The Jeff Bezos and Oprah Winfreys of this world didn’t make it to the top by following the pack, and the most successful men and women of our time have their fair share of unusual working habits. From faking a commute and meditating to doodling and pacing around, click or scroll through to see if there are any you want to add to your daily routine.
More of an early bird than a Sleeping Beauty, former Disney CEO and now Chairman Bob Iger, who had postponed his semi-retirement from the top job to guide the business through the COVID-19 pandemic, has strict rules when it comes to his daily routine. The media executive likes to process his own thoughts before tuning in to everybody else’s and refuses to look at his phone until after he’s finished his morning workout. Iger has referred to the habit as building his own "technology firewall".
You don’t have to be an early riser to be successful, as shown by co-founder of Reddit and self-professed night owl Alexis Ohanian (pictured here with his wife and tennis sensation Serena Williams). The entrepreneur and investor aims to be up and at ‘em by around 10am each day after working late into the evenings, and he’s not alone. Around a quarter of people are thought to work more effectively at night and research has shown that if you’re not a natural early bird, forcing yourself to wake up early can do more harm than good. Best hit that snooze button then.
Another person who doesn’t spring out of bed at the break of day is Sundar Pichai, the CEO of Alphabet, Google's parent company. The tech boss has found that a traditional start to the day is the best way for him to wake up, and despite heading up the world’s most-used search engine Pichai prefers to flick through "a physical paper", accompanied by a cup of hot tea.
Definitely not one to fall into the early bird category, Aaron Levie starts his day at 11am after working well into the night the day before, usually until around 2am. The CEO and co-founder of enterprise cloud company Box supplements his night owl body clock with a routine nap at 8pm. He dozes for about 25 minutes before cracking on with the rest of his day and there is plenty of research to suggest that power napping can be a step towards success. A quick snooze is said to boost problem-solving capabilities, enhance logical reasoning and generally leave you feeling more energised.
During trying times it can be difficult to find silver linings, but that’s exactly what Satya Nadella does each morning. The Microsoft CEO takes a couple of minutes out of his day to think about what he is thankful for, a habit that the tech expert says is grounding and helps him to start the day on a positive note. Nadella started practising the technique around five years ago, and it doesn’t seem to have served him badly at all – last year he was even named 'Person of the Year' by British newspaper the Financial Times.
This slither of advice became a viral sensation after Naval Admiral William McRaven (pictured here with Irish singer Bono and journalist Tina Brown) told an audience of graduates that if they wanted to change the world they should start by making their beds in the morning. The thinking behind the simple idea is that if you make your bed as soon as you get up you’ve already achieved something, which encourages you to continue to achieve as the day goes on. Three years after he first delivered the speech, the Navy SEAL released a book expanding on his original message and it became a New York Times number one bestseller.
The "Queen of All Media" and Harpo Productions founder is a strong believer in the power of transcendental meditation. Winfrey sets aside at least 20 minutes of her working day to engage in the practice and encourages her employees to do the same. She also claims not to believe in alarms, saying she wakes up naturally “usually between 6.02am and 6.20am”.
Meditation is a popular pastime of the rich and famous. Melinda French Gates is as well-known for her philanthropy as her ex-husband, and each morning she puts time aside for her own mindfulness. The sessions are a mix of meditation, yoga, and stretching, as well as a little spiritual reading to make sure she starts her day right.
We all find peace in our own ways, and for some sitting cross-legged deep in thought just doesn’t cut it. American TV producer, writer and director Shonda Rhimes, who has worked on hits such as Grey's Anatomy, prefers to bust a move or two to get herself geared up for the day. Her daily dance-parties-for-one see her throwing shapes to the likes of Beyoncé before she heads off to work.
Despite having a net worth of over $129 billion (£94bn), according to Forbes, there is one thing that Bill Gates is not rich in – time. The former chair of Microsoft is known for the meticulous scheduling of his day in order to get the most out of the hours he does have, breaking it down into five-minute increments. Each 300-second slot is accounted for, and it means that the business magnate can squeeze something productive out of every moment of every day.
Similar to Gates, LinkedIn's Executive Chairman Jeff Weiner likes to have everything scheduled, which includes scheduling in time to not follow a schedule. Each day Weiner plans for around 90 minutes of ‘buffer time’, where he can tie up any loose ends and just process what’s going on around him. Research has shown that our brains take in more data nowadays than they ever have before, and by consciously allocating time for our minds to chew everything over there’s a much better chance that information will be properly digested. This allows for better decision making and clearer thinking in general.
During the pandemic Eric Yuan has been thrown into the limelight, as the company that he founded back in 2011 – Zoom – has suddenly become a lifeline for the millions of people having to adjust to working from home. The entrepreneur has never prioritised business over his loved ones however, and he cites work-life balance as a key component to his success. Despite the international nature of his company, Yuan avoids travelling for work as much as possible. He instead prefers to spend that time with his kids – something a lot of parents will be getting accustomed to during these turbulent times.
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As half of what could arguably be described as one of the world’s most influential power couples, it makes sense that Michelle Obama has to schedule in family time to prevent the lines between work life and personal life becoming blurred. The author of one of the most successful memoirs of all time, Becoming, plans in her family commitments before anything else, saying that work will always take up all of your time if you let it.
A to-do list is a staple for most working people, but few organise their lists to the extent that Brian Chesky does. The Airbnb CEO recommends writing down every single thing you’re hoping to accomplish in a day, and then grouping similar tasks together. Once the tasks are bundled together into manageable chunks, Chesky suggests finding one solution for each group. Taking action on one problem can often have a knock-on effect on the others, which should leave you with fewer tasks to do.
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British entrepreneur Baroness Karren Brady advises having a tight handle on your incoming email by dividing everything into folders based on urgency as soon as it lands in your inbox. Another one of the Baroness's tips is to have all plans visualised to make sure you know who’s doing what and when – you might not have an executive whiteboard or professional pinboard at home, but anything from a piece of paper stuck to a wall or even the fridge will work as a space for mind-mapping.
Legendary investor Warren Buffett spends 80% of his working day either in deep thought or reading. The Berkshire Hathaway boss once said: “I insist on a lot of time being spent... to just sit and think… I read and think... and make less impulse decisions than most people in business.” While most of us don’t have time to sit and ponder all day, fitting in some time to contemplate here and there could be worth its salt, as author Tom Corley, who spent five years studying the habits of rich and poor people, found a distinct correlation between time spent reading and higher income.
Always eager to challenge himself in and outside of the workplace, Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg regularly sets himself new tasks and embraces them with gusto. Over the past few years, the social media boss has sworn to learn Chinese, run a mile every day and read a new book every fortnight. While nobody is saying you have to use this lockdown time to master a new skill, setting a couple of different goals can spice up the monotony that often comes with working from home. The tech entrepreneur is also a fan of wearing a work uniform – his daily go-to is a grey T-shirt and jeans.
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Whether you’re trying to win an Olympic gold medal or just get to the end of your (neatly prioritised) to-do list, a positive mindset can help you get there. The most decorated Olympic athlete of all time, Michael Phelps, was coached into taking the word ‘can’t’ out of his vocabulary, and the swimmer says it helped to broaden his outlook and break down mental barriers. With 28 gold medals to his name, you shouldn’t really argue with his logic.
As the author of multiple bestselling books on how to be more successful in everything you do – from executing your business ideas to spicing up your love life – it’s safe to say that Tim Ferriss has more than a few ideas for habits you can adopt to be more productive. One method that the work-life guru speaks highly of is taking time out of your day to journal. Ferriss says that spending as little as five to ten minutes writing out his thoughts allows him to be more focused and feel happier for the rest of the day.
Harry Potter author JK Rowling is the world’s highest-paid author but generally the more successful you are, the more susceptible you become to judgement, particularly from your own head. But the British author has a very low budget solution to fighting off any negative thoughts she has about her own work, and has been quoted as saying that the best antidote for any bad feelings she has about her work is a biscuit. If it’s good enough for the creator of Harry Potter, we’re more than happy to hit the biscuit tin when things get tough.
Hate meetings? So does Mark Cuban, Shark Tank star and owner of the Dallas Mavericks basketball team. Cuban considers the vast majority of meetings a waste of time and avoids them as much as possible, saying: "The only way you're going to get me for a meeting is if you're writing me a check.” So perhaps try to avoid scheduling a virtual meeting for something that can be communicated by email – you’ll be saving yourself and your colleagues a heap of time.
But if you can't avoid meetings, why not stick to the Jeff Bezos two-pizza rule? Sadly there’s no actual pizza involved, but the Amazon mogul makes sure that every meeting only includes the number of people who could be fed by two pizzas – any more than that and you’re unlikely to have a productive meeting, according to Bezos. He also likes to start his meetings with half an hour of silent contemplation of notes.
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We've all got that colleague who seems to be constantly on a health kick, and Square CEO Jack Dorsey is almost definitely ‘that person’ in the office. While you’d probably want to steer clear of most of Dorsey’s methods – taking ice baths, fasting, and only eating one meal per day would be a recipe for disaster for most – his workout routine is surprisingly palatable. The Twitter co-founder only exercises in bouts of seven minutes, and even though he does workout three times a day, 21 minutes of exercise sounds far less gruelling than the rest of his rigorous routine.
We’re all prone to spending too much time staring at our computer screens – even bestselling paperback seller Dan Brown. The thriller writer has an app on his computer that makes his screen go black once an hour, and he uses the time to step back from his work and do something physical, like push-ups or sit-ups. Experts recommend the 20-20-20 method to reduce strain on our eyes – every 20 minutes you should spend 20 seconds looking at an object that’s around 20 feet away (push-ups and sit-ups are optional).
Owning what's arguably the most famous right foot in the UK, it’s unsurprising that sporting legend David Beckham is keen to keep in good condition even though his professional football career is behind him. What might be less obvious is that yoga is one of his physical activities of choice, and he’s taught by personal trainer to the stars, Shona Vertue. The trainer says that as little as 10 minutes’ practice a day can have a positive impact on your mental and physical health, and if it works for David Beckham it might be worth rolling out the yoga mat.
Although many successful CEOs will mull over ideas while sitting comfortably at their desks, Virgin boss Richard Branson likes to walk around to get creative. Branson's way of working is actually backed up by science. A study conducted by Stanford University researchers in 2014 found that people's creative output increased by 60% when they were walking, and while most of us have to limit how much walking we’re doing outside of the house during the coronavirus pandemic, there’s nothing stopping you from plodding around the house when you need to rack your brains.
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Another person who puts stock in her steps is Elizabeth Warren. The politician and lawyer literally takes her work in her stride, and studies have shown that going for a stroll is a great was to improve your creativity and free up ideas. If she’s not thinking about work, Warren is said to enjoy listening to fiction as she walks, and last year her steps totted up to around 6.6 miles a daily. This falls around the 10,000 steps a day mark, which is recommended by most health professionals.
Arianna Huffington's advice is a refreshing break away from workaholic culture. Unlike many CEOs including Indra Nooyi, Marissa Mayer and Richard Branson, who all swear by just four to five hours' sleep a night, the former Huffington Post editor always makes sure she gets at least eight hours. It might seem a luxury, but the media magnate changed her habits after collapsing from overwork and exhaustion back in 2007, and now she couldn't be a bigger advocate for getting enough shut-eye. She's even put nap rooms in offices to encourage employees to slumber, so Aaron Levie would fit right in.
We’re not quite sure who expressed this sentiment first, Tina Fey or Dory the fish, but there’s a lot to be said for just powering through. The actress and comedian was talking about being a working mother when she said that, even when things seem impossible, if you just keep going – whether that’s at the lightning speed of a CEO doing a workout or at the more leisurely pace of somebody who wakes up at 11am – you will eventually get to the end of what you’re trying to achieve. And at the end of it you’ll realise you’ve achieved what you thought was impossible, no matter how tough it seemed when you started out.
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