What you can learn from the morning routines of these 3 successful women

You may not be a morning person, but there sure is a routine that kicks off your day. Some of us switch our mobile alarms off and check on the notifications and email that we missed while asleep and others keep their phones aside and drink some hot tea or coffee. Some others do not bother about either of these and jump straight into meditation. According to a study by the American Psychological Association, a morning routine will keep stress, depression and anxiety levels at bay and keep you energised throughout the day.

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So what do successful people do every morning? Do their morning routines display a pattern? Do these routines contribute in any way to make them more productive? Here’s looking at the morning routines of three successful women to understand what they do differently compared to us lesser mortals. Do note that it is not possible and not even advised to copy somebody else’s routine. The focus is on learning something new and trying to incorporate it into our lives in our own unique way. So here you go:

Relax, says Arianna Huffington

The force behind publishing giant Huffington Post, entrepreneur Arianna Huffington is a dedicated propagator of the idea of eight hours of sleep following her own infamous burnout caused by not sleeping enough. After a good night’s sleep, Arianna likes to wake up and meditate for 30 minutes. She keeps her smartphone and other gadgets away and follows this up with her Yoga practice. According to Hal Elrod, author of The Miracle Morning, “How you wake up each day and your morning routine dramatically affects your levels of success in every single area of your life. Focussed, productive, successful mornings generate focussed, productive, successful days and in the same way unfocused, unproductive and mediocre mornings generate unfocused, unproductive and mediocre days, and ultimately a mediocre quality of life.

Refresh, says Michelle Obama

Before she became the first African-American First Lady of the USA, Michelle Obama was a lawyer and now she continues to be a spokesperson for many social causes. One habit that Michelle picked up quite early was finding time to exercise as soon she woke up. In an interview with Oprah Winfrey, Michelle said that it was only to make sure that she felt good about herself and this was a confidence boost. This allowed her to take up new projects with renewed vigour and face each day with high energy. When Oprah expressed surprise over Michelle’s routine of waking up at 4:30 am to work out, she responded: “If I had to wake up for work, I’d get up and go. If I had to get up to take care of my kids, I’d get up to do that. But when it comes to yourself, then it’s suddenly, ‘Oh, I can’t get up at 4:30.’” Researchers at the University of Bristol seem to endorse Michelle’s thoughts with a study which found that people who start their workdays with exercise have more energy and a more positive outlook, and it also improves your self-control.

Reflect, says Sallie Krawcheck

The day starts quite early for Ellevest CEO and Co-Founder Sallie Krawcheck, who claims that she is her most productive at four in the morning. After drinking her morning cup of coffee, she says she reflects on the day that went by, but soon blanks it out of her head to create space for newer ideas for the day ahead. She says she feels happy and grateful knowing that her family is sleeping upstairs while she is at work. Sallie seems to have gone the William Blake way of “Think in the morning, act in the noon, read in the evening, and sleep at night”. Mornings are the best to get a hold on what went by and what lies ahead. Think of problems you need to settle, consider future challenges and give your thoughts attention so that you can make the best use of them.

What are some other morning routines of successful women you have pinned down to try? Let us know in the comments section below.