Phone-free first hour
No email, news or social media until you have done something of your own
Keeping the first stretch after waking free of inputs, so the day starts with your priorities rather than everyone else's. In practice it usually means the phone stays face-down until after light, movement and the first real task. People describe the effect as the difference between setting the day's tone and inheriting it.
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.
- Greg McKeownDoes it
Author · Essentialism
The first thirty minutes go to paper and pen: no text, email or apps. Recently, he says, that has been more often than not rather than every morning.
Source: The Tim Ferriss Show #719 transcript“And I try now, more often than not, to have this power half an hour where I don’t go to text and email or apps or my phone for the first 30 minutes. And I do that. I haven’t been doing great at that recently, but I still do that more often than I don’t.”
The Tim Ferriss Show #719: Walk and Talk with Greg McKeown (opens in a new tab) · 3 Feb 2024 - Jennifer AnistonDoes it
Actor · Friends and The Morning Show
No phone, email, texts or social media for the first hour to hour and a half of the day is her one steadfast morning rule. She suggests trying it for a week and says the difference is hard to believe.
Source: E! News: Jennifer Aniston Is Sharing All Her Self-Care Secrets - Mel RobbinsDoes it
Author and podcaster · The Let Them Theory
No phone, email, texts or social media until her morning routine is done; she says she would not dare, because none of it belongs in what she calls her million dollar morning. Out of bed, then straight to making the bed.
Source: The Mel Robbins Podcast: A Toolkit for Creating the Perfect Morning Routine - Shane ParrishDoes it
Writer · Farnam Street and The Knowledge Project
Tries to leave the phone alone in the morning, on the grounds that anything genuinely urgent will reach him another way. Email waits until late morning or afternoon.
Source: My Morning Routine interview - Ali AbdaalRecommends
Doctor turned YouTuber · author of Feel-Good Productivity
Keeping the phone out of the first stretch of the day means the morning goes on your own priorities, he says.
Source: Feel-Good Productivity - Cal NewportRecommends
Computer science professor · author of Deep Work
Advises a morning with no meetings, calls, messages, email or internet until noon, so the day starts on your own work.
Source: calnewport.com: the rise of the monk mode morning
Aimed at the same thing
Other entries filed under focus or productivity.
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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
Early rising
A fixed, early wake time, often before anyone else is awake
On record from 11 of 62 tracked people: 10 do it, 1 has discussed 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
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.