In the high-stakes world of business leadership, the routines and habits of successful founders and CEOs can often seem like secret recipes for their success. How do these top executives manage their time, foster creativity, and make high-stakes decisions? 

The morning rituals, daily practices, and personal philosophies of these leaders not only shed light on their personal work ethics but also offer valuable insights into how they navigate the challenges and responsibilities of their roles. 

From the early risers to the strategic planners, the productivity habits of these eight influential figures provide a blueprint for effective leadership and personal management that many aspire to emulate. 

Bob Iger, CEO of The Walt Disney Company

Every morning starts the same for Bob Iger. He wakes up at 4.15am, and avoids looking at his phone until after his workout. “I create a firewall with technology, by the way, in that I try to exercise and think before I read,” Iger told Vanity Fair in 2018. “Because if I read, it throws me off, it’s distracting. I’m immediately thinking about usually someone else’s thoughts instead of my own. I like being alone with my own thoughts, and it gives me an opportunity to not just replenish but to organize, and it’s important.”

“I happen to believe that in every day you need to have some quiet time to think, where you’re not really being bombarded by external forces,” Iger later said in a Masterclass presentation. “In some cases, you’re not doing email, you’re not watching television, you’re not doing anything really but enabling yourself to concentrate on whatever it is you might be anticipating or what you are planning to do. That’s vital.”

Daniel Ek, Co-Founder & CEO of Spotify

When it comes to his time management, Daniel Ek is extremely focused on efficiency. “If I have a call or another meeting, I’ll just block it out if I’m in the zone,” he told Fast Company. “That’s unorthodox because it means that you’re breaking social contracts, you’re disappointing someone because you didn’t show up. But if you’re really, really focused, those are the times when the breakthroughs come.”

This ruthlessness is also evident in his personal life. “I don’t do social calls,” he confessed.” For so many people, you’re beholden to this social thing, if I don’t show up, someone is going to be sad. I’m just pretty ruthless in prioritizing. What I tell my friends is, I like to be invited, but I probably won’t come.”

Ek also has a habit of writing out his daily, weekly, and monthly goals and tracking their progress every evening. From there, he’ll allocate time accordingly to each goal. “People think that creativity is this free spirit that has no boundaries,” he told Fast Company. “No, actually the most creative people in the world schedule their creativity. That’s the irony. So I try to do the same.”

Jack Dorsey, Co-Founder of Block, Inc.

A few years ago, when Jack Dorsey was still running both Twitter and Square, he was the only CEO on the S&P 500 to oversee two public companies. In order to deal with the requirements of such a mammoth task, Dorsey divided his week up into themes, explaining to Fast Company:

All my days are themed. Monday is management. At Square we have a directional meeting, at Twitter we have our opcomm [operating committee] meeting. Tuesday is product, engineering, and design. Wednesday is marketing, growth, and communications. Thursday is partnership and developers. Friday is company and culture. It works in 24-hour blocks. On days beginning with T, I start at Twitter in the morning, then go to Square in the afternoon. Sundays are for strategy, and I do a lot of job interviews. Saturday is a day off.

Jeff Bezos, Founder & Executive Chairman of Amazon

Jeff Bezos likes to stick to making three good decisions per day, a strategy that Warren Buffet also uses.

As a senior executive, you get paid to make a small number of high-quality decisions. Your job is not to make thousands of decisions every day. Is that really worth it if the quality of those decisions might be lower because you’re tired or grouchy? If I make, like, three good decisions a day, that’s enough. Warren Buffett says he’s good if he makes three good decisions a year.

Warren Buffet, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway

When Warren Buffet arrives to work at the Berkshire Hathaway offices, a majority of his time is spent reading, “I just sit in my office and read all day.” In fact, he estimates that 80 percent of his daily work routine is spent on reading materials ranging from financial statements, journals and business reports, to newspapers and books.

Buffet is also well-known for fiercely protecting his time and avoids scheduling meetings or appointments in advance. “Keep control of your time. You won’t keep control of your time unless you can say no — you can’t let other people set your agenda in life.” Bill Gates once wrote, “one habit of Warren’s that I admire is that he keeps his schedule free of meetings. He’s good at saying no to things. He knows what he likes to do—and what he does, he does unbelievably well.”

Aaron Levie, Co-Founder & CEO of Box

For the 38-year old CEO, who typically stays up to 2am working at the Box headquarters, taking naps are the secret weapon to what Levie dubs “continuous productivity.” Because of his late night working hours, Levie tends to wake up between 9.30-10am, “I’m in bed for 30 minutes swiping, replying, and deleting. I try to make sure I have no unread messages by the time I get into the office,” he told Fast Company in 2013.

At around 6-7pm, after the last meetings of the day have wound down, Levie will put on his earplugs and have a quick power nap in a conference room, “just 20 to 25 minutes is all you need, and then you get fully recharged,” he told Business Insider. Although the Box team are now well aware of their CEO’s evening napping habits, there have been times when the cleaning crew have accidentally interrupted his power snooze.

Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft

Ever since taking over from his predecessor, Steve Ballmer, in 2014, Satya Nadella has rallied the stagnant tech giant, initiating a culture transformation that prioritised empathy, collaboration, and a growth mindset. As the CEO of one of the most valuable publicly traded companies in the world, Nadella has two constants in his daily morning routine – exercise and self-reflection.

Waking up at 7am, after getting his usual eight hours of sleep, the first thing Nadella does is ask himself “what are you thankful for?” It’s a ritual he picked up from Dr. Michael Gervais, a high performance psychologist who has coached Microsoft employees and the Seattle Seahawks. “It’s just grounding. It gives you the ability to get up in the morning and orient yourself for the day,” he said on LinkedIn’s Hello Monday podcast.

Mark Zuckerberg, Co-Founder & CEO of Meta

For the longest time there was a running joke that Mark Zuckerberg wore the same t-shirt every day has basically become a meme, there’s actually a great reason behind it. Similar to Barack Obama and Jeff Bezos, the Facebook CEO is looking for ways to minimise decision fatigue throughout his day.

“I really want to clear my life to make it so that I have to make as few decisions as possible about anything except how to best serve this community,” Zuckerberg explained in an interview. “I’m in this really lucky position, where I get to wake up every day and help serve more than a billion people. And I feel like I’m not doing my job if I spend any of my energy on things that are silly or frivolous about my life.”

The post The Productivity Habits of 8 Successful Founders & CEOs appeared first on Balance The Grind.

From athletes like Naomi Osaka and Kelly Slater to entertainers like 50 Cent and Rebel Wilson, a majority of successful people share a focus on well-being and performance, despite their diverse careers. Their daily diets reflect a balance of discipline and indulgence, demonstrating that health and enjoyment can go hand in hand.

Whether it’s Hailey Bieber starting her day with an avocado-topped Ezekiel English muffin, 50 Cent avoiding alcohol, Naomi Osaka’s morning smoothies or Chris Paul embracing a plant-based lifestyle, the common thread is their commitment to making choices that fuel their demanding lifestyles while keeping a keen eye on their well-being.

Hailey Bieber

On a typical day, Hailey Bieber is up by 8am every morning and is usually working out within an hour. Her go-to breakfast is an Ezekiel English muffin with sliced avocado, lemon, salt and pepper, but if she wanted to treat herself, “I’d do chocolate chip pancakes and bacon and two eggs over medium, with a side of hash browns,” she told Marie Claire.

For her lunch, Bieber likes to keep it light — usually a salad with fish and grilled vegetables, or a sandwich. “I love a good kale Caesar salad [but with] no croutons,” she told Elle. “That’s usually one thing I leave out.” Dinner is usually similar to lunch. Bieber makes sure she’s sipping on water throughout the day to stay hydrated — she typically consumes a couple of bottles per day.

Things look different if it’s a cheat day. “A cheat day for me, the first thing that I crave, I’ll eat,” she revealed. “That’s my rule. So if I wake up and I want pancakes, I’m gonna eat pancakes. If I want a cheeseburger for lunch or for dinner, I’m gonna eat it. If I want fries, I’m gonna eat the fries.”

Rebel Wilson

On a typical day in Rebel Wilson’s daily routine, she wakes up at around 8am, after getting about eight hours of sleep. According to the actress, if she doesn’t get at least eight hours or more a night, she “literally can’t function.” She doesn’t drink coffee either, although she’ll drink a Diet Coke when she’s filming at night and needs a caffeine hit.

When it comes to her daily meal plan, Wilson has cut back on her previous 3,000 calories a day and stuck with a high-protein diet that includes a lot of fish, particularly salmon, and chicken breast. On filming days, she’ll also have some Olly gummy vitamins at around 3pm — “They’re not candy, but they remind me of the Haribo gummy bears I used to eat and they actually have things that are good for me.”

Despite her recent health kick, it doesn’t mean that Wilson doesn’t have the odd cheat meal every now and then. It’s all about overall balance for the actress. “We’ll be like, ‘Should we get In-N-Out burger?’ And I’m like, ‘Nothing is forbidden,’” she explained. “I can go there, I just might eat half of what I used to eat before. You know? And I’ll have a burger, and a few fries, and then you feel fine.”

50 Cent

For his diet, Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson prefers to avoid carbs and processed food, focusing on eating whole foods and vegetables. He broke down a typical meal plan in his book, “I’m not really a breakfast guy, so just a smoothie or protein shake of some sort will do. For lunch, it’s usually a salad. If I’m eating out for dinner, which is hard to avoid for me, I’ll order something like a chicken and lettuce wrap or a steak with asparagus.”

Unlike many rappers, Jackson is famous for being a non-drinker and non-smoker; preferring to stay clear-minded for business opportunities. Even when he’s partying at a club or hosting a party, he has a strategy for staying off the alcohol.

“First I’ll pour drinks from a bottle of Champagne for everyone who is in VIP with me. When the bottle is empty, I’ll give it to one of my guys and have him quietly refill it with ginger ale,” he wrote. “For the rest of the night I’ll have that bottle in my hand. I’ll take swigs every now and then just to keep the vibe right, but I’m not drinking anything but Canada Dry.”

Priyanka Chopra

On a typical day, Priyanka Chopra is up between 8-9am, and the first thing she does is have a large cup of espresso which she says is how she gets her brain started for the day. If she’s in New York then her assistant will come by with a Sweetgreen bowl made up of scrambled eggs, veggies, and farrow.

She told Elle years ago that she doesn’t have a diet and tends to “wing it by the seat of my pants.” If she feels like she’s put on some weight, then she’ll start eating more salad, protein, and soup. On the flip side, if she’s feeling like she’s in great shape, then she’ll indulge in cheeseburgers and pizza.

At around 6.30-7pm, Chopra will have a break for dinner (”Vietnamese chicken with zucchini noodles, Lebanese food, Greek, Thai”), before heading back to work for a few more meetings until 9pm, at which point she’ll finish up her day and start her nighttime routine.

Gordon Ramsay

To cater to his demanding lifestyle, as well as maintain his health, Gordon Ramsay keeps a close eye on his diet and exercise. For breakfast, he’ll usually keep it simple with a bowl of oatmeal. During the reddit Q&A, Ramsay described his go-to oatmeal recipe:

“The night before, put 3-4 bananas in the oven on a pilot light. And the next day, squeeze the bananas into almond milk, bring it to a boil, then add the oatmeal and dried cranberries, and you’ll have the most amazing oatmeal for breakfast.”

When it comes to the rest of his meals, Ramsay likes to stick to grazing on small dishes throughout the day. “I like the Asian approach of four, five meals a day—small meals—because by the time I get to an entree, I’m full,” he explained to Delish. “I like eating small bits and moving on. I’m pretty picky on that front.”

Misty Copeland

On a typical morning, the legendary ballet dancer is up at around 6.30-7am to nurse her son. The first thing she does upon waking up is hydrate. “I sleep with water next to my bed,” she said in an interview with Domino. “That’s the first thing I do. I don’t drink coffee or tea or anything, there is no caffeine in my diet, I’ve never been someone that feels like I need it.”

For breakfast, she’ll have something like a muffin or bagel with scallion cream cheese (according to her book Ballerina Body), before doing a light warmup routine in her living. “I’m not working out and sweating, but I have little light weights that I’ll put on my ankles and I’ll do inner thigh exercises and calf raises and things like that,” she explained. “Just getting those small little muscles that once I start my day, it’s so hard to focus on because I do so much other stuff.”

Then for the rest of the day, Copeland will keep her meal relatively light and consistent. “I’m not someone who wakes up and has bacon and eggs and then has a sandwich for lunch,” she said. “I’m constantly on the go, so I like to have things that I know will fuel me but not weigh me down and make me too full.”

A typical lunch for her might consist of a spinach salad topped with pecans, goat cheese, dried cranberries, light vinaigrette, and slices of avocado, while dinner could include grilled salmon, roasted onions, carrots, and butternut squash.

In addition to these meals, the dancer also snacks throughout the day to maintain her energy levels, with nuts being a particular favourite. “Nuts have become my go-to snack,” she explained in her book. “I always carry a baggie or a small container of them in my purse and my locker at ABT’s rehearsal studio because they satisfy my hunger and provide a quick burst of energy.”

Kelly Slater

On a typical day Kelly Slater isn’t much of an early riser. “I like to get my eight hours and I like to stay up late at night,” he told Bon Appétit in 2012. “If I want to get up and surf, maybe I’ll get up at like 7 or 8 and look around for surf.”

But before he hits the water, Slater usually starts off his day with some warm lemon water as a morning cleanse, then makes himself a smoothie. “My favorite breakfast is just making a big healthy smoothie, some fresh fruit and some protein powders and some little health remedies that I throw in there,” he told GQ. Other days he might have some eggs and pancakes, although that doesn’t happen as often.

Then again, there are some days where he’ll skip breakfast just so that he can get into the surf as soon as possible. “If the waves are really good, I have trouble even bothering putting food in my mouth unless I know I’m going to be surfing for a long time and have to eat something,” he explained. “Surfing is the best way to wake up.”

Chris Paul

With Chris Paul’s renewed approach to nutrition and training, it’s no longer about on-season and off-season anymore, but rather a continuous and sustainable routine focused on taking care of his body. “I don’t even know if I took a week off from lifting. It’s not so much the on-the-court shooting and moving, but I’m constantly stretching and in the weight room,” he told GQ. “I never really took a full week off from that.”

In the same interview, Paul gave readers an example daily meal plan as part of his plant-based diet.

Breakfast usually includes a JustEgg scramble with vegetables, Beyond Meat sausage patties, a side of fruit and my vitamins. Lunch would be salad, a sauteed vegetable bowl with rice and a protein drink. For dinner, my chef prepares meals that give me nutrients I need to perform the next day. I eat a variety of beans, grains, and veggies.

THE REAL-LIFE DIET OF CHRIS PAUL, WHO’S EATEN PLANT-BASED SINCE 2019 | GQ

But just because he’s plant-based doesn’t mean that Paul doesn’t have cheat meals here and there. But those meals are no longer the burgers and fries or fried chicken and pulled pork. “My cheat day meal now: I like cookies,” he said. Luckily for the Suns point guard, he has access to a variety of delicious plant-based cookies, including gluten-free fried Oreos, gluten-free brownies and vegan cookie bars.

Naomi Osaka

When Naomi Osaka wakes up the first thing she does is drink a breakfast smoothie prepared by her strength & conditioning coach, Yutaka Nakamura, which is made up of kale, spinach, coconut water, and kiwi. She’ll then have something to eat like rye bread with smoked salmon and avocado.

For lunch, Osaka will usually grab something from the healthy restaurant chain, Sweetgreen, at 2pm. When it comes to her diet for the rest of the day, Osaka enjoys snacking on onigiris with umeboshi (Japanese rice balls), a big bowl of fresh berries with melon, or mixed nuts. “I also enjoy drinking BODYARMOR LYTE because the potassium really helps me stay hydrated,” she told PureWow in 2021.

At around 6-7pm, Osaka will have dinner, smoked salmon and avocado toast is one of her favourite meals to end the day. Simplicity is a key trait to Osaka’s daily diet – before matches she likes to eat plain pasta with olives or chicken.

The post The Daily Diet Plans of 9 High Performers: Naomi Osaka, Chris Paul, Kelly Slater, 50 Cent, Rebel Wilson, and more appeared first on Balance The Grind.

On Daily Routines, we profile successful leaders, entrepreneurs, artists, executives and athletes to explore their routines, schedules, habits and day in the life.

Regardless of how you like to start your day, everyone has a morning routine. It could be 5 minutes or it could be 1 hour. It all comes down to what inspires and motivates you to start your day.

Over the years, Balance the Grind has published over 150+ daily routine profiles on the some of the most successful people in the world. One of the common running themes across all these profiles is that they all have a morning routine that helps them optimise their day for success.

From Whitney Wolfe Herd taking her dog out for a walk first thing in the morning, to Gary Vaynerchuk working out with his personal trainer, to Arianna Huffington’s meditation routine, here are 15 morning routines from the world’s most successful people.

Satya Nadella: Executive Chairman & CEO of Microsoft

Waking up at 7am, after getting his usual eight hours of sleep, the first thing Satya Nadella does is ask himself “what are you thankful for?”

It’s a ritual he picked up from Dr. Michael Gervais, a high performance psychologist who has coached Microsoft employees and the Seattle Seahawks. “It’s just grounding. It gives you the ability to get up in the morning and orient yourself for the day,” he said on LinkedIn’s Hello Monday podcast.

Then, Nadella gets in his exercise. “For me, the daily ritual is just a half-hour of hitting the gym every day,” he said. “It doesn’t matter where I am, what time zone, how late I got in, I get up and get to the gym. It’s just 30 minutes of running, and it just makes a huge difference.”

Read the full daily routine of Satya Nadella.

Whitney Wolfe Herd: Founder & CEO of Bumble

After waking up, Whitney Wolfe Herd will go for a walk with her dog, Jett, before heading home to check emails and typically jump on calls with the Bumble London office. Depending on her schedule, she’ll try to squeeze in 30 minutes of exercise before heading into the office.

“Leading up to my wedding I worked with a trainer and she gave me lots of great strength training exercises so I try to alternate each day between legs, arms, and abs,” she told Newsette. “If I can, I also try to make a smoothie for breakfast using organic romaine, spinach, and blueberries.”

Read the full daily routine of Whitney Wolfe Herd.

Gary Vaynerchuk: Chairman of VaynerX, CEO of VaynerMedia

On a typical day, Gary Vaynerchuk is up at 6am and working out by 7am with a personal trainer. “I usually work out for 45 minutes to an hour,” he told Insider. “The specific workout routine varies depending on the day of the week, what I ate, how much I’ve been traveling. There is no one big secret GaryVee workout.”

After his training session, Vaynerchuk will send his kids off to school, then start work at around 9am. He’ll spend several hours filming content for his new YouTube show, Tea With GaryVee, followed by a series of meetings for VaynerX, the umbrella company for all of the ventures he’s involved in, including VaynerMedia, VaynerSpeakers, VaynerProductions and VaynerCommerce.

Read the full daily routine of Gary Vaynerchuk.

Naomi Osaka: Professional Tennis Player, Four-Time Grand Slam Singles Champion

On a typical training day, when Naomi Osaka wakes up the first thing she does is drink a breakfast smoothie prepared by her strength & conditioning coach, Yutaka Nakamura, which is made up of kale, spinach, coconut water, and kiwi. She’ll then have something to eat like rye bread with smoked salmon and avocado.

After breakfast, she’s off to the courts for practice. One constant thing in her morning routine is music. “I always start and end my workout with music,” she told Us Weekly. “It keeps me focused and keeps me motivated for what’s next.”

Read the full daily routine of Naomi Osaka.

Rich Roll: Ultra-Endurance Athlete

On a typical day, Rich Roll is usually up at about 6-6.30am (after going to bed at around 9) — he never sets an alarm, preferring to wake up naturally. On an intermittent fasting day, which he does a few times a week, Rich will have a cup of coffee, drink some water and start his morning training before anything else can get in the way.

“I’ll go to the pool for a swim, trail run, or get on my bike for a couple hours,” he said. “I try not to schedule work stuff before 12 p.m., so that the first part of the day is just for doing my stuff, including training, journaling, writing, all that kind of stuff. No phone calls, no podcast.”

Read the full daily routine of Rich Roll.

Janine Allis: Founder of Boost Juice, Retail Zoo

On a typical day in her life, Janine Allis is up at around 6.30am. After getting the kids ready for school, she’ll have a smoothie made up of: kale, banana, blueberries, lemon, coconut water, chia seeds, psyllium husk, Metagenics EnergyX supplement, Metagenics Omega Brain Plus, probiotics, milk thistle, whey protein powder, Boost super greens, liquid iron and liquid vitamin D.

After her morning shower (”I love my shower in the morning; all my best ideas come in the shower”), she’ll get dressed in her work outfit, which just so happens to double as her yoga gear. “I find if you dress for exercise you are more likely to do it,” she told Mamamia. “I always dress for comfort.

Read the full daily routine of Janine Allis.

Jeff Bezos: Founder & Executive Chairman of Amazon

Over the years Jeff Bezos has developed a morning routine that enables him to start his day in a slow and calm fashion. After getting his standard 8 hours of sleep every night, Bezos likes to take his time easing into the day, with a hard rule of no meetings before 10am.

“So I like to putter in the morning,” he told The Economic Club of Washington D.C. “I get up early. I go to bed early, I get up early. I like to putter in the morning, so I like to read the newspaper, I like to have coffee, I like to have breakfast with my kids before they go to school, so I have my kind of puttering time is very important to me.”

Read the full daily routine of Jeff Bezos.

Sara Blakely: Founder & Executive Chairman of Spanx

On a typical day, Sara Blakely is up early and doing yoga at home by 6.30am. With four young children, Blakely spends most of her mornings getting them ready for school. To save time, she has the same breakfast every morning, a smoothie made up of frozen wild blueberries, a few dark cherries, kale, dates, cinnamon, spinach, cilantro, fresh mint, lemon, water, ice, chia, and walnuts.

Then she’s off on her way to work, stretching a 6-minute commute into an hour long drive around Atlanta. “My best thinking time is in the car. I live about five minutes from Spanx but I will drive around sometimes for up to an hour before I go into the office,” she said. “It’s the time I’ve identified in my day that my mind will wander. So many of my ideas have come to me in the car.”

Read the full daily routine of Sara Blakely.

Arianna Huffington: Co-founder of The Huffington Post; Founder & CEO of Thrive Global

On an average day, Arianna Huffington doesn’t get up with an alarm, waking up naturally after she’s had her 8 hours of sleep, usually around 7am. She avoids looking at her phone first thing in the morning, instead, taking some time out to meditate, or on some occassions, write down her dream.

In an interview on the Tim Ferriss Show, Huffington revealed that she drank bulletproof coffee every morning and avoided breakfast, with lunch being her first meal of the day. On the days she’s at home, Huffington will exercise for 30 minutes on her stationary bike, at which point she’ll also check her emails — followed by 5-10 minutes of yoga stretches.

Read the full daily routine of Arianna Huffington.

Tim Cook: CEO of Apple

Tim Cook is up early every morning, rising at 3.45am to work on emails for an hour — he gets between 700 to 800 every day. “I like to take the first hour and go through user comments and things like that, and sort of focus on the external people that are so important to us,” the Apple CEO said in an interview with Axios.

At around 5am, he’ll head to the gym (off the Apple campus to ensure his privacy) for his morning workout. “I go to the gym and work out for an hour because it keeps my stress at bay,” he said. After the gym, he’ll head to his local Starbucks to work through more emails, before heading to Apple Park.

Read the full daily routine of Tim Cook.

Anna Wintour: Editor-in-Chief of Vogue; Global Chief Content Officer of Condé Nast

Anna Wintour’s daily routine starts early, she typically wakes up between 4am and 5.30am and starts reading British and American news first thing in the morning. After that, she’ll go play some tennis and make a Starbucks run for coffee and breakfast.

She’ll arrive at Vogue’s downtown Manhattan office between 8am and 8.30am, beginning her workday by having meetings with key team members on the Vogue or Conde Nast team. “I could also be reviewing pictures that have come in from a recent shoot, or reviewing clothes to be photographed for an upcoming cover.”

Read the full daily routine of Anna Wintour.

Elon Musk: Founder, CEO, and Chief Engineer at SpaceX; CEO of Tesla

With a bedtime of around 1am, Elon Musk typically wakes up at 7am, getting 6 to 6.5 hours of sleep, which, he discovered over the years is his sweet spot.

“Sleep is really great. I find if I don’t get enough sleep I’m quite grumpy. I could drop below a certain threshold of sleep, although I would be awake more hours I would get less done because my mental acuity would be affected,” Musk said in a 2015 reddit AMA.

While Musk will usually skip breakfast to save time — although he will occassionally grab a coffee and an omelette — there’s one daily habit that he’ll always find time for; showering, which he attributes to the source of many ideas.

Read the full daily routine of Elon Musk.

Warren Buffet: Chairman & CEO of Berkshire Hathaway

Warren Buffet’s daily routine typically starts at 6.45am, after getting 8 hours of sleep a night. Instead of coffee, tea, or even water, Buffet’s go-to drink first thing in the morning is a can of coke, “If I eat 2700 calories a day, a quarter of that is Coca-Cola. I drink at least five 12-ounce servings. I do it everyday.”

When Buffet arrives to work at the Berkshire Hathaway offices, a majority of his time is spent reading, “I just sit in my office and read all day.” In fact, he estimates that 80 percent of his daily work routine is spent on reading materials ranging from financial statements, journals and business reports, to newspapers and books.

Read the full daily routine of Warren Buffet.

Bill Gates: Co-Founder of Microsoft

According to an article by Andrew Ross Sorkin for the New York Times, Bill Gates would start his day in his private gym, where he would spend an hour working out on the treadmill. During this time, he would watch DVDs from the Teaching Company’s “Great Courses” series.

Following his exercise session, Gates would catch up on the latest headlines from around the world by reading the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Economist, telling Fox Business that it was “great to have something to read on a regular basis”. He is particularly interested in topics related to public health policy, sharing his thoughts on his blog and via Twitter.

Read the full daily routine of Bill Gates.

Barack Obama: 44th President of the United States

When he was serving as the 44th President of the United States, Barack Obama typically woke up around 7am, getting anywhere between 5-7 hours of sleep each night. He liked to work out first thing in the morning, alternating between weights and cardio.

“His logic was always, ‘The rest of my time will be more productive if you give me my workout time,’” says Jim Cauley, who managed Obama’s 2004 U.S. Senate campaign.

After his workout, Obama joined his family for breakfast. According to his personal aide Reggie Love, during his tenure as president Obama rarely drank coffee, opting for orange juice, green tea or water instead. After his daughters, Malia and Sasha, were packed and left for school, Obama made the 30-second commute to his office, usually at around 9am to start his workday.

Read the full daily routine of Barack Obama.

Before you go…

Check out more daily routines from Barack Obama, Arianna Huffington, Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Michelle Obama, Sheryl Sandberg, Richard Branson, Warren Buffet and plenty others.

The post The Morning Routines of 15 Successful People: Whitney Wolfe Herd, Gary Vaynerchuk, Sara Blakely, Elon Musk, Warren Buffet, and more. appeared first on Balance The Grind.

Lebron James gets in roughly 8 hours of sleep every day, plus a few naps. Meanwhile The Rock is up at 3.30am every morning getting in a work out. When he was President, Obama carved out personal time for himself in the late hours of the night, unlike Michelle who regularly woke up at 4.30am to exercise.

On Daily Routines, we break down the habits, rituals and routines of the world’s most successful people, with a particular focus on how they manage their sleep.

1. Bill Gates’ sleep schedule

Sleep routine: 7 hours

As the years have gone by, Gates has gone from regularly pulling all-nighters while building Microsoft to understanding, and advocating, the importance of sleep. “Once or twice, I stayed up two nights in a row. I knew I wasn’t as sharp when I was operating mostly on caffeine and adrenaline, but I was obsessed with my work, and I felt that sleeping a lot was lazy,” he wrote on his blog. Today, Gates regularly gets at least seven hours of sleep per night.

Read more: Bill Gates Daily Routine

2. Jeff Bezos’ sleep schedule

Sleep routine: 8 hours

In 2016 Bezos told Thrive Global that he likes to get 8 hours of sleep every night, “Eight hours of sleep makes a big difference for me, and I try hard to make that a priority. For me, that’s the needed amount to feel energized and excited.”

Read more: Jeff Bezos Daily Routine

3. Richard Branson’s sleep schedule

Sleep routine: 6 hours

Branson will usually end his day with a group dinner – he’s recently swapped his few glasses of alcohol in the evenings for sparking water and lemon – and then head off to bed at around 11pm and wake up at 5am for exercise first thing in the morning.

Read more: Richard Branson Daily Routine

4. Barack Obama’s sleep schedule

Sleep routine: 5 to 7 hours

When he was serving as the President of the United States, at the end of each day, Obama will head into his private office and have a few hours each night to himself. He’ll head off to bed anytime between midnight and 2am, and wake up at 7am the next morning.

Read more: Barack Obama Daily Routine

5. Sheryl Sandberg’s sleep schedule

Sleep routine: 8 hours

In a 2015 Quora post, she highlighted the difference in sleep patterns between herself and Zuckerberg, “he assumed that I’d been sick since I went to bed at 9:30pm. I explained that with two young children, 9:30pm was often my normal bed time.” Sandberg wakes up at 5.30am every day to get her kids ready for school.

Read more: Sheryl Sandberg Daily Routine

6. Jason Fried’s sleep schedule

Sleep routine: 8 hours

“Neglecting sleep is a terrible mistake. It’s the one debt you can never pay off, and it affects everyone around you, too. I go to sleep around 10ish, and get up around six-ish — either to the sun or to my son.”

Read more: Jason Fried Daily Routine

7. Elon Musk’s sleep schedule

Sleep routine: 6 to 6.5 hours

With a bedtime of around 1am, Musk typically wakes up at 7am, getting 6 to 6.5 hours of sleep, which, he discovered over the years is his sweet spot. “Sleep is really great. I find if I don’t get enough sleep I’m quite grumpy. I could drop below a certain threshold of sleep, although I would be awake more hours I would get less done because my mental acuity would be affected,” Musk said in a 2015 reddit AMA.

Read more: Elon Musk Daily Routine

8. Malcolm Gladwell’s sleep schedule

Sleep routine: 8 to 9 hours

The Outliers author usually winds up his day with watching sports on TV or reading a memoir – in 2011, he was finishing up the Keith Richards autobiography, Life – before heading off to sleep at around 11pm to midnight. Gladwell starts his day between 8-8.30am.

Read more: Malcolm Gladwell Daily Routine

9. Arianna Huffington’s sleep schedule

Sleep routine: 8 hours

Arianna Huffington is one of the most prominent advocates for work-life balance and getting enough sleep. On an average day, she doesn’t use an alarm, waking up naturally after she’s had her 8 hours of sleep, which is around 7am. She avoids looking at her phone first thing in the morning, instead, taking some time out to meditate, or on some occasions, write down her dream.

Read more: Arianna Huffington Daily Routine

10. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s sleep schedule

Sleep routine: 6 hours

When it comes to sleep, Arnold is sleeping less now than he was when he was younger. “I have slept nine hours a day when I was 19 years old because at that point, when I was younger, I needed more sleep,” he told Tim Ferriss in 2018. “As time went on, I needed less and less sleep. Now, it doesn’t matter where I am, I wake up six hours after I go to sleep.”

Read more: Arnold Schwarzenegger Daily Routine

11. Maria Popova’s sleep schedule

Sleep routine: 8 hours

In an interview with Tim Ferriss, Popova revealed that, while her wake up time varies, it’s always “exactly eight hours after I’ve gone to bed.” She’ll then start her day in her Brooklyn apartment with a 15-20 minute meditation session and a workout — 20 chin ups, 50 push ups, then a series of planks and stretches — before heading to the gym where most of her long-form reading is done while she’s on the ellipitcal.

Read more: Maria Popova Daily Routine

12. Allyson Felix’s sleep schedule

Sleep routine: 7-8 hours

For Allyson Felix, the only female track and field athlete to ever win six Olympic gold medals (one at 2008 Beijing, three at 2012 London and two at 2016 Rio), there’s nothing more important to her success than getting a good night’s sleep.

To make sure she’s able to recover from her intense training routine, Felix makes sure she gets at least 7-8 hours sleep every day, usually supplemented with daytime naps whenever she can.

Read more: Allyson Felix Daily Routine

13. Puff Daddy’s sleep schedule

Sleep routine: 5 hours

During a the height of the Bad Boy era, when the Billboard charts were emblazoned with songs by Biggie, Mase, and Puffy himself, he did an interview with Rolling Stone magazine and took readers through a typical day in his life:

Up at 10 in the morning. Then I’m on the phone – I’m in the bed, I’m on the phone, answering calls and puttin’ out fires. I’m up at, like, 11:30; I go to the office for a little while, then I go past the restaurant and on to the studio. I probably have rehearsals or interviews after that, then I go back to the studio around 9 or 10 at night and work there until, like, 4 or 5 in the morning. Then I go to sleep and start all over again. And I love my job.

Q&A: PUFF DADDY | ROLLING STONE

Read more: Puff Daddy Daily Routine

14. Jocko Willink’s sleep schedule

Sleep routine: 4.5-5 hours

Before heading off to bed at 11pm, Jocko will get everything ready for the next day, including writing his to-do list and laying out his training gear.

Jocko wakes up between 4.30-4.45am every day and go straight into a workout, which revolves around a four-day split (pull, push, lift, squat) and also includes some core exercises and cardio work.

Read more: Jocko Willink Daily Routine

15. Lebron James’ sleep schedule

Sleep routine: 12 hours

When it comes to sleep, Lebron has long recognised the benefits of getting enough and typically averages 12 hours of sleep a day. He wakes up at 5am after getting at least 8-9 hours of sleep, and will nap throughout the day.

“For my 13-year career, I’ve taken a nap for the most part every day and for sure on game days,” Lebron told CBS Sports. “Sleep is the most important thing when it comes to recovery. And it’s very tough with our schedule. Our schedule keeps us up late at night, and most of the time it wakes us up early in the morning. There’s no better recovery than sleep.”

Read more: Lebron James Daily Routine

16. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s sleep schedule

Sleep routine: 3-5 hours

With a typical wake up time of 3.30am, Johnson is one of those rare people who don’t need as much sleep, he usually gets three to five hours per night. While this sounds an insanely low amount of hours for sleep, Johnson revealed that being awake and having time to himself was more important than sleep.

“The only thing that’s regimented is I have to wake up before the sun gets up, and I have my two hours alone when no one else is up and the house is quiet,” he told Variety in a 2017 profile. “I often sacrifice two hours of sleep just so I can have the quiet two hours that I need before the whole house wakes up, including the animals.”

Read more: Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson Daily Routine

17. Floyd Mayweather’s sleep schedule

Sleep routine: 9-10 hours

Floyd Mayweather is a night owl. For his whole life, boxing has been the centre of his world, so it’s only fitting that Mayweather’s lifestyle revolves around the late night main event hours which he regularly headlined before retirement.

“I sleep nine or 10 hours,” Mayweather told Yahoo Sports in the lead up to his 2017 crossover bout with Conor McGregor. “I sleep as long as I want to and then I get up and start my day. I let my body rest. I’m going to be in bed at five. So I’ll wake up at 1:30.”

Read more: Floyd Mayweather Daily Routine

18. Aaron Levie’s sleep schedule

Sleep routine: 7.5-8 hours

For the 34-year old CEO, who typically stays up to 2am working at the Box headquarters, taking naps are the secret weapon to what Levie dubs “continuous productivity.” Because of his late night working hours, Levie tends to wake up between 9.30-10am, “I’m in bed for 30 minutes swiping, replying, and deleting. I try to make sure I have no unread messages by the time I get into the office,” he told Fast Company in 2013.

Read more: Aaron Levie Daily Routine

Before you go…

Check out more daily routines from Barack Obama, Arianna Huffington, Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Michelle Obama, Sheryl Sandberg, Richard Branson, Warren Buffet and plenty others.

The post The Sleeping Habits & Routines of 18 Successful People appeared first on Balance The Grind.

Behind every successful person, there is a successful routine. Well, that’s what we’re trying to figure out with our Daily Routines series, where we profile world leaders, athletes, entrepreneurs, artists and business executives to see how they set up their day for success.

Whether it’s Lebron James with his 12-hours of sleep a day, Jack Dorsey having only one meal a day, Michelle Obama working out at 4.30am, or Aaron Levie’s evening power nap; here are some of the most interesting daily routines of successful people.

Michael Phelps had a race day routine during the 2008 Beijing Olympics

Known for: Former competitive swimmer, most decorated Olympian of all time.

Waking up 6.30am, Phelps arrived at the Olympic Village cafeteria by 7am to eat his usual breakfast of “eggs, oatmeal and four energy shakes, the first of more than 6,000 calories he would consume over the next 16 hours.”

Two hours before his first scheduled race for the day, Phelps would begin his stretching routine, “starting with his arms, then his back, then working down to his ankles, which were so flexible they could extend more than 90 degrees, farther than a ballerina’s en pointe.” Following that, Phelps started his 45 minute warm-up routine in the pool — “800 metres of mixed styles, followed by 600 metres of kicking, 400 metres pulling a buoy between his legs, 200 metres of stroke drills, and a series of 25-metre sprints to elevate his heart rate.”

Once he was done stretching and warming up, Phelps put on his LZR Racer swimsuit, and waited for the race to start while listening to a hip-hop rotation of Eminem, Biggie, G-Unit, JAY Z, Rick Ross and Young Jeezy. Eminem’s “‘Till I Collapse” played a big part in Phelps’ mix.

Read more: Michael Phelps daily routine

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez takes her time drinking water in the morning

Known for: American politician; U.S. representative for New York’s 14th congressional district

On a typical day in Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s life, she’s up at between 7-8am, usually cuddled up next to Deco, a French bulldog she and her partner Riley Roberts got earlier in 2020.

If it’s not a day where she needs to head out the door right way, Ocasio-Cortez will take her time to have some breakfast (“toast with a little bit of peanut butter or almond butter”), drink her matcha tea, and scan through the news on The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, and New Republic.

Then, she’ll drink her water, a meditation-like ritual that has become a vital part of her day. “The most important part of my morning routine has been drinking water. I like to put some lemon in my water and I try to drink it pretty slowly and mindfully,” she said. “I will look out my window. I will try to look at the clouds passing by just really slow down for even a minute, five minutes in the morning and that has been my little meditative practice recently.”

Read more: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez daily routine

Virgil Abloh doesn’t have an office and works almost entirely off his phone

Known for: Fashion designer; creative director; DJ

The bulk of Virgil Abloh’s work is done on the go. Instead of an office with a computer, Abloh operates almost entirely using his phone, with separate WhatsApp groups for each project he’s working on. “It removes you from being plugged in to an ironically corporate desk-like place,” he explained to Mr Porter. “All of a sudden, everywhere is an office. If I have a fully charged phone, I can do anything.”

“I literally have no desk in the world. I work on the street, phone in hand,” he told The New York Times. “I’ve occasionally been stuck at the corner of Prince and Mercer Streets in Manhattan not even realizing I’ve been standing there for 20 minutes responding to messages.”

Read more: Virgil Abloh daily routine

Robert Caro wears a suit and tie on his writing days

Known for: Journalist; author of The Power Broker, The Years of Lyndon Johnson

Even though Robert Caro is the only person in his office — there’s no secretary getting him coffee, he makes his own in the kitchen — and rarely receives visitors, he still prefers to wear a suit and tie while working.

Whenever I go to work I wear a jacket and a tie, because I’m inherently quite lazy, and my books take so long to do, and my publishers don’t bug me, so it’s so easy to fool yourself into thinking you’re working harder than you really are. So I do everything possible to make myself remember this is a job I’m going to, and I have to produce every day. The tie and the jacket are part of that.

RISING EARLY, WITH A NEW SENTENCE IN MIND | THE NEW YORK TIMES

Read more: Robert Caro daily routine

Tom Ford has a bath every morning

Known for: Fashion designer; filmmaker

On most mornings, Ford is up at 4.30am and the first thing he does is weigh himself. “I do this every morning, and if I have gained more than two or three pounds, I try to eat fruit and vegetables exclusively for a couple of days until my weight is back to my ideal,” he told Harper’s Bazaar.

He’ll then make himself a large cup of iced coffee and do some work and answer emails until 6am. He’ll then make himself another cup of iced coffee and run a bath. “I lay in my bathtub with a bendable straw in my coffee and no lights and only one candle lit,” he told Mr Porter. “I love that time in the morning when no one else is awake, and I’m alone, and then I can slowly come to life.”

Read more: Tom Ford daily routine

Jack Dorsey only has one meal a day

Known for: Co-founder & CEO of Twitter; founder & CEO of Square

During the interview with Ben Greenfield, Dorsey revealed that he had been on the One Meal a Day (OMAD) diet for the past two years, with dinner being his only meal for the day.

I don’t have anything until around 6:30[pm]. And then, I usually eat a really big meal and I have a protein, whether it’d be fish, chicken, or some steak. I try to have a lot of greens in terms of salad, a big arugula salad, spinach. And then, I sometimes have asparagus or Brussels sprout or some other green vegetable. And then, I have mixed berries as a dessert, maybe some dark chocolate.

THE JACK DORSEY PODCAST | BEN GREENFIELD FITNESS

Read more: Jack Dorsey daily routine

Bill Gates like to wash the dishes in the evening

Known for: Co-founder of Microsoft; co-founder of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

To unwind at the end of a busy day, one of Gates’ preferred options is to do some household chores, telling the readers of his Reddit AMA session that he finds washing the dishes quite enjoyable and a way to de-stress from the day, “other people do volunteer, but I like the way that I do it”.

Read more: Bill Gates daily routine

Gordon Ramsay’s go-to breakfast is a bowl of oatmeal

To cater to his demanding lifestyle, as well as maintain his health, Gordon Ramsay keeps a close eye on his diet and exercise. For breakfast, he’ll usually keep it simple with a bowl of oatmeal. During the reddit Q&A, Ramsay described his go-to oatmeal recipe:

“The night before, put 3-4 bananas in the oven on a pilot light. And the next day, squeeze the bananas into almond milk, bring it to a boil, then add the oatmeal and dried cranberries, and you’ll have the most amazing oatmeal for breakfast.”

Read more: Gordon Ramsay’s daily routine

Malcolm Gladwell prefers writing in cafes and restaurants

Known for: Author of The Tipping Point, Outliers; staff writer for The New Yorker

At around 9am is when Gladwell will start the most important part of his work — writing. But not at home, or in his office. In a 2009 profile by The Guardian, Gladwell explained that as a result of spending 10 years in a newsroom, he can’t write when it’s quiet and needs the buzz of people around him, “I like people around me; but I don’t want to talk to them.” He’ll ride his bike around lower Manhattan and Brooklyn, setting up shop in cafes and restaurants where he’ll write for a few hours.

Read more: Malcolm Gladwell daily routine

Joe Rogan has a “Hulk Loads” shake

Known for: Comedian; podcast host; UFC commentator

Joe Rogan has one of his his Insta-famous “Hulk Loads” kale shakes every day, which he calls his “morning nutrient blast,” made up of:

• 1 cucumber
• 1 apple
• 4 cloves of garlic
• 1 chunk of ginger
• 3 stalks of celery
• large salad size clump of kale

Read more: Joe Rogan daily routine

Jeff Bezos sticks to 3 good decisions per day

Known for: Founder & CEO of Amazon

Jeff Bezos likes to stick to making three good decisions per day, a strategy that Warren Buffet also uses.

As a senior executive, you get paid to make a small number of high-quality decisions. Your job is not to make thousands of decisions every day. Is that really worth it if the quality of those decisions might be lower because you’re tired or grouchy? If I make, like, three good decisions a day, that’s enough. Warren Buffett says he’s good if he makes three good decisions a year.

1 BIG THING: JEFF BEZOS’ SECRETS FOR LIFE, BUSINESS | AXIOS AM

Read more: Jeff Bezos daily routine

Richard Branson exercises and has breakfast with his family every day

Known for: Founder of Virgin Group

After waking up at 5am, Richard Branson will either play a game of tennis, go for a walk or run, do some biking, or kitesurfing (if the wind permits).

“Exercise puts me in a great mind frame to get down to business, and also helps me to get the rest I need each night. There’s nothing more satisfying than knowing I have applied myself both physically and mentally every day.”

After exercising, Branson will sit down for breakfast with his family. Exercise and family time are his two non-negotiables for the day.

Read more: Richard Branson daily routine

Haruki Murakami trains every day after his writing session

Known for: Author of A Wild Sheep Chase (1982), Norwegian Wood (1987)

If Japanese author Haruki Murakami is in novel mode, he’ll wake up at 4am and immediately start writing, working for five to six hours. Murakami will typically finish up his day’s writing at 10am or 11am. From there, he’ll proceed to his physical training. As he explains to the Paris Review:

In the afternoon, I run for 10km or swim for 1500m (or do both), then I read a bit and listen to some music. I go to bed at 9:00 pm. I keep to this routine every day without variation. The repetition itself becomes the important thing; it’s a form of mesmerism. I mesmerize myself to reach a deeper state of mind. But to hold to such repetition for so long — six months to a year — requires a good amount of mental and physical strength.

HARUKI MURAKAMI, THE ART OF FICTION NO. 182 | PARIS REVIEW

Read more: Haruki Murakami daily routine

Barack Obama was a night owl during his presidency

Known for: 44th President of the United States

During his presidency Obama gained the reputation of being a “night guy,” known for carving out late nights hours in his upstairs office in the Treaty Room, when things were calmer, with fewer people running around and less demands on his attention.

A 2016 New York Times profile showcased a nightly routine that consisted of reading, writing and planning, as well as ESPN and Words With Friends. Obama often used this time to catch up on the day, decompress, and also just to think. He also had a habit of snacking on “seven lightly salted almonds” every night.

The most difficult thing is to carve out time to think, which is probably the most important time for somebody who’s trying to shift an organization, or in this case, the country, as opposed to doing the same things that have been done before. And I find that time slips away.

Obama After Dark: The Precious Hours Alone | The New York TImes

Read more: Barack Obama daily routine

Sheryl Sandberg leaves work at 5.30pm every day without fail

Known for: Chief Operating Officer of Facebook

When Sheryl Sandberg was a Google executive, working on developing Google’s ad business and regularly putting in long hours everyday, from 7am to 7pm.

According to a 2017 Bloomberg article, after Sandberg welcomed her first child, she started sneaking out of Google’s office early, “sometimes placing a decoy jacket on her chair, leaving the light on at her desk, or scheduling afternoon meetings in other buildings so her colleagues wouldn’t see her leave.”

These days at Facebook, in stark contrast to her days at Google, Sandberg makes it a clear point to leave work every day at the same time. Each day, without fail, no matter which jobs may need doing, Sandberg leaves the office at 5.30pm to ensure she has time to get home, have dinner with her family, and spend the evening with them.

Read more: Sheryl Sandberg daily routine

Jason Fried minimises distractions by only having one monitor

Known for: Co-founder & CEO of Basecamp

For his work setup, Jason Fried has gone from multiple computers and multiple monitors to just one device, a 12″ Macbook. He’s all about minimising distractions and prioritising focus, “I go full screen on nearly every app. I also hide my dock. I don’t want anything pulling my attention away. When I’m curious I’ll look. Otherwise, I’m looking at what I want, not what someone else might want me to see.”

Read more: Jason Fried daily routine

Elon Musk sleeps about 6-6.5 hours per night

Known for: Founder, CEO, CTO and chief designer of SpaceX; CEO and product architect of Tesla

With a bedtime of around 1am, Musk typically wakes up at 7am, getting 6 to 6.5 hours of sleep, which, he discovered over the years is his sweet spot. “Sleep is really great. I find if I don’t get enough sleep I’m quite grumpy. I could drop below a certain threshold of sleep, although I would be awake more hours I would get less done because my mental acuity would be affected,” Musk said in a 2015 reddit AMA.

Read more: Elon Musk daily routine

Matt Mullenweg used the Uberman sleep cycle while building the WordPress

Known for: Creator of WordPress; founder & CEO of Automattic

In a 2018 interview with Tim Ferriss, Mullenweg spoke about how he used the Uberman sleep cycle (also known as Polyphasic sleep) while writing WordPress. “So it’s four hours on, and then 20 or 30 minutes of sleep,” Mullenweg explained to Ferriss. “This was probably one of the most productive periods of my life.”

Read more: Matt Mullenweg daily routine

David Heinemeier Hansson doesn’t use an alarm clock to wake up

Known for: Creator of Ruby on Rails; co-founder & CTO at Basecamp

Most days David Heinemeier Hansson will go to sleep at 9.30pm to 10pm, and wake up with no alarm, “I’ve always slept 8.5-10 hours. My most cherished luxury is not having to wake to an alarm clock 97% of the time,” he onced tweeted.

Read more: David Heinemeier Hansson daily routine

Michelle Obama wakes up at 4.30am every day to exercise

Known for: Former first lady of the United States; author of Becoming

Michelle Obama’s daily routine starts just like Barack’s daily routine — with exercise. Michelle started her morning exercise routine when their first daughter, Malia, was 4 months old.

My “aha” moment came when our first daughter, Malia, was 4 months old. My husband’s exercise routine hadn’t changed a bit; he was still getting his workouts in, and I was getting irritated (laughs). Then I realized he was just prioritizing it differently. So I said, “If I get up and out before the first feeding, I will work out.” That will engage my husband to do that first feeding with the baby. So I started getting up at 4:30 in the morning and going to the gym. With exercising, the more you do it, the more you get into it. And the more you see results, the more you’re pushing for the next level. That’s when it just clicked for me.

Michelle Obama’s Rules for Staying Healthy and Happy | Prevention

Read more: Michelle Obama daily routine

Anna Wintour brings homework to do every night

Known for: Editor-in-chief of Vogue; artistic director for Condé Nast

At 5pm, Anna Wintour will leave the office, heading home with work to do for the night. This usually includes resumes, pitches, publications, as well as sample pages of the upcoming issue of Vogue.

She makes it a goal to work through everything before the next day, “It’s super important to me to get everything done at night so I can keep on top of the work and nobody is waiting for my feedback.” Wintour will typically head off to bed at 10.15pm, getting anywhere between 6 to 7 hours of sleep per night.

Read more: Anna Wintour daily routine

Warren Buffet avoids scheduling meetings or appointments

Known for: Chairman & CEO of Berkshire Hathaway

Buffet is also well-known for fiercely protecting his time and avoids scheduling meetings or appointments in advance, “Keep control of your time. You won’t keep control of your time unless you can say no — you can’t let other people set your agenda in life.”

Gates wrote, “one habit of Warren’s that I admire is that he keeps his schedule free of meetings. He’s good at saying no to things. He knows what he likes to do—and what he does, he does unbelievably well.”

Read more: Warren Buffet daily routine

Melanie Perkins starts off every day with journaling

Known for: Co-founder & CEO of Canva

In an interview with Thrive Global last year, Melanie Perkins talked about using the Five Minute Journal every day, “It’s a lovely way to start the day and helps to ensure I’m proactively shaping my day ahead. I’ve only been doing it for a couple of weeks — but hope to keep it up!”

Read more: Melanie Perkins daily routine

Arianna Huffington drinks bulletproof coffee and avoids breakfast

Known for: Co-founder of The Huffington Post; founder & CEO of Thrive Global

In an interview on the Tim Ferriss Show, Huffington revealed that she drank bulletproof coffee every morning and avoided breakfast, with lunch being her first meal of the day.

Every morning, I have coffee, bulletproof coffee for breakfast which is, basically, as you know, coffee with organic butter. Then I don’t really like breakfast in terms of food. I was brought up in Greece and people don’t have breakfast. They have coffee. Like a good Greek peasant girl, I don’t really eat until lunchtime. If you want to know what is my favorite food at lunchtime, it’s breakfast.

ARIANNA HUFFINGTON, MEDIA MAVEN (#274) | THE TIM FERRISS SHOW

Read more: Arianna Huffington daily routine

Maria Popova does most of her reading on the ellipitcal

Known for: Founder of Brain Pickings

In an interview with Tim Ferriss, Popova revealed that, while her wake up time varies, it’s always “exactly eight hours after I’ve gone to bed.” She’ll then start her day in her Brooklyn apartment with a 15-20 minute meditation session and a workout — 20 chin ups, 50 push ups, then a series of planks and stretches — before heading to the gym where most of her long-form reading is done while she’s on the elliptical.

Read more: Maria Popova daily routine

Nir Eyal uses the Forest app to stay focused

Known for: Author of Indistractable, Hooked

As an expert in productivity, habits and staying indistractable, Eyal employs several techniques to help him stay focused. For instance, he uses an app called Forest every time he writes, “It’s a timer that plants a virtual tree when you start a focused work session. If you pick up your phone and try and exit the app, the tree dies. It’s a little pre-commitment device that helps me stay focused.”

Read more: Nir Eyal daily routine

Arnold Schwarzenegger hasn’t stopped training every day

Known for: Actor; former Governor of California; former professional bodybuilder

While Arnold’s current exercise routine is vastly different to his bodybuilding days, his bodybuilding routine is vastly different to Arnold’s current routine, he still follows the same disciplined habits of his younger self.

These days, he’ll wake up at 5am and ride his bike to the gym where he’ll train for 45 minutes, with a focus on lighter weights. “I’m not training heavy anymore,” he told Men’s Health. “After my heart surgery, I was advised not to train heavy. Not go go three reps, heaviest weight, and all that stuff. So now I do lighter weights and more reps.”

Read more: Arnold Schwarzenegger daily routine

Scott Adams likes to “flood his mind” before starting his work

Known for: Creator of Dilbert comic strip

Before settling down to work, Adams will reads news, usually Business Insider, and check social media — a process he calls flooding the mind. “There’s a process where once you clear your mind, you have to flood it,” he explained to Tim Ferriss. “So, I’m looking at the news, I’m looking at stuff I haven’t seen. I’m not looking at yesterday’s problem for the fifth time; I’m looking at a new problem, I’m thinking of a new idea. So, I’m flooding in all the new stuff.”

Read more: Scott Adams daily routine

Lebron James supplements his sleep with naps throughout the day

Known for: Basketball player

When it comes to sleep, Lebron has long recognised the benefits of getting enough and typically averages 12 hours of sleep a day. He wakes up at 5am after getting at least 8-9 hours of sleep, and will nap throughout the day.

“For my 13-year career, I’ve taken a nap for the most part every day and for sure on game days,” Lebron told CBS Sports. “Sleep is the most important thing when it comes to recovery. And it’s very tough with our schedule. Our schedule keeps us up late at night, and most of the time it wakes us up early in the morning. There’s no better recovery than sleep.”

Read more: Lebron James daily routine

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson wakes up at 3.30am to get his quiet time

Known for: Actor; retired professional wrestler

With a typical wake up time of 3.30am, Johnson is one of those rare people who don’t need as much sleep, he usually gets three to five hours per night. While this sounds an insanely low amount of hours for sleep, Johnson revealed that being awake and having time to himself was more important than sleep.

“The only thing that’s regimented is I have to wake up before the sun gets up, and I have my two hours alone when no one else is up and the house is quiet,” he told Variety in a 2017 profile. “I often sacrifice two hours of sleep just so I can have the quiet two hours that I need before the whole house wakes up, including the animals.”

Read more: Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson daily routine

Ryan Carson divides up his week into themed days

Known for: Founder & CEO of Treehouse

Ryan Carson, founder and CEO of online technology school Treehouse, follows a similar weekly routine to Jack Dorsey; dividing up his week up into theme-focused days. He also only works 4-day weeks.

Each workday — Monday to Thursday — is divided into four main areas of the Treehouse business: Mondays — product, Tuesdays — video & teaching, Wednesdays — HR, culture & finance, Thursdays – Marketing & Sales.

Read more: Ryan Carson daily routine

Max Levchin blocks out 2-hours every day to focus on deep work

Known for: Co-founder of PayPal; co-founder & CEO of Affirm

Although Levchin loves having long stretches of uninterrupted, focused work, the nature of a CEO’s role is to be disrupted constantly throughout the day. Levchin balances this out by scheduling dedicated time for deep work.

“If I really need to focus on creative work, I’ll go to a coffee shop. I like the anonymity — all these people buzzing around, ordering drinks and going about their lives,” he said in a 2015 Inc profile. “Every day, I dedicate a couple of two-hour time slots to cutting myself off from everyone else — to do whatever needs to be done. Unless it’s my wife, I won’t pick up the phone. I don’t check email, and I turn off my messenger apps. That has really helped my productivity.”

Read more: Max Levchin daily routine

Aaron Levie has a power nap every evening in a conference room

Known for: Co-founder & CEO of Box

At around 6-7pm every day, after the meetings wind down, Levie will put on his earplugs and have a quick power nap in a conference room, “just 20 to 25 minutes is all you need, and then you get fully recharged,” he told Business Insider. Although the Box team are now well aware of their CEO’s evening napping habits, there have been times when the cleaning crew have accidentally interrupted his power snooze.

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Andrew Wilkinson wakes up at 1pm and only works 5-6 hours a day

Known for: Co-founder of Tiny; co-founder of Metalab

In a podcast interview with Dorm Room Tycoon, Wilkinson talked more about the benefits of limited time on his working style, “the constraint of knowing I was only going to work five or six hours that day forced me not to do a lot of extraneous crap and it also forced me to delegate.”

I wake up around 1pm and almost always get eight hours of sleep. Most days, I head to the office in the early afternoon and work around 5-6 hours. Sometimes I put in another couple hours at night, but I take the majority of my time away from work, and I never work weekends.

YOU DON’T HAVE TO MAKE YOURSELF MISERABLE TO BUILD A GREAT COMPANY | PANDO

Read more: Andrew Wilkinson daily routine

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Check out more daily routines from Barack Obama, Arianna Huffington, Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Michelle Obama, Sheryl Sandberg, Richard Branson, Warren Buffet and plenty others.

The post The Daily Routines, Habits & Rituals of Successful People: Barack Obama, Richard Branson, Jack Dorsey & More appeared first on Balance The Grind.