Prioritizing Your Morning to Get the Most out of Your Business

Morning Rituals of Business Leaders

Have you ever wondered how some of the top modern business leaders start their day? Myths abound about how you must get up early and work late into the night to get ahead. But, looking at the morning and sleep rituals of a wide variety of business leaders, this is quite far from the truth. They manage to get in a good amount of sleep while making great business strides each day.

We selected four diverse business leaders to demonstrate just how possible it is to maintain a healthy sleep/wake balance in your life. Here’s a peek into their morning routines:

Richard Branson, Founder of the Virgin Group

Branson rises by 5:45 am every morning, wanting to make sure he gets

a head start on the day, and reportedly sleeps no more than 6 hours per night.

“I’m able to do some exercise and spend time with my family, which puts me in a great mind frame before getting down to business.” (Inc.com)

“I leave the curtain undrawn and the sun comes up at 5:45 am and straight into my eyes. I love bouncing up early.”

Jack Dorsey, Co-founder of Twitter and CEO of Square

Dorsey sleeps 7 hours a day, waking up around 5 am to meditate, workout, and then make coffee.

“Expect the unexpected. And whenever possible, be the unexpected.”

Tory Burch, Fashion designer and CEO of Tory Burch LLC

Burch rise at 5:45 am and checks her email, gets her children up and then exercises for about 45 minutes.

“IF it doesn’t scare you, you’re probably not dreaming big enough.”

Arianna Huffington, Founder of the Huffington Post

Huffington is known for her belief in the importance of sleep. She makes sure she turns off all of her electronic gadgets and removes them from her bedroom before turning in.  She gets 8 hours of sleep each night and starts her morning with 30 minutes of meditation.

“It’s time to sleep your way to the top.”

One of the most interesting things about the morning rituals of each of these, and most other, business leaders is how they prioritize things. From making time to meditate, workout, or spend time with family, it’s clear the start of the day is focused on their personal priorities and getting the sleep they need to function at their best – typically 6-9 hours. In most cases, business comes a little later in their morning that many people would expect.