It would not be much of a surprise if you were told that great technology entrepreneurs work hard, right? Because of this day-to-day insanity and never giving up, the routine of these billionaires can be very different from that of a person with a common job and is even considered extremely bizarre.
The part of the routine that catches the eye is the morning, as soon as they wake up. Extreme morning rituals have become the hallmark of these technology executives, ranging from dawn meetings to ice baths.
In an interview with Wired, Monzo’s chief executive Tom Blomfield says he does not agree with these rituals and calls them absurd. “I usually get up after 8 am, I love sleeping. I read these things and I feel inferior for about a second until I realize that it’s all bullshit,” the executive said.
If you’re curious to know what he’s talking about, check out the morning rituals of these technology giants:
Jack Dorsey (Twitter)
The founder of Twitter does not usually eat breakfast, or eat anything as soon as he wakes up. Dorsey believes that meditation is the best solution for his mental health, and this involves large periods of fasting on the weekends so that he has focus and more energy.
For the executive, skipping breakfast and lunch makes his day much more productive, while at dinner he prefers a lighter meal with meat or fish accompanied with green vegetables or a good salad. For dessert, he opts for fruit or bitter chocolate.
Jack Dorsey used to take long walks from his home to the Twitter office on a five-mile walk after waking up at five in the morning. But now his routine is different: he bets on an intense exercise routine called HIIT, which consists of alternating cardiovascular activities with intense aerobics and short recovery intervals.
After all this, Dorsey bet on 15-minute baths in a barrel sauna, then taking a nice shower of ice cream for two minutes. This process is repeated three times.
Tim Cook (Apple)
If you thought Jack Dorsey’s routine is intense, get ready to discover that of Tim Cook, CEO of Apple. It all starts at 3:45 in the morning. The first activity is to spend an hour checking your emails, about 700-800 per day, and reading company product reviews.
After that, he goes to the gym and does a series of exercises to control his stress. So, “finally,” it’s time to actually start working.
Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook)
The founder and CEO of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, has said in an interview that can not turn off, because he thinks the company even when not in the office. So the first thing Zuck does when he wakes up is to check his accounts on social networks.
Unlike Dorsey, he does not wake up while it’s still night, but at 8am. However, as soon as he gets his feet off the bed, he starts to work, getting up to 60 hours a week. In “free” time, he learns new languages and reads books.
Jeff Bezos (Amazon)
The routine of the CEO of Amazon, Jeff Bezos, is more quiet compared to the previous ones. The executive does not give up sleeping eight hours a night, which is within the recommended. “I think better, I have more energy, my mood improves,” says Bezos about the practice.
The first meeting of the company does not happen before 10 a.m. in the morning. According to the executive, this is the time when he is in his best condition. Before leaving home, he likes to relax by having breakfast with his children and reading the newspaper.
“If you’re not getting enough sleep or taking care of yourself, the quality of the decisions can be worse because you’re angry, tired or with lots of other things,” says Bezos.
What do you think of these routines? Do you agree more with the complexity of Jack Dorsey or with the simplicity of Jeff Bezos?