Your Phone Is Stealing Your Time... Try Victor Hugo's Trick from 'The Hunchback of Notre-Dame'

“Al Arabiya.net” – Victor Hugo, author of “Les Misérables” and “The Hunchback of Notre-Dame,” did not need a time-management app or a self-development coach to overcome procrastination. Nearly two centuries ago, he resorted to an unusual trick: he hid his clothes to prevent himself from leaving the house and getting distracted from writing his novel.

The story dates back to 1830, when the French writer found himself in a real predicament due to his delay in completing “The Hunchback of Notre-Dame,” a book he had contracted to write for publisher Gosselin since 1828. As the deadline approached, Gosselin began to lose patience and threatened to impose financial penalties if Hugo failed to meet the agreed-upon schedule.

Hugo had been preoccupied with other projects, allowing the novel to fall further behind, until he found himself in a race against time. In September 1830, he decided to employ an unconventional tactic: he gathered his regular clothes and kept them out of reach, leaving himself with only a long gray woolen robe that he wrapped around himself from neck to feet, thereby removing any excuse to go out, take strolls, or engage in social life.

This was not merely a matter of choosing eccentric attire, but an attempt to impose solitude on himself and shut the door on temptations that kept him from writing. His wife, Adèle, recounts in her memoirs that he rarely left his study except to eat and sleep, and that he gradually became immersed in the world of the novel and its characters.

The challenge was not simple; he had to complete a massive novel in a short period. Yet, he succeeded in writing approximately 180,000 words in roughly four and a half months, putting the final touches on the manuscript on January 15, 1831, before the novel was published later that year and became one of the most famous literary works in the world.

However, if Hugo had lived in our era, he might not have needed to hide his clothes, but rather to keep his smartphone out of reach.

In an age where social media platforms have become part of daily life, the smartphone has turned into a constant competitor to work, study, reading, and even social relationships. A single notification leads to quick browsing, then another clip, followed by dozens of posts, before the user realizes that a few minutes have turned into an hour or more.

Notably, people no longer need to leave their homes to escape their responsibilities; it is enough to sit in front of a computer to complete an essential task, then reach for their phone to check a notification, only to find themselves drowning in videos, posts, and comments, hopping between apps without a clear purpose.

The problem does not stop at wasted time; it extends to fragmented attention and difficulty returning to the original task, especially when the shift between work and phone happens repeatedly throughout the day. Procrastination is no longer always a direct postponement of work; it has sometimes become a small, recurring escape to the phone screen.

While Hugo tried to close the doors of distraction to save his novel, today’s person finds themselves facing endless open doors, leading from one app to another, in an endless vortex of content and notifications.

Perhaps the most important lesson from Hugo’s trick is not about hiding from the world, but realizing that achievement sometimes requires temporarily depriving oneself of things that steal one’s attention.

We may not need Victor Hugo’s genius to accomplish our tasks; we only need the courage to put the phone aside, turn off notifications, and give ourselves time where no one competes for our focus.