I probably review this talk by mathematician Richard Hamming once a month if not more often. Here are my favorite excerpts:
Given two people with exactly the same ability, the one person who manages day in and day out to get in one more hour of thinking will be tremendously more productive over a lifetime.
If you do not work on an important problem, it’s unlikely you’ll do important work. Great scientists have thought through, in a careful way, a number of important problems in their field, and they keep an eye on wondering how to attack them.
…there is a pretty good correlation between those who work with the doors open and those who ultimately do important things, although people who work with doors closed often work harder. Somehow they seem to work on slightly the wrong thing – not much, but enough that they miss fame.
I strongly prefer to work on my own and without noise or bother from outside. But it’s a valuable reminder: socializing (both yourself and your work) can lead to greater career success. As with all things, the difficulty probably lies in balancing between the two poles.
But if you want to be a great scientist you’re going to have to put up with stress. You can lead a nice life; you can be a nice guy or you can be a great scientist.
The habits that emerge: Allow time for deep thinking. Know the important problems in your field. Keep the door open. Adapt to stress.