To method-act the persona
and circumvent the ego

Dress – Einstein was known for his crazy hair and disheveled appearance. Pay less attention to your grooming and clothing. Let your hair grow out more than you normally would and wear only comfortable clothing. Just put on what is the most convenient. Do not bother with matching.

Attention – Be absorbed in thought most of the time and inattentive to your surroundings. Find a thought experiment to occupy your mind while you doing mundane tasks like walking, eating, or using the bathroom so that you are constantly immersed in thought and oblivious to your surroundings. Avoid direct eye contact, but listen intently to others and nod often.

Einstein’s claim to fame is thinking, so much of your time will be spent on improving your thinking skills.

Determine the assumptions and beliefs that guide your life – Einstein had strong convictions about the world which shaped his work. His belief in the simplicity and beauty of the world was captured in e=mc2. Some of Einstein’s other core guiding beliefs were:

• Reality exists independent of our ability to observe it.
• The world works on causality, not probabilities. One event leads to another and not to several probable or improbable events.
• The cosmos obeys strict laws that are comprehensible to humans.

Write down the convictions that shape your personal philosophy. Here are some questions to guide you:

• How much of a role does luck play in your life or can you control your destiny?
• Do you take a solipsistic view of world, where our observation of the world is what is real, or do you believe in an independent realism?
• Is the world unpredictable and chaotic and even incomprehensible or are there underlying rules that govern everything?
• Are you an atheist, theist, or monotheist?
• Are people fundamentally competent or incompetent? Ethical or unethical?
• Which is more important: individual rights or the welfare of society? And what impact does that have on your choices?

After you have written your beliefs, think about how they shape your actions. If your beliefs were different, how would your thinking be different? Choose one of the questions above and imagine how your beliefs and opinions would change if you chose a different answer.

Conduct thought experiments – Einstein was famous for his thought experiments. To help him understand the relationship between acceleration and gravity, he imagined himself in an elevator that was accelerating towards the heavens. It felt the same as standing on Earth. Imagining a bowling ball and lighter balls resting on a trampoline helped him realize that curved space could explain gravity because everything rolled towards the heaviest ball. Three ways to conduct thought experiments are:

• imagining being something else, like the end product you are working on
• constructing analogies, like the balls for planets
• creating pictures of your problem.

Use these experiments and combinations of them to examine your problems. Move things around in your pictures, imagine your feelings, and substitute items in your analogies. The purpose of these exercises is to gain a fresh perspective.

Make sure you schedule time, preferably at least an hour, each day to be alone and think. Take up solitary hobbies that allow you time to reflect, like running or weight lifting.

Get involved politically – After WWI, Einstein advocated for the end of militarism, especially conscription and the buildup of arms. He also spoke on behalf of Zionism and travelled extensively to raise funds for the Jewish state. Find a cause you believe in to advocate for at work. It doesn’t have to be a political cause, but something you believe will make work a better place, even if it’s campaigning for casual Fridays.

Reverse one of your principles – Although his personal convictions were strong, Einstein did reverse himself on some of his positions when circumstances changed. A committed pacifist after WWI, he realized that the only way to combat the rise of Nazism was to build strong militaries outside Germany. In fact, he wrote the letter to FDR that instigated the Manhattan project. Review your list of your convictions above and choose one to reverse. Spend your time as Einstein acting as if you believe the reverse is true.

Give a creative gift to the world using the Creative Commons attribution – In addition to the examples above, Einstein’s theories became the foundation for new fields of study, most notably quantum mechanics, but also in mathematics and thermodynamics. Do you have a piece of work you can send out to the world for other people to use and build on? Find or create something and post it on internet using the creative commons attribution so that people know they are free to use it.

Help someone at the bottom – While Einstein lived in Princeton, he was well-known in his neighborhood. His neighbor’s little girl sought him out to help her with her math homework. Although her mother was aghast, Einstein quite enjoyed helping her and tutored her regularly. Find someone in a very junior position you can help, especially someone who might be surprised by your attention.

Take on work no one else wants – After his work on general relativity, Einstein spent the rest of his life pursuing the grand unified theory, a theory that would unify gravity, electromagnetism, and nuclear forces into one simple law. He was never successful, and many of his colleagues were frustrated at his continued efforts. Einstein’s explanation was that he felt compelled to work towards this unifying theory because someone had to, and he already had made a name for himself and could sacrifice the rest of the his career to a fruitless pursuit. Take on a thankless job in your department that no one else wants to do.