The daily routines of successful people

And what we can learn from them.

I’m fascinated by people’s morning routines. It’s a special interest of mine. That’s why I spent some years interviewing people about them every week.

I discovered that the prolific children’s author Jacqueline Wilson gets up around seven, feeds the cat, takes the dog into the garden, makes herself a cup of coffee and then goes back to bed to write for an hour or so in her pyjamas.

And that Rudimental’s DJ Locksmith gets up early, unlike others in the music industry who he jokingly refers to as ‘lazy bastards’ for choosing to start their day at midday.

At the time of our interview, he said he was up early with his son, making him a packed lunch and then dropping him at school before heading off to do “promotional stuff, studio time, meetings - all the other things that come with being in a band.”

Arianna Huffington - who founded Huffington Post, burnt out, sold it for $315m and has now dedicated her career to helping people get better sleep - wakes feeling “joyful” after the eight hours she clocks, without fail.

She has adopted a similar approach to tech entrepreneurs like Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg and Apple founder Steve Jobs by wearing the same clothes each day, to save time and mental space.

“I’m a big believer in repeats,” she said, “and it’s one of my missions to make repeats cool. It would save women so much time and energy – which would mean more time and energy they can spend getting things done. Or sleeping.”

I did hundreds of these interviews and learnt that anyone who takes a keen interest in their routine is doing so in a bid to feel more energised, motivated and happy. And this is the reason I obsess about - and tweak - my own routine regularly.

My morning routine

In fact, I had the idea to write this piece because after three months of not running in the mornings, I’ve started up again. My pelvic floor isn’t very happy about it but my mind comes alive when I run.

I go for a short run - a mile, or just under - and it’s like I’ve taken a drug. Everything looks, feels and sounds clearer. I have new ideas flooding into my mind and the confidence to action them. It really elevates my mood.

I get home, spend five to ten minutes doing yoga then shower and get the kids ready for school.

On the mornings when I’m alone with the children, I’m going to drop them at school then run home. Now that I’m back in ‘running mode’, I will run every single day until I decide to stop again.

I’m always intrigued by people who can do the occasional yoga class or choose different exercise classes and routines to do each week, at different points in the day. I actually feel overwhelmed just at the thought of this.

If I start doing something and it feels good, I doing it every single day. So when I joined a gym - at the same time as moving to London and giving up running - I started having a steam, swim and sauna every day.

A clear, fixed routine makes me feel safe and grounded. It’s like an anchor.

When the gym membership got too expensive, I cancelled it and now, I will run instead. It means relying on someone to watch my kids for 10 minutes - my husband, when he’s here, or my parents - but I hope they won’t mind too much.

---

The work day

I used to go for the ‘swallow the frog’ approach to the work day, where you get the boring tasks out the way first so that you can then get stuck into the work you really love doing.

But then a friend suggested starting with whatever brings you the most joy; prioritising yourself at the beginning of the day. It was revolutionary: the idea of choosing me - and my joy - first.

So now, I do whatever I feel most excited about and driven to do. Often, that’s writing an essay on Substack or a poem that I’ll share on Instagram. Sometimes, I’ll do my ‘morning pages’ (three pages, handwritten, free-flow).

I’ll then move onto the necessary but not-so-fun tasks. And I save the really boring work for the afternoon slump, when my inspiration has fallen away, my energy is low but I still have a bit of time to fill before collecting my kids at 3pm.

In the evenings

I’m in ‘mum mode’ from 3pm until the kids are in bed around 8.30pm. But I do run a hot bath and hop in for a few minutes - wash my face, sink down into water - before adding some cold water and bathing my three kids.

I often go to bed right after them and read a novel on my Kindle for anything between five minutes and an hour. Occasionally, I’ll message a friend instead and we’ll ‘talk’ through messages until one or other needs to go to sleep.

If there’s a good drama on telly, I’ll stay up and watch it. This happens about four or five times a year. I’d like it to happen every night, as I love dramas and always feel so inspired by them, but I also love sleep and knowing I’ve spent nine hours in bed.

I wake with the light, usually around 5.45am, and try to sneak downstairs before anyone else is up so that I can drink my coffee and gather my thoughts in peace. Sometimes I manage this, sometimes I don’t.

It’s not a very rock ‘n’ roll routine - quite the opposite - but it makes me feel good and means I can cope with my workload as a mother and writer. For both those roles, I need energy and focus. My routine helps me to achieve that.

---

Your daily routine

• What’s your morning routine?

• What could you add in, to boost your energy?

• How do you start the work day?

• What do you do during the afternoon slump (if you have one)?

• How do you spend your evenings?

• Is there anything else you’d like to be doing before bed?

Annie x

Want to read more essays like this? They are all over here.