How you start your morning can set the tone for the rest of the day. As entrepreneur Tim Ferriss, who has asked hundreds of ultra-successful people about their morning rituals, likes to say, "If you win the morning, you win the day."
Self-made billionaire Richard Branson's morning starts at 5:00 a.m. Here's what the rest of his day typically looks like.
He exercises
Branson knocks out his workout right away, either playing tennis, biking, going for a run, or kitesurfing. Exercise, he claims, boosts his productivity significantly.
"Then I eat breakfast and spend time with my family," he writes on his blog. "Exercise and family time put me in a great mind frame before getting down to business."
He answers emails
"The reason I like to wake up early is so that I can work through my emails before most of the world logs on," Branson writes. And, since he works from the British Virgin Islands for at least six months out of the year, he says, "I like to be online early, so that I am accessible and available to our offices in other time zones."
He reads the news and blogs
Catching up on the news typically leads to writing, says Branson, who updates his blog multiple times per day: "No two days are the same: one day I'll be writing about conservation, the next I'll sharing family photos from Necker Island, and then the following day I'll be offering business tips to help young entrepreneurs find their stride."
In general, he's always "connected and engaged," he says. "Being a modern business leader is all about having your finger on the pulse and knowing what you're talking about."
He works through lunch
"I grab food when I can, normally scheduling a meeting over lunchtime," writes the self-made billionaire. "I'm not a fan of formal meetings and would much prefer to lighten the mood with a shared meal, or if I'm pressed for time, a walking meeting."
And he always has a cup of tea within reach: "To keep me energized, I drink lots of tea. I'm talking 20 cups a day."
He eats dinner with friends and family
Group dinners are "where stories are shared and ideas are born," Branson writes. Just in case, he always has a notebook with him. In fact, he credits some of his most successful companies to the simple habit of jotting down ideas.
He goes to bed around 11:00 p.m. "I need around six hours sleep [to] do it all again — a little differently — the next day," he says.
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