He worked in two or three short, sharp blocks — about 90 minutes each — and called it a good day by lunchtime. Then he walked his gravel path, counting laps with a pile of stones. Here is his imagined day.
His whole working day was two or three blocks of about 90 minutes — and he produced some of the most important science in history. It is not about hours at the desk. It is about how sharp the blocks are.
Letters were answered in one fixed block, not all day long. Correspondence is real work — but only when it has a fence around it. Give your inbox its own task slot, and keep it out of the others.
He walked his 'sandwalk' path daily, kicking one stone aside per lap so he could think without counting. The walk was scheduled, like a meeting with his own mind. Put it on the board.
He worked on his big idea for about twenty years, in those same small daily blocks. Big things are not built in big pushes — they are built in small blocks that repeat. Pick the project worth repeating for.
Sources: his son Francis Darwin's account of the daily routine at Down House (the work blocks, the letters hour, the sandwalk and its stones). Details are simplified for illustration.
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