Early rising
A fixed, early wake time, often before anyone else is awake
Up at a consistent early hour, to claim uninterrupted time before obligations start. The benefit claimed is less about the hour itself than about ownership: nobody can take that block from you. The important caveat is that it only works if you also move bedtime. Early rising on short sleep is just sleep deprivation with better branding.
People on record
Sorted by strength of stance
Does it: documented as part of their own routine. Recommends: explicitly advises other people to do it. Discusses: covered it substantively without clear personal adoption; this can include criticism or disagreement.
- Arnold SchwarzeneggerDoes it
Bodybuilding champion, actor, former governor · Arnold's Pump Club
Up early and done with his workout, bike ride, shower, breakfast and the papers by around five in the morning, by his own account. He sleeps around six hours and argues that early risers tend to be the most successful people he meets.
Source: The Tim Ferriss Show #216 transcript: Arnold Schwarzenegger Part 2“I get up early in the morning and then I go and work out, ride the bicycle for an hour and take a shower, have breakfast, feed my dog, play with my dog, call my kids, tell them I love them and read a script or two. Read the papers in English and in German also. By that time, it’s around 5:00 in the morning.”
The Tim Ferriss Show #216 transcript: Arnold Schwarzenegger Part 2 (opens in a new tab) · 20 Jun 2018 - David GogginsDoes it
Retired Navy SEAL · Can't Hurt Me
As an active SEAL he was up at 3am, fitting in a run and a long ride before a 7am start. His line is that 24 hours in a day is enough if you want it, and that a missed session is on you.
Source: Slowtwitch: An interview with US Navy Seal David Goggins“Life is not friendly. Life is not you always being happy. You have to get the tactical advantage early in the morning, which means get up, go for a run, go to the gym, do something that prepares your mind. You want to start off your morning winning.”
Outside: David Goggins Wrote the Game Plan for Peak Performance (opens in a new tab) · 25 Jan 2019 - Dwayne JohnsonDoes it
Actor and former WWE champion · The Rock
Up before the sun, by his own account the only regimented part of his routine. He told Variety in 2017 he sleeps three to five hours and will trade two of them for quiet time before the household wakes.
Source: Variety: Dwayne Johnson on His Rock-Solid Empire and Walk of Fame Honor - Greg McKeownDoes it
Author · Essentialism
Kept the 5am start after finishing the book. He wrote that he had been in mourning since the arrangement ended, and was back at a version of it within a few weeks.
Source: gregmckeown.com: The Magic of Being in Monk Mode - Jeff BezosDoes it
Amazon and Blue Origin founder · Six-page memos and eight hours of sleep
Gets up early, in his words just naturally, and told Rubenstein in 2018 that he goes to bed early and gets up early. The early start is what makes room for the slow morning before a first meeting at ten.
Source: Lex Fridman Podcast #405 transcript: Jeff Bezos: Amazon and Blue Origin - Jocko WillinkDoes it
Retired Navy SEAL officer · Jocko Podcast
4:30am every day, with a photo of his watch at that hour posted for years as a public accountability device.
Source: The Tim Ferriss Show #275 transcript“Stage your workout clothes so you don’t even have to think about them when you get up. Write down a list of things you need to accomplish the next day. Set your alarm clock for 4:30 a.m. and go to sleep. When the alarm clock goes off, get up.”
The Tim Ferriss Show #275 transcript (opens in a new tab) · 2 Feb 2018 - Mark WahlbergDoes it
Actor and producer · The 2:30 a.m. daily routine
The famous 2:30 a.m. wake-up has drifted to 3:30 now that he has teenagers to get out of the door. The idea is unchanged: gym, reading and prayer are finished before anyone else in the house is awake, and then his day starts. He says he does not want to impose the schedule on his kids.
Source: TODAY: Mark Wahlberg says he's had to tweak his viral morning routine - Nick BareDoes it
Hybrid athlete · Bare Performance Nutrition founder
Up at 5 a.m. daily. His company's write-up of the routine puts it down to backward planning learned in the Army, and to the plain fact that nothing else is competing for those hours: no distractions, and complete control of the day before it starts.
Source: BPN: Nick Bare's 3 Tips for a Better Morning Routine - Sahil BloomDoes it
Author · The 5 Types of Wealth
For roughly ten years he has started most mornings with a 4am alarm. He says he is not a natural morning person; pre-class college baseball practices forced the change and it stuck.
Source: The Curiosity Chronicle: How to Become a Morning Person - Tom BradyDoes it
Former NFL quarterback · The TB12 Method
Starts a game day at 6 a.m., he says, with the first two hours given to electrolyte water, a smoothie and letting food digest before his 40-minute training session.
Source: CNBC Make It: What NFL star Tom Brady eats and drinks before a big game - Steven BartlettDiscusses
Entrepreneur · The Diary of a CEO
Talks about the early starts and long working hours of his twenties, and about the trade-offs he now sees in that period.
Source: The Diary of a CEO podcast
Aimed at the same thing
Other entries filed under productivity or focus.
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Daily reading
A fixed daily reading block, usually books rather than feeds
On record from 25 of 62 tracked people: 23 do it, 2 recommend it - HabitFREE, no cost
Daily writing
Write something every day, published or not
On record from 10 of 62 tracked people: 8 do it, 2 recommend it - HabitFREE, no cost
Phone-free first hour
No email, news or social media until you have done something of your own
On record from 6 of 62 tracked people: 4 do it, 2 recommend it - HabitFREE, no cost
Margin notes
Writing in the margins while reading, especially where you disagree with the author
On record from 4 of 62 tracked people: 3 do it, 1 recommends it - HabitFREE, no cost
Thinking retreats
Blocks of time cleared of the schedule to sit with one hard problem
On record from 4 of 62 tracked people: 3 do it, 1 has discussed it - HabitFREE, no cost
Written goal sheet
Goals written down, in numbers, and kept where you see them every morning
On record from 3 of 62 tracked people: 3 do it
Habit entry · notes paraphrased from cited sources, quoted excerpts copied from the transcript they link to. Not medical advice. Not affiliated with, endorsed by, or reviewed by anyone listed. How this works.