After 40 episodes of Millennial Masters, for every early riser I’ve interviewed, there’s another founder admitting their most productive hour is… whenever the world leaves them alone.
I’ve already exposed their real secret weapon: the calendar (and the to-do list for ammunition). I’ve also made the (scientific) case that sleep is a founder’s true superpower: treat it like your business depends on it.
But there’s one window that keeps coming up: the first hour. Whether you love mornings or, like me, feel most alive after midnight, what you do with that early time sets the pace.
So I’ve pulled together the best advice and honest routines from entrepreneurs who’ve shared what works for them.
I’m not a morning person. Most of my ideas turn up long after everyone else has switched off. I’m not alone. Plenty of founders say their brain only wakes up at night, often once the kids are asleep.
If you get your eight hours and build a morning routine you can stick to, you’re in a good place.
Here are five routines worth stealing from founders who know how to start strong. 👇🏻
How top founders really spend their first hour
These are the routines founders treat as non-negotiable, pulled from their own words, plus a few you can try.
1️⃣ Skip snooze and move
If you want a better morning, start moving.
For Amy Morris, 6–9am is sacred: gym, long walk, podcast, then another walk with her husband, ideas always flowing, shoes always moving.
Jack Good runs at 5am, “like a madman in the dark,” just to prove any problem at work is already beaten before the day begins.
Jordan Stachini is in the gym for 5:15 sharp, living proof that relentless routine can set the whole day up.
Ryan Carruthers and Lydia Snape both get their momentum from early gym sessions: lifting, running, or anything that signals the day is theirs.
Tom Hutchinson-Smith is religious about morning training for founders (“get it done before distractions hit”).
And Archie Mackintosh goes for sunlight, not screens, first thing—balcony, jog, sometimes just a cold shower to “really wake up.”
2️⃣ Mute the world for an hour
A lot of founders try not to start the day scrolling.
Nick Telson takes an hour-long walk without glancing at his phone. “If you wake up, you look at your phone, you look at your Slack messages and you look at emails, you’re on straight away. And it’s just not a great way to start the day.”
Lexie Kirkconnell-Kawana keeps mornings sacred: no phone, just meditation and focus.
Stefan Husanu turns his commute into a distraction-free zone: no calls, no music, just his own breathing and the day ahead.
3️⃣ Clear head before input
A lot of founders give their mind some space before work begins.
Gemma Price is up at 5am to meditate and journal “every day without fail,” sometimes beating her child out of bed just to make space.
Lydia Snape checks in with herself, mentally and physically, before any work begins.
4️⃣ Stop the day taking over
Morning works best when it’s calm.
William Stokes blocks out his whole week on Sunday, protects mornings for deep work, and pushes meetings into less-productive afternoons.
Michael Buckworth rewrites his to-do list at 6am, scans emails for priorities, and starts from a written plan.
Jordan Stachini puts everything, even errands, into her calendar, hour by hour.
Jack Good updates his list before anyone else is up.
Ryan Carruthers carves out time for deep thinking when the house is quiet and the kids are at nursery.
5️⃣ Start with the hardest thing
Start with the thing you’re dreading most.
Thibault Louis-Lucas skips the inbox and DMs, grabs his coffee, and dives straight into the hardest (coding) task of the day: no distractions, no delay. That first win changes everything.
Routine beats motivation
Nobody wakes up raring to go every morning. The difference is routine.
You won’t find the perfect morning here. Just the routines that stop the day running away with you.
Steal one, remix two, or ignore them all.
But stop waiting for motivation: just show up on autopilot, and let the routine carry you forward.
The rest of your day will thank you. 💪🏻
As part of my morning routine, I set up my home office and ease into the day. After stretching and sipping my coffee, I settle in. When I sit at my desk, something shifts and that is work mode. That’s the boundary between home life and focus. The moment I take my seat, I’m no longer in the house, I’m at work.
I need snooze button 💤