Work & Life | How to schedule your work hours a la Simone de Beauvoir

Simone de Beauvoir was a writer, intellectual, existentialist philosopher, political activist, feminist, and social theorist. And she did not spend 24/7 doing just that. Here is an excerpt from The Paris Review on her working hours. By my calculations, it added up to 7 hours a day: 10 am to 1 pm and 5 pm to 9 pm.  INTERVIEWER People say that you have great self-discipline and that you never let a day go by without working. At what time do you start?  DE BEAUVOIR I'm always in a hurry to get going, though in general I dislike starting the day. I first have tea and then, at about ten o'clock, I get under way and work until one. Then I see my friends and after that, at five o'clock, I go back to work and continue until nine. I have no difficulty in picking up the thread in the afternoon. When you leave, I'll read the paper or perhaps go shopping. Most often it's a pleasure to work. The Paris Review, Spring-Summer 1965 | Courtesy of Marcine Miller Read also: Slate “Daily Rituals: Life-hacking tips” by Mason Currey Mason Currey’s inactive Daily Routines blog

Interesting Couple | Annie Leibovitz & Susan Sontag

From “Women Leibovitz Annie, Sontag Susan”  via Anna – Lou “Annie” Leibovitz Fans on Flicker

This is a tricky one, since one part of the couple is a really famous portrait photographer, so she is always behind the lens. The other was a powerhouse of intellectual writing, hence more likely to be in front of the lens. Plus, Susan once said that she “grew up in a time when the modus operandi was the ‘open secret’” so frequent showing off with Annie for social photographs was not likely or maybe encouraged. Then I found a copy of a photo of them together! Annie’s photos are iconic; Susan has written hell of a book “On Photography” and forever changed my view on what it means to photograph, how predatory of a task it can be.