The Nude Method (How Victor Hugo Beat Procrastination)

We have all been there. You have a deadline. The work is due. But suddenly, the refrigerator needs cleaning, or you need to alphabetize your spice rack.
Well, next time you are procrastinating, spare a thought for Victor Hugo.
In the autumn of 1830, Hugo was in trouble. He had promised his publisher a new novel—The Hunchback of Notre Dame—and the deadline was looming like a guillotine. But Hugo was a social butterfly. He kept going out to parties, hosting dinners, and generally doing anything except writing.
So, he did the only logical thing: He locked his clothes away.
He bought a large, grey, knitted shawl that reached from his neck to his toes. Then, he gathered up all his suits, coats, and formal wear, handed them to his servant, and gave a strict order: “Lock these in the chest and do not give them back to me until the book is finished.”
He literally held himself hostage. He couldn’t leave the house because he had nothing to wear but a glorified blanket. If he wanted to go to a party, he’d have to go naked.
Stripped of his dignity and his distractions, Hugo had no choice. He sat down, wrapped in his knitted grey sack, and wrote like a madman. He finished The Hunchback of Notre Dame weeks ahead of schedule, proving that the secret to productivity isn’t discipline; it’s the fear of public nudity.