I Tried The Schedules Of Geniuses And This Is What Happened

What happens when one woman attempts to tackle the schedules of Angelou, Darwin, and Mozart?

You've probably heard the expression, "there's no recipe for success," and the same likely goes for creative genius.

When it comes to being a legendary writer like Maya Angelou, musician like Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, or scientist like Charles Darwin, there's a certain je ne sais quoi involved that simply can't be replicated.

Still, that didn't stop me from trying.

I recently came across these wonderful charts showing the schedules of creative geniuses. These charts, created by Info We Trust, break down the days of everyone from Charles Dickens to Benjamin Franklin, and, turns out, nearly everyone has a different strategy when it comes to spending their day.

As for me, I'm a recent college graduate with all the time in the world. Between job hunting, exploring my new home of Los Angeles, and crying over the Game of Thrones season finale, no two days are ever the same. So, I figured, when better than now to try and establish a creative routine?

Using these charts as my guide, I adopted the schedules of Angelou, Darwin, and Mozart, just to see what they knew that I don't. All three people represent distinctly different time periods, locations, and lines of work, so I was truly maximizing my exploration.

Here's how it all went down.

Kate Fustich

According to her daily schedule, Maya Angelou lived a very precise and organized life. I like things to be straightforward and neatly grouped, so I was eager to give this lifestyle a go.

I started by going to bed — or at least trying to — at 10 p.m. The sun had only been down an hour before and I lay awake thinking, What am I, a pioneer woman? Eventually, I drifted off around midnight.

...Which made my 5 a.m. wakeup a difficult task. Fortunately, Maya Angelou spent an entire hour devoted to coffee before continuing with her day. This, I can certainly get behind.

Maya Angelou famously did her writing in a hotel or motel. Despite the fact that this is incredibly classy, I am not exactly working with a poet laureate's budget. I opted for a study room at the public library.

Being alone in a room with your work for seven hours is hard. By the end, I was ready to socialize with the first person I saw. And yet, I got shit done.

Back at home, I showered and turned to Chrissy Teigen to help me cook dinner. I shared my writing (and my enchiladas) with my boyfriend and felt thoroughly exhausted by my 10 p.m. bedtime.

Kate Fustich

There's no getting around it: Charles Darwin lived a hectic day-to-day life. I tried his schedule to see if I would feel productive by organizing time so acutely.

The 7 a.m. wake-up call was a slight improvement from Angelou's waking hour. I felt like a responsible early bird instead of like I was waking up for a red-eye flight. I substituted the 30 minute walk with a YouTube yoga routine and had a "solitary breakfast" of Raisin Bran.

I set to work and was pleasantly surprised when my timer rang signaling it was dog-walking/lunch time. After an hour nap, getting back to work was an impossible task. I definitely drifted into "Idleness" a little early.

For Darwin, his evening leisure consisted of backgammon and "tea with an egg." I resolved to Super Smash Bros. and a vanilla chai latte. Most puzzling of all is his decision to spend the final two hours of his day lying awake in bed, "thinking of answers to problems." This made me feel a bit ridiculous and dramatic, almost like I was in a Wes Anderson movie.

Kate Fustich

I tried Mozart's schedule to see how the manic genius life worked for me. Picasso famously painted until 2 a.m. and slept till noon, so impracticality is clearly connected to brilliance, right?!

The day started relatively simply, with a 6 a.m. wake-up call and an hour spent "dressing." I didn't have a powdered wig to adjust, so I got to spend the early part of my day on Snapchat. After, I got to work. I mixed my writing with time spent on Duolingo to count as my "lessons." El gato bebe la leche.

Mozart was definitely onto something with his five hour lunch breaks. But once again, returning to work after such intense midday relaxation was a lot to handle. I interpreted the time labelled "composing or concerts" liberally as research, so I was able to justify taking a break from writing to read A Little Life.

The late evening was reserved for Mozart's boo, Constanze. I'm sure whatever they did was not as entertaining as Netflix and chill, however. I was covered in popcorn crumbs and blankets by 11 p.m., so imagine my surprise when my phone beeped and informed me it was time to work for another few hours.

Kate Fustich

At the end of all my trials and tribulations, it became clear that the only way to create a perfect schedule is to create it yourself. There was a lot here I didn't vibe with, but a lot I did.

I love Angelou's simplicity, but I don't think I could stand the extended solitude each day. Darwin got a whole slew of things done in 24 hours, but it was perhaps too frantic if you're not a well-to-do Englishman. And finally, Mozart was erratic but actually rather productive when all is said and done.

As I blaze the trial into adulthood and creative superstardom, I think I'll incorporate something from each of these approaches into my daily routine. I'll think of it as the mental version of dressing for the job you want.

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