The Weird Things Successful People Do to Stay Focused

From counting coffee beans to writing in the nude, some of history’s most successful people had habits that were anything but ordinary.

Success is often presented as if it comes down to discipline, determination and getting up at 5 a.m.

But look closely at the routines of some highly accomplished people and you’ll find something much more entertaining.

They can be really weird.

Some counted their coffee beans. Some worked standing up. Some created elaborate rituals around their work. And at least one famous novelist reportedly removed his clothes so he couldn’t leave the house when a deadline was approaching.

The strange part isn’t necessarily the habit itself.

It’s that these people found something that helped them focus, create or eliminate distractions—and then stuck with it.

Beethoven Counted His Coffee Beans

Ludwig van Beethoven wasn’t exactly casual about his morning coffee.

According to historical accounts, he prepared his coffee with extraordinary precision, counting out 60 coffee beans for each cup.

After breakfast, he would work and later take long walks, sometimes carrying a sketchbook so he could jot down musical ideas as they came to him.

Sixty beans.

Not approximately 60.

60.

For most people, coffee preparation means dumping some grounds into a machine and hoping nobody talks to us before the first sip.

For Beethoven, apparently, the beans were part of the process.

And there’s a business lesson hiding inside the weirdness: sometimes a highly specific ritual becomes a signal that tells your brain, it’s time to work.

Victor Hugo Took “No Distractions” Very Seriously

If you think turning off your phone is difficult, consider Victor Hugo’s approach.

While working on The Hunchback of Notre-Dame, Hugo was facing a serious deadline. According to accounts from his wife and later historical sources, he had his clothes hidden so he couldn’t simply leave the house and go out.

He reportedly worked wrapped in a large gray shawl instead.

It’s one of the strangest examples of forced focus you’ll find.

Hugo essentially created a situation where leaving wasn’t an option.

Today, we might call this an extreme version of eliminating distractions.

Instead of saying, “I’ll just ignore my phone,” Hugo removed his ability to go anywhere.

There is, however, an important caveat: versions of the story differ, so it is better treated as a well-documented literary anecdote rather than a perfectly established fact.

Steve Jobs Turned His Wardrobe Into a Uniform

Steve Jobs didn’t count coffee beans or lock away his clothes.

He did something considerably simpler: he essentially eliminated the decision of what to wear.

Jobs became famous for his black mock turtleneck, jeans and sneakers. His biographer Walter Isaacson reported that Jobs liked the idea of having a personal uniform because it was convenient and created a recognizable style.

It may not sound strange today.

But imagine having hundreds of millions of dollars and still deciding that your wardrobe is basically going to be the same outfit over and over again.

The idea wasn’t necessarily about looking fashionable.

It was about removing an unnecessary decision.

And that concept has become increasingly popular among entrepreneurs and executives who simplify their wardrobes.

Maya Angelou Didn’t Write at Home

Maya Angelou had another unusual solution to distraction.

She would rent a hotel room specifically for writing.

According to the Paris Review, she would have the hotel staff remove pictures and other objects from the walls and then work on the bed. She kept the room specifically as a place to write rather than sleep.

That’s a fascinating strategy because she wasn’t trying to make her home more productive.

She left home entirely.

For some people, changing environments can create a psychological separation between everyday life and focused work.

The hotel room became her office.

Nothing else.

Ernest Hemingway Wrote Standing Up

Standing desks are everywhere now.

Hemingway was doing something similar long before they became a workplace trend.

The National Endowment for the Arts notes that Hemingway typically wrote standing up, with his typewriter positioned on top of a chest-high bookshelf. He also kept track of his daily word count.

There’s something almost amusing about this when you think about modern office culture.

Today, companies spend hundreds or thousands of dollars on ergonomic desks.

Hemingway apparently looked around and thought:

I’ll just stand.

He also kept a daily word-count chart because, as he reportedly put it, he wanted to avoid “kidding” himself about how much he had actually written.

That part is surprisingly relevant to business.

Sometimes productivity feels higher than it actually is.

A number doesn’t care how busy you felt.

You either produced the work or you didn’t.

Truman Capote Had Rules for Numbers

Truman Capote took superstition to another level.

According to the National Endowment for the Arts, Capote was highly superstitious about his writing. He reportedly wouldn’t begin or finish a project on a Friday and had other peculiar rules surrounding numbers and his environment.

Another account of famous writers’ rituals notes that Capote reportedly refused to stay in a hotel room if the room number contained the number 13 and wouldn’t allow more than three cigarette butts in his ashtray.

Now that’s a weird work ritual.

Imagine being on a business trip, finally getting your hotel room key and realizing the number doesn’t work for you.

Most of us would sigh and unpack.

Capote apparently had other ideas.

Ben Franklin Had “Air Baths”

Benjamin Franklin had a habit that sounds particularly strange by today’s standards.

He advocated what he called “air baths.”

In a 1768 letter, Franklin described sitting naked in front of an open window for periods of time as part of his daily routine.

It sounds bizarre now.

But Franklin believed fresh air was beneficial, and his version of the idea was essentially to expose himself to the air without clothing.

It’s another reminder that “successful person’s routine” doesn’t automatically mean “routine you should copy.”

Sometimes it just means something that worked—or that the person believed worked—for them.

The Lesson Isn’t to Copy the Weirdness

This is where these stories get interesting for business people.

You don’t need to start counting your coffee beans.

You don’t need to throw your clothes into a closet and lock the door.

And you probably shouldn’t start taking business meetings in the nude.

The point is something else.

Successful people often develop rituals that make their environment predictable.

A ritual can tell your brain:

Now it’s time to focus.

For Beethoven, it may have been those precisely counted coffee beans.

For Jobs, it was a nearly identical wardrobe.

For Angelou, it was a hotel room stripped of distractions.

For Hemingway, it was standing at his typewriter and tracking his output.

The rituals were completely different.

The purpose was surprisingly similar.

Your Own Weird Work Habit Might Not Be So Weird

Maybe you can’t work without your particular coffee.

Maybe you have to listen to the same playlist.

Maybe you walk around while thinking.

Maybe you rewrite your to-do list three times.

Maybe you need your desk arranged a very specific way before you can concentrate.

Maybe you always sit in the same chair.

Maybe you work better at night.

Maybe you have a lucky pen you’ve been carrying around for years.

And maybe you thought that made you strange.

It probably doesn’t.

Humans are creatures of habit, and highly structured routines can help create boundaries around work.

The interesting question isn’t whether a habit looks strange to someone else.

It’s whether it helps you do what you need to do.

But There’s a Catch

There’s a difference between a useful ritual and a ritual that controls you.

If your routine helps you focus, great.

If missing one particular coffee cup means you can’t function for the entire day, that’s a different story.

The goal isn’t to become obsessed with productivity rituals.

It’s to understand what helps you transition into focused work.

And sometimes, the strangest solution is the one you’ll remember.

The Takeaway for Business Owners

The next time you see someone with an unusual work ritual, don’t immediately assume they’re being eccentric.

They may have simply discovered their own shortcut to focus.

The best routines don’t necessarily look impressive.

They might look ridiculous.

They might even look completely unnecessary.

But if counting 60 coffee beans, wearing the same outfit every day or renting a hotel room helps someone get into the right mental space to create, maybe the habit isn’t as strange as it first appears.

The real productivity secret may not be finding the “perfect” routine. It may be finding the routine that works for you—and being disciplined enough to use it.

Suggested Category: Business

Sources

• History — 8 Historical Figures With Unusual Work Habits
• Inc. — The 7 Weirdest Habits of the Rich and Super Successful
• National Endowment for the Arts — Peculiar Habits of 7 Writers
• Penguin Random House — The Most Unusual Writing Rituals of Famous Authors
• The Guardian — Daily Routines of History’s Most Creative Minds
• Photo by: Ben Stanfield, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

---

---

---