The Tyranny of the Toothbrush: On the Relationship Between Routine and Creativity

I have a theory that the most creative people in history were probably terrible at flossing. Not because they were too busy composing symphonies or painting water lilies, but because the sheer monotony of a bedtime routine—wash face, brush teeth, floss, moisturize, stare at the ceiling and contemplate every bad decision you’ve ever made—is fundamentally …