JAMES FREEMAN
What is your morning routine?
I get up at 6:00 A.M. most days, unless the babies get me up before. I have an alarm clock with no snooze bar, so I can’t be tempted to hit it. I have an old espresso machine (a late 1970s La San Marco Leva) that is set on a timer, so when I wake up the machine has been warming up and is at optimal temperature for making coffee.
After I get up, I make a cappuccino for me and a café au lait for my wife. I’m less optimistic before I have coffee, so my general rule is not to make any important decisions before I have it.
If I’m lucky, I have ten to twenty minutes to chat with my wife and read the New York Times in bed as we drink our coffee. Sometimes the dog needs to go out during this time and I have to be okay with it.
I leave for my workout at around 6:45. Post-workout, I shower, eat breakfast, feed and dress the babies, dress myself, and hop in the car. I usually have a playlist in mind for the drive to Oakland. I used to listen to NPR but it just got too depressing.
How long have you stuck with this routine? What has changed?
Several years. As we add babies, my mornings get more hectic, but so far everyone is getting what they need.
Do you do anything before bed to make your morning easier?
The kitchen is always cleaned and the house tidied before we go to bed. It’s hard to fit it in but it’s gratifying to wake up to a peaceful environment.
How soon after waking up do you have breakfast?
I eat breakfast when I get back from my workout. Usually a yogurt and fruit smoothie, or just yogurt, jam, and chopped raw almonds. My favorite yogurt is an organically certified, full fat, Jersey milk yogurt from Saint Benoît.
Do you have a morning workout routine?
Four days a week I do a boot camp in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park. It’s exhausting and arduous and clears my mind like nothing else I’ve ever done. The teacher gives the impression of never wanting to be anywhere else doing anything else, which is quite rare, in my experience.
Do you use any apps or products to enhance your morning routine?
Is a coffee maker a product? Pajamas? A nice robe? Maybe I’m just too old but I don’t believe that one’s life can be hacked; it can only be lived.
What are your most important tasks in the morning?
Once I get to work, I try to concentrate most deeply on the people or problems that are in front of me, so, in that sense, my most important task prior to arriving at work is to arrive with a clear head and a pleasant attitude.
What happens if you’re traveling?
I travel with a coffee kit so I can have control over making coffee. I have an app on my phone that I use to do an interval workout if I am away from San Francisco. Running in the parks and neighborhoods of great cities when I travel is a pleasure. I try not to schedule myself too early when I’m traveling so I can fit in a coffee and a run each morning.
RYAN HOLIDAY
What is your morning routine?
One of the best pieces of advice I’ve gotten comes from Shane Parrish.* It’s simple: If you want to be more productive, get up early.
So I get up around 8:00 A.M.* and I have one other simple rule: Do one thing in the morning before checking email. It could be showering, it could be going for a long run, it could be jotting some thoughts down in my journal. It’s usually writing. Most mornings I try to write for one to two hours before I start the rest of the day (and the to-do list I made the day before).
I shower, get ready, and head downstairs to my office/library to sit and write. The way I see it, after a productive morning in which I accomplish my big things, the rest of the day can be played by ear. It’s all extra from there.
How long have you stuck with this routine? What has changed?
Routines are an iterative process. You add and adapt them over time. I have been doing some version of this specific routine for nearly eight years.
I’m about four years into my current routine—each routine is slightly different depending on where I live. I think where routines get tested is as you get busier, as more opportunities come up, can you stick to it, can you resist the temptation to descend into chaos—and also, when you travel, how quickly can you come back to it. I think I’m pretty good at this. I can always be better, but I’m addicted to routine, so it is easier.
Nothing disrupts a routine like having a kid, so when my wife and I became parents I was prepared for some major shifts. It’s still roughly the same—I take the baby for an hour in the morning to let my wife catch up on sleep, and in that time I sit with him and play. He sits in my lap while I write in my journal. I’ll hold him while I go let the chickens out. Sometimes I will read to him. It’s just a nice, slow, and peaceful addition to the routine.
The “no email in the mornings” rule has also had a big impact in recent years. It means I’m not starting the morning behind the ball. Instead, I start with wins. Specifically with writing, it allows me to approach it fresh and clearheaded. The last thing you want when you’re writing is the specter of 46 UNREAD EMAILS looming over you. That doesn’t lend itself well to existing in the moment.
Do you use an alarm to wake up?
Yes, but I’m not a big snooze-button guy. I wake up at a time that works for me and if it didn’t I would change it. I also try not to pointlessly stay up late.
How soon after waking up do you have breakfast?
It depends on if I go out or cook with my wife. When we lived in New York, we would go out and work together most mornings at a restaurant. Sometimes I do that when I’m in Austin, but here we have chickens so we usually check the coop for eggs and cook something up. My office is right next to the kitchen so I am in and out of it anyway.
Do you have a morning workout routine?
I tend to work out in the afternoon. I’ll run on the lake in Austin, or swim in Barton Springs. If it’s a CrossFit day, I’ll go to the early evening class. When I travel, my schedule is not as much in my control, so I go for a long run in the morning, then start the day knowing that however it turns out, at least I got a run in.
Do you also follow this routine on weekends?
Weekends to me are great examples of what life should be if we were better able to ignore distraction and obligations.
Saturdays and Sundays are productive and fun and relaxing. Why? Because there are fewer calls, and fewer demands on time. My fantasy is to someday get my Tuesdays to look like my Saturdays. Do what I want, stick to the routine I want, be indifferent to and insulated from all the noise. I try to treat Saturdays as a chance to catch up on stuff that I want to catch up on. I try not to let bullshit from the week creep in. I spend a considerable amount of time on the weekend working around my ranch. But it’s fun work, the kind of work where I forget to check my phone for hours. It’s also unpaid . . . or really, I’m paying to do it, but it’s fun.
GENERAL STANLEY McCHRYSTAL
What is your morning routine?
It varies, but I’ll give you the general routine. I wake up about 4:00 A.M. and I get out of bed, shave, and then I work out for about an hour and a half, and then I’ll come back and spend about four or five minutes taking a shower and cooling down a little bit before heading into the office.
How long have you stuck with this routine? What has changed?
I went through a period when I was just focused on running. Every day I got up and I ran the same distance, seven days a week. It was kind of crazy, and as I have gotten older I’ve found that it’s much better to alternate my workouts. One day I run and then the next day I do weight training. I find that by alternating the days of each activity I don’t get injured as easily.
When I was deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan my morning routine was pretty much the same except I would often break it into two parts. I would get up in the morning and I’d do an hour run or something like that, and then at the end of the day I would go back to the gym and I would do thirty-four minutes on a cross trainer before going to bed. In Iraq we worked all night, so we went to bed at about 6:00 A.M. just as it was getting light, and I slept until 10:00 A.M., and then I started my workout.
What time do you go to sleep?
This is going to be embarrassing. Probably between 8:30 and 9:00 P.M. My wife and I laugh about this; we’ve gotten into bed as early as 7:30.
Do you do anything before bed to make your morning easier?
I am a pretty organized person. I set my life up whereby I can get up in the morning and I can walk into the bathroom off our bedroom, and it’s all set up with my running clothes; I’ve got a little shelf for my running shoes, and I have exactly what I know I’m going to need. So I can throw that stuff on and head out. I tend to always put things like that where they belong. If you make it hard to work out you won’t do it. You have to follow the path of least resistance and make it easier to do it than not do it.
Do you use an alarm to wake up?
I use an alarm but I’m usually already awake and I’ll just turn it off.
How soon after waking up do you have breakfast?
I don’t feel good if I eat or drink anything before I work out. When I get back I’ll have some water or some kind of ice drink. Once I get into work I’ll drink coffee. But I typically don’t eat anything until dinner. Now, every once in a while my body will say “eat something” at around midday, and I’ll eat something, but most days I don’t. It just makes me feel better, my body has gotten used to it, and so if I eat before dinner I get kind of sluggish.
Can you go into more detail about your workout routine?
I work out every day but I alternate whether I’m running or doing core. I don’t take days off. With my running routine I get up, and I’ll just run for over an hour. On the other days I do four sets of push-ups, and then I do this pretty strenuous core routine that will take me almost an hour. I also do a lot of ab exercises. I’ve had two back surgeries, and I’ve learned that the ab exercises help an awful lot.
After that I’ll go to the gym and do upper-body stuff; wall, bench press, pull-ups, and things like that. If I get short on time, I find that if I get the abs stuff in and there’s a little bit of yoga built into it, then I’ll be good.
How does your partner fit into your morning?
My wife works out a lot, too. When I get back from my workout between 6:00 and 6:30 A.M., she will be getting up and heading out for a run. When she comes back from her run she’ll go back out to go to the gym. We both have our own little routines that we don’t violate.
Do you also follow this routine on weekends?
On the weekends my wife and I will both run at the same time, but we never run together. We run separate routes and then we’ll meet at this little bagel coffee shop three blocks from our house.
My son, daughter-in-law, and two little granddaughters live next door to us, so we have this tradition where every Saturday and Sunday we all gather at the bagel shop (my wife and I will both meet there, and they’ll trundle down with the kids).
What happens if you’re traveling?
I travel an awful lot. Sometimes I’ll get into my location at midnight, or even later. That affects me, but I tend to stick with my routine anyway. I just sleep less on those days, because I’ve found that as closely as I can stick to the basic things in my morning routine, the better it is for me. I’ve been doing a version of this routine for probably thirty-five to forty years.
In your book Team of Teams you reference “limfac,” or limiting factor. What can be the limfac in your morning routine? And what do you do if you fail to follow it?
It’s usually something I can’t control, like I’ll be out on the road and some client will want to do a 6:30 A.M. breakfast. What I’ve learned to do is get up at 3:30 and work out, and pay the price later.
I’ve learned that if I don’t follow my morning routine, my mood is influenced, I look at the clock to see when I can work out; my body expects to do certain things at certain times, and I find if I don’t do them I just don’t feel physically right.
With your military background in mind, can you think of anything that our audience should try out in their morning routines?
You know, we tend to do what we like to do. When I first went to West Point I remember they made you do pull-ups, and I couldn’t do as many as I was supposed to do. And so, now I do pull-ups every other day. It’s like eating your spinach. Find certain things you know you should do, don’t like to do, or make excuses to avoid, and then do them every day or every other day, and then it just becomes a habit.
ED CATMULL
What is your morning routine?
I wake up, go downstairs, and start making a cup of coffee. I use three shots of espresso, mix in three tablespoons of cocoa powder (not Dutch process), and two sweeteners. I’ve heard this helps you think better; I have no idea if this is true, but it tastes good.
I drink the coffee while I first check email, then read the news: the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and the San Francisco Chronicle. I then check one of the news aggregators, which I didn’t use to do, but the train wreck of public discourse nowadays is too hard to ignore.
How long have you stuck with this routine? What has changed?
I have been doing this for many, many years. The only changes are that my schedule is busier now, so it interferes more with my morning workout schedule.
Do you use an alarm to wake up?
I set the alarm for around 5:45 to 6:15 A.M. I use a progressive alarm that makes a soft sound at first, and then progressively gets louder. But I usually wake on the first sound, so it doesn’t disturb my wife. When I used a loud alarm clock, I was more likely to hit it on the head and go back to sleep.
How soon after waking up do you have breakfast?
I usually have a smoothie or some cereal for breakfast. My smoothie is typically some kind of plant protein powder (I am intolerant to milk protein) in almond milk, some frozen berries, and a dollop of almond butter.
Do you have a morning workout routine?
I exercise in the gym about three times a week. I vary the workout every time but I’ll always do some type of circuit work with weights. It gets my heart rate up without putting too much stress on my knees, which for some reason seem to be older than the rest of my body.
Since I live in San Francisco, there are plenty of hills. I like to walk down and then run up, landing on the balls of my feet since it is easier on the knees. I eagerly await the day when there is a replacement for the meniscus (the piece of cartilage that provides a cushion between your thighbone and shinbone). It is such a beautiful and simple-looking disk; you would think by now that medical scientists would have a material to match it. Ideally, I would prefer to have this before I need a knee replacement, or die.
How about morning meditation?
I meditate every day (I haven’t missed a day in years) for thirty to sixty minutes before working out. It is always some form of Vipassana- meditation, such as focusing on the breath. I have received a great deal of benefit from the simple yet difficult practice of learning to stop the internal voice in my head. I learned that that voice isn’t me, and I don’t need to keep rethinking events of the past, nor overthink plans for the future. This skill has helped me both to focus and to pause before responding to unexpected events.
I will admit, however, that even though I am focusing on the breath, an idea will sometimes just pop up that’s worth keeping. If I hang onto it, it messes up my meditation. So I just jot it down and let it go. There is something a little catchy to this phrase.
What happens if you fail?
I never miss my meditation, although I may shorten the time if I have to leave early. If I don’t exercise, I start to feel crummy, but I’m pretty good about holding myself to my schedule.
NIR EYAL
What is your morning routine?
I use a lot of technology throughout my day, and I use a lot of products that help me quantify things that are important to me. Sleep is one of the things that is very important to me.
I use a smart timer every morning that wakes me up around 7:00 A.M. It comes with a little device I attach to my pillow that communicates over Bluetooth to a little receiving station. When it detects that I’m stirring at around 7:00, it wakes me up within thirty minutes of that time, so sometimes I get up around 6:30, sometimes a little later.
I get up, greet my wife, go to the bathroom, then perform a quick phone check. I’ll then make my coffee and sit down with my family before I go ahead and start writing.
How long have you stuck with this routine? What has changed?
I’ve always woken up at around 7:00 for as long as I can remember. I’m constantly tweaking my morning routine. Something I’m currently experimenting with is skipping breakfast. I started that about four months ago to see how it affects my day-to-day routine.
What time do you go to sleep?
I’m in bed by 10:00 P.M. My internet shuts off around that same time; I have a router that specifically shuts off the internet connection to many of my devices, and then I’m sleeping by around 11:00.
Do you do anything before bed to make your morning easier?
I like to have a clean desk, I think that’s something that helps me right after I make my coffee in the morning and sit down with my family. If I have anything on my desk, there’s a good chance it will provide a distraction for me, so I clear it all away.
What are your most important tasks in the morning?
My most important task is to properly greet my daughter and wife. We’re big fans of the habit of showing appreciation to each other throughout the day, so we have a routine of every morning giving each other a big hug, kiss, and saying good morning and that we love each other.
What happens if you fail?
I have a few things that I check off every day that are important for me to do. At my desk I have a big whiteboard right in front of me that has my routines, and they include two hours of writing five days a week, going to the gym four days a week, taking a walk with my wife two days a week, and then reading twenty pages in the book I’m currently reading five days a week.
All these things I do throughout my day, not just in the morning, and I have a little check mark that I put next to each of those things so I can see if I’ve done it. If something comes up, I’ll try to reschedule that activity for some time later in the week, to make sure I get everything I need to get done in that space of time.
ARIANNA HUFFINGTON
What is your morning routine?
Ninety-five percent of the time I get eight hours of sleep a night, and as a result, 95 percent of the time I don’t need an alarm to wake up. And waking up naturally is, for me, a great way to start the day.
A big part of my morning routine is about what I don’t do: when I wake up, I don’t start the day by looking at my phone. Instead, once I’m awake, I take a minute to breathe deeply, be grateful, and set my intention for the day.
How long have you stuck with this routine? What has changed?
I really began to take my morning routine seriously after my painful wake-up call in 2007, when I fainted from sleep deprivation and exhaustion, hit my head on my desk, and broke my cheekbone.
I’ve made small changes over time; for example, when I lived in Los Angeles I was fond of morning walks and hikes. I’m very open to experimenting—I’m sure before long I’ll learn about something new I’ll want to add to my routine.
What time do you go to sleep?
Most nights I’m in bed by 11:00 P.M., and my goal, as we joke in my family, is to always be in bed to catch the “midnight train.”
Do you do anything before bed to make your morning easier?
I treat my transition to sleep as a sacrosanct ritual. First, I turn off all my electronic devices and gently escort them out of my bedroom. Then, I take a hot bath with Epsom salts and a candle flickering nearby—a bath that I prolong if I’m feeling anxious or worried about something. I don’t sleep in my workout clothes as I used to (think of the mixed message that sends to our brains), but have pajamas, nightdresses, and even T-shirts dedicated to sleep. Sometimes I have a cup of chamomile or lavender tea if I want something warm and comforting before going to bed. I love reading real, physical books, especially poetry, novels, and books that have nothing to do with work.
Can you tell us more about why you don’t use an alarm?
I love waking up without an alarm. Just think about the definition of the word “alarm”: “a sudden fear or distressing suspense caused by an awareness of danger; apprehension; fright,” or “any sound, outcry, or information intended to warn of approaching danger.” So an alarm, in most situations, is a signal that something is not right. Yet most of us rely on some kind of alarm clock, a knee-jerk call to arms, to start the day, ensuring that we emerge from sleep in full fight-or-flight mode, flooded with stress hormones and adrenaline as our body readies itself for danger.
I also don’t believe in the snooze button. On days when I do have to use an alarm, I always set it for the last possible moment I have to get up.
Do you have a morning workout routine?
Thirty minutes on my stationary bike on days when I’m home; and five to ten minutes of yoga stretches. I do twenty to thirty minutes of meditation before my workout routine.
Do you answer email first thing in the morning?
I make a point not to answer email right when I wake up, and I avoid the temptation by not keeping my electronic devices charging in my room. But since I’m running a news organization, and the morning is an incredibly important time for conversations with our editors, it’s important for me to be reachable. I’m on email as soon as I hit my bike.
Do you use any apps or products to enhance your morning routine?
I don’t use anything to enhance my sleep that requires having my phone by my bed. I love listening to soothing guided meditations before bed, but I have them on an iPod. I have my favorites in an appendix to The Sleep Revolution. My best endorsement for them is that I have no idea how they end, because I always fall asleep before they finish!
Do you also follow this routine on weekends?
I follow it on weekends, too! But my exercise time and meditation are longer.
What happens if you fail?
Being committed to a routine is, of course, what makes it a routine. That said, on some days life intervenes or we get off track. And when this happens, I try not to judge myself or let it negatively influence the rest of my day.
I’m a big proponent of silencing the voice of self-judgment and self-doubt in our heads, which I call the obnoxious roommate. It’s the voice that feeds on putting us down and strengthening our insecurities and doubts. I have spent many years trying to evict my obnoxious roommate and have now managed to relegate her to only occasional guest appearances in my head!
BIZ STONE
What is your morning routine?
My five-year-old son, Jake, wakes me up at 6:30 or 7:00 A.M. The first thing I do is play with him. Our go-to for a couple of years has been Legos. However, he recently discovered Minecraft for iPad. We can play that together over our local area network (LAN), so it’s just me and him in the game. We often like to play in creative mode, which means nothing bad can happen to us and we have everything we want to build amazing things.
After playing with my son for about an hour or so, I get dressed. This takes very little time because I have a uniform of a sort. I wear jeans, a black T-shirt, and blue Converse every day so there’s no need to spend time selecting an outfit. I help Jake get dressed as well. Once I’m dressed, my wife often makes us a simple, light breakfast (sometimes oatmeal, fruit, or toast with avocado), and then I head to work in the city, dropping Jake off at school on the way.
How long have you stuck with this routine? What has changed?
I’ve been playing with my son upon waking up since he was born. My routine has changed very little since he came along.
Do you use an alarm to wake up?
I don’t use an alarm because my son is my alarm and I generally wake up at the same time naturally at this point. I only use an alarm if I have to travel and I need to wake up super early to get to the airport.
Do you have a morning meditation routine?
It’s wake up and straight to it for me—no meditation. Unless playing with my son can be considered a kind of meditation.
When do you check your phone?
I don’t check my phone in the morning. I just unplug it and put it on the shelf near the door so I won’t forget it, along with my keys and wallet. Sometimes I will try to look at my iPad after breakfast for five minutes just to make sure I haven’t missed any big news items.
What and when is your first drink in the morning?
I fill up a big bottle of water and drink the whole bottle first thing. My doctor once told me that everybody is underhydrated so I started doing that years ago. After that, I drink coffee.
LISA CONGDON
What is your morning routine?
I wake up every morning at approximately 6:00. Once I’m up I make the bed if it’s my turn (my wife and I have a chore chart to make sure we get stuff done around the house, and every other week it’s my turn to make the bed), then I meditate for fifteen minutes, get dressed, and go downstairs for coffee. I’m lucky because my wife made a vow to me on our wedding day that she would make me coffee every morning for the rest of my life (as long as she is able). And she’s stuck to her promise! So I come downstairs to freshly brewed coffee every day!
I eat a small breakfast, like toast or a little cereal. While I eat, I check email to see if there is anything urgent, and I make my to-do list for the day. Then, several days a week, I head to the gym, swimming pool, or out for a run. Exercise is what really wakes me up and gets me ready for my workday. After my workout, I head back home, get myself dolled up for the day, and get to work. Part of my routine is getting dressed as if I am going to leave my house for my job. My studio is on my property at home, so I don’t really leave. But I find that getting dressed in a nice outfit like I would if I was going to an office or retail job helps me feel much better about my day, even though sometimes the only person who sees me is my wife.
How long have you stuck with this routine? What has changed?
This has been my routine since I became self-employed ten years ago.
A couple years ago I moved from San Francisco, California, to Portland, Oregon, which was a big change in my life. This year I added meditation to my morning routine. It was a really tough transition for me to make—having a meditation practice takes enormous discipline when you’re tired and groggy in the morning! But I’ve found that since I started meditating, I’m less anxious and feel happier, with a greater sense of well-being.
What happens if you fail?
Routines are a very important part of being a creative person. I find that when I go off my routine, my sense of balance is skewed. And sometimes that can make me feel really anxious, which, in turn, affects my ability to do good work, or in some cases, to get any work done at all.
My morning routine grounds me and keeps me organized, and that frees me up to focus on making new artwork each day.
CHRIS GUILLEBEAU
What is your morning routine?
First things first: I’m on the go to at least twenty countries each year, in addition to traveling more than a hundred thousand miles domestically. At the moment, I’m kicking off a thirty-city book tour that has me waking up in a different place nearly every day for five weeks. Therefore, sometimes there’s not a routine, or at least the routine varies greatly by time zone.
I was recently in Jakarta, Indonesia, and ended up working a modified night shift for most of the week. I worked on my projects through the night, woke up for a “morning coffee” at 2:00 in the afternoon, and then everything was pushed back from there. It felt a little disorienting because I’d show up at the hotel restaurant for “lunch” around 10:00 P.M., right before they closed for the night. Then I’d have “dinner” during normal breakfast hours before falling asleep as the sun rose.
However, let’s talk about my normal routine when I’m home in Portland, Oregon, or at least on the road in the United States or Canada. I try to wake up early, usually around 5:30 or 6:00 A.M. I drink two glasses of water right away. I make my first cup of coffee and spend twenty minutes catching up on the news and seeing if anything urgent came into my inbox or social feeds during the night. Then I make a shift—I shower, head to my office, pick up breakfast along the way, and get down to more “real work.”
When I’m writing a book, I try to spend at least two hours every morning working on it. I often have interviews or calls, usually at least one to two times a day and sometimes more, and typically one to two meetings as well. But as much as possible I try to reserve 8:00 to 11:00 A.M. for my own independent work. I drink sparkling water and listen to ambient music while I plow through my list of tasks and projects.
How long have you stuck with this routine? What has changed?
I’ve settled into it over the past decade or so. Much of that time has also included a lot of active travel. I had a personal quest to visit every country in the world from 2002 to 2013, which required a lot of flexibility, but when I’m home I try very hard to keep to the routine.
What happens if you fail?
The best way to put it is that some failures are acceptable and others aren’t. If I’ve slept poorly or didn’t hydrate well, it’s a bad omen for the rest of the day. I’ll be distracted and unfocused. On the other hand, if I sleep a bit later than usual, it’s not always a problem.
Anything else you would like to add?
It may sound like my life is disruptive because of all the travel, but I love routines. Routines help, not hinder, the creative process. I wouldn’t be able to produce regular work in multiple fields without being faithful to my routine more often than not.
DANIEL EDEN
What is your morning routine?
I wake up at 6:30 A.M. with an alarm. I keep my phone across the bedroom, in a futile effort to get me out of bed in the morning. At twenty seconds past 6:30, I crawl back into bed, phone in hand, and sleepily check email and social media for half an hour. I’ll then take a quick shower, get dressed, and open my laptop, triaging emails and messages until it’s time to walk to the shuttle that takes me to Facebook’s campus.
The shuttle ride is usually around an hour, and I often spend that time either working on a generative art piece, reading, or simply watching the roads. People gripe or wonder about the commute, but I like the forced headspace it can foster.
My routine on Wednesdays is a little different. I tend to work from home on Wednesdays, so I get up at the same time, but rather than leaving for Menlo Park, I walk around the block, buy my girlfriend and me some coffee and breakfast, walk back to my apartment, and loudly play music as I settle into focusing on tactical work. The project I’m currently working on requires an extra dose of creativity and novel ideas, so I’m occasionally trying to inject some of the Wednesday morning essence into the other weekday routines.
What time do you go to sleep?
I try to make sure I’m in bed by 10:30 P.M. I recently made all the lights in my house “smart,” and something nice enabled by that has been setting up my lights to dim to “off” between 10:00 and 10:30. Sitting in the dark on my phone is a helpful reminder to go to bed.
Do you do anything before bed to make your morning easier?
I’ve started showering before bed, which has helped me feel more refreshed before I sleep. I don’t know if it’s helped my morning routine, but feeling fresh certainly helps me fall asleep faster.
How does your partner fit into your morning?
My girlfriend is much more morning oriented than I am. She often wakes up egregiously early—we’re talking 5:30 A.M.—and goes for a run around Lake Merritt before I even wake up. She’s definitely made me more of a morning person. We both enjoy an early night and getting things done early in the morning.