Da Vinci's Daily Routine: What Can We Learn?

Leonardo da Vinci had a bizarre routine, but what can we learn from it?

For the ones who don't know who Leonardo da Vinci is, he was a painter with master pieces like the Mona Lisa, he was an architect, inventor, a student of all kinds of scientific things and born on April 15 in the year 1452. 

Every day he painted, created, invented, built and designed. There's so much to tell about this man, but today I want to zoom in on his daily routine.

Sleep Routine

So let's start with his sleep routine which was quite bizarre. It's said that he used a polyphasic sleep routine, which means he took short naps throughout the day instead of sleeping all night. Leonardo decided that he spent too much time on sleep and invented his own sleeping routine. Most of us are monophasic sleepers, which means sleeping several hours at a time. In Da Vinci's routine, he slept for 15 to 20 minutes every 4 hours of the day. This is quite extreme, because it comes down to a total of 2 hours every single day, and he did it for many years. I find it rather a self-destructive sleeping schedule, because as far as I know, sleeping sessions between 6 and 8 hours are healthy for us. 

Also, a lack of sleep is not only bad for our physical health, but also for our mental health. Perhaps that's the reason why da Vinci was an expert in not finishing things... People say that "art is never finished", which might be true, I don't know, I'm definitely no expert on the subject, but I doubt it! Oh yeah, that he didn't finish many things comes from the fact that he left behind a lot of unfinished paintings.

Daily Habits

Journaling

Journaling was one of them. He carried a notebook with him all the time, so he could write things down as they occurred. One funny thing to know is that it appeared that he wrote backwards! Meaning that he started on the right side of the page and moving to the left, and write down the letters in mirror. Can you imagine? One of the reasons for this, according to The Museum of Science, is that he wrote normal only if the text was intended for other people. Another reason could be that he just wanted to keep his hands clean because he was, JUST LIKE ME, left-handed! 

If you are one of the people whose familiar with my YouTube channel, you know I love journaling as well. There are so many benefits, ladies and gentlemen! I should probably write a separate blog post about it. 

Self-affirmation

Another daily habit from him was self-affirmation. 

By writing down positive notions about himself and his achievements in his notebook, he was able to fight his self-doubt. Self-affirmations are very powerful, and they help you to become focused on your life goals. Many successful people are still doing this today and if you're a Law of Attraction believer/practitioner, you know all about positive self-affirmations. Positive self talk is really important guys, and da Vinci was practicing it every single day. 

Exercising

Another one of his habits was daily exercising! You wouldn't think it's possible with the amount of sleep he got, but he worked it out for himself. Leonardo da Vinci understood that mind and body should be in balance and therefore, he exercised daily. By the way, check my training playlist on YouTube if you're interested in exercising as well.

Diet

Da Vinci designed a diet which helped him to perform the way he did. He had 6 principles regarding his diet:

1. Moderation

2. Dining discipline

3. Savoring flavors, textures, smells etc…

4. Minimal fat, sugar, salt 

5. Water rich foods and the last principle number 6

6. Vegetables and fiber rich foods

He got his energy by eating meals at set times with moderate amounts. Also, he needed to sleep less if he kept his meals small. Big meals would need a lot of digesting and this would make him more tired. 

Conclusion

Well, it all comes down that he continuously strived to be a better version of himself, which I truly admire. I'm definitely not a fan of his sleeping pattern because it's just so bizarre, but I guess he made it work for himself. Also, he has become a genius, together with the rest of the things he did. Leonardo da Vinci is even considered one of the greatest geniuses of art history. He also had an unquenchable desire to expand his knowledge, which was one of his "secrets" to become successful. He did all kinds of research on whatever subject entered his mind or goal he had set! This also encourages me to keep diving deep into what life has to offer and that's one of the reasons I love to keep creating blog posts like this.