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- Lin-Manuel Miranda, the creator of the hit musical "Hamilton," has won a MacArthur Fellowship, a Pulitzer Prize, an Emmy, three Tonys, and three Grammys at age 40.
- He's known for his relentless work ethic and has shared plenty of advice over the years on how he stays focused.
- Miranda recommends collaborating with mentors, using social media sparingly, and setting personal deadlines to get the job done.
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Lin-Manuel Miranda works like he's running out of time — just like Alexander Hamilton, a founding father and the subject of his award-winning Broadway musical.
At 40, the "Hamilton" creator has won a MacArthur Fellowship, a Pulitzer Prize, an Emmy, three Tonys, and three Grammys.
Miranda began writing the musical "In the Heights" during his sophomore year of college at Wesleyan University. The musical debuted on Broadway in 2008, when he was 28 years old, and went on to win four Tony awards, including for best musical and best original score. By 2011, when the show ended its run, Miranda had already been working on "Hamilton" for two years.
Miranda's nonstop work has paid off in the millions. In 2017, he made about $6.4 million. Earlier this year, Disney paid $75 million for the rights to the production film of Hamilton. The musical began streaming on Disney Plus on July 3.
Miranda is writing a "Hamilton" follow-up amid the pandemic while caring for his children.
The composer, actor, rapper, father of two, and playwright clearly knows a thing or two about getting his work done, and he's shared his advice along the way. Business Insider compiled some of his best advice on staying productive.
SEE ALSO: 10 simple updates to your daily routine to help you be less lazy and have a more productive day
Collaborate with mentors who will help you do your best work.
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Miranda credits the success of his musicals to the mentors he's learned from. He said they've kept him motivated and grounded.
Miranda consulted John Weidman, a musical-theater writer and cocreator of the musical "Contact,"throughout the process of writing "Hamilton." Within a month of the Broadway debut of the show, he tweeted photo of him and Weidman with a caption saying, "Hamilton doesn't exist without John Weidman."
Miranda also received guidance from the famed composer Stephen Sondheim, who worked on music for "Into the Woods" and "West Side Story." In an interview with The New York Times, Miranda described the moment Sondheim encouraged him to write Hamilton. "That moment alone, the joy of surprising Sondheim, sustained me through many rough writing nights and missed deadlines," Miranda said.
Working with his role models allowed Miranda to refine his work and stay motivated in the process. "Through collaboration, you can make something greater than the sum of your collective gifts," Miranda told Fast Company.
Consider taking a break from social media.
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Miranda, who has more than 3.2 million Twitter followers, stepped back from his massive online following to focus on his work. In December, he tweeted a personal resolution to "Tweet Less, Create More" in the upcoming year.
Miranda also gave his Twitter password controls to his wife to help curb his impulsive social-media use, he said in the tweet.
This has been a gradual process for Miranda, who used to tweet out "good morning" and "good night" to mark the beginning and end of each day on Twitter. He slowly phased out of the daily greetings and said that doing so allowed him to regain time in the morning.
Set deadlines for yourself, but remember to take a break.
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Miranda told NPR that he has been setting deadlines for himself to complete personal projects during lockdown. "The self-imposed deadlines, and even projects of my own, where I say, I'm going to write this, and I'm going to have it done by Friday, allow me to push the world away and do them," he said.
But he also acknowledged that the pandemic has created challenges and it's OK to tend to your mental health and take a break.
"The world is being remade in a fundamentally different way because of this pandemic, and just because of where we are. And artists have to give themselves the latitude to acknowledge that," Miranda told NPR. "So give yourself a break if you're not writing right now."