If you want to be successful, you may need to get a little weird.
According to Harvard psychologist Shelley Carson, eccentric people tend to be more creative because of something called "cognitive disinhibition." Basically, creative folks have less of a filter on their thoughts and actions, which makes them more likely to do things that don’t follow the norms of behavior.
Looking at the lives of immensely successful people, it becomes clear that strangeness has its benefits. From Marissa Mayer's eccentric sleeping schedule to Ludwig van Beethoven's affinity for composing in the bathtub, here's a look some weird habits that have fueled success.
Yoshiro Nakamatsu would starve his brain of oxygen to get big ideas.
At 85, Nakamatsu is one of Japan's greatest inventors. He patented the floppy disk back in 1952 and has racked up 3,300 patents. He's the father of the karaoke machine, the sauce pump, the taxicab meter, and the digital watch.
To feed his inventiveness, he likes to push his brain and body to the limit. He regularly goes swimming and holds his head underwater to the point of nearly drowning.
“To starve the brain of oxygen,” he once explained,“you must dive deep and allow the water pressure to deprive the brain of blood. Zero-point-five seconds before death, I visualize an invention.”
Then he jots down his inspiration on an underwater notepad and heads back to the surface.
Jonathan Franzen works with a blindfold to keep his concentration.
In an era of 140-character messages, Franzen composes serious fiction. His books "The Corrections" and "Freedom" capture the endemic weirdness of American families.
But to write his 500-page novels, Franzen goes beyond just boycotting social media. He blocks out all sensory stimuli. As the New York Times reports, he writes with earplugs, earmuffs, and a blindfold when he really needs to concentrate.
''You can always find the 'home' keys on your computer,'' he said. ''They have little raised bumps.''
Ludwig van Beethoven developed his ideas in the bathroom.
Though he famously went deaf, Beethoven became one of the world's most influential composers with works such as "Moonlight Sonata."
Surprisingly, baths were a part of his workflow.
His student and secretary Anton Schindler wrote that the composer would stand at "his washstand and pour large pitchers of water over his hands, bellowing up and down the scale or sometimes humming loudly to himself."
Then he'd stride around the room rolling his eyes, writing down notes, and continue pouring water and singing.
"These were moments of deep meditation," Schindler said, "to which no one could have objected."
While the splashing annoyed his neighbors, Beethoven was onto something: We get our best ideas in the shower.
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