolific writer, penning more than 600 essays, poems, and letters throughout his life.

“There comes a point in your life when you need to stop reading other people’s books and write your own,” Einstein once said.

Einstein worked relentlessly because he was driven by his passion for learning and making other people understand his ideas.

Your inner genius is waiting to be unleashed.

With the right habits, you can do more great work.

Time alone to think, pursuing your intellectual curiosities, and thinking on paper can take you far in life.

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This post was previously published on Personal Growth.

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