What the Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast: And Two Other Short Guides to Achieving More at Work and at Home

by Laura Vanderkam

Three powerful mini e-books about high productivity, now together in paperback
 
Laura Vanderkam has combined her three popular mini e-books into one comprehensive guide, with a new introduction. It will help readers build habits that lead to happier, more productive lives, despite the pressures of their busy schedules. Trough interviews and anecdotes, she reveals . . .

Genres: Nonfiction, Self Help, Productivity, Business, Personal Development, Audiobook, Psychology

192 pages, Paperback

Published August 27, 2013

About the author

Laura Vanderkam is the author of several time management and productivity books, including:
The New Corner Office
Off the Clock
I Know How She Does It
What the Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast
168 Hours

Laura is also the author of a time management fable, Juliet’s School of Possibilities and another novel, The Cortlandt Boys, which is available as an ebook.

Her 2016 TED talk, "How to Gain Control of Your Free Time," has been viewed more than 5 million times.

She regularly appears in publications including the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Fast Company, and Fortune.

She is the host of two weekly podcasts, Before Breakfast and The New Corner Office and she is the co-host, with Sarah Hart-Unger, of the weekly podcast Best of Both Worlds.

She lives outside Philadelphia with her husband and five children, and blogs at LauraVanderkam.com.

Reviews

[Kristen Lemaster · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is another book, in reference to Lean In, which reads more like an extended thesis than an actual self-help book, but that doesn't discredit the effort and intentional thinking that went into its creation. The first and third sections are interesting although nothing revolutionary; in fact, Eric teased me for expecting the answer to "what do the most successful people do before breakfast?" to be anything besides "wake up super early." The middle section, however, is the game changer. I love the idea of making the most of our weekends, a time that can easily fluctuate between being overwhelming and being underwhelming. Vanderkam suggests keeping a list of 100 Dreams (which I instantly started) and using it as a more realistic, local, attainable form of a bucket list in order to create concrete plans for the weekend that are reliably fun while still being refreshing and revitalizing. I knew right away that this would be one of those life-changing concepts, as was the impossible list, and I'm so excited to start keeping 100 dreams for every new place I find myself, from Athens this spring to Argentina this summer to anywhere I end up over the next year!

[مروة الجزائري · Rating 4 out of 5]

-Ironically I've read this book late at night-
DON'T JUDGE ME OKAY?

This was a big hit in time management self help books. Straight forward and doesn't beat around the bushes.

To be honest I have my time managed very well but i still improve myself reading articles. This book although some of it sounds ideal but if you read it keeping in mind to be flexible. You will end up benefiting a lot from it.

The main idea of this book is to use your mornings wisely and more productive wise.

By waking up earlier than usual ( let's say one or two hours before your usual wake up time). And use this extra time for yourself regardless the activity ( you can use it to pray or meditate, you can enhance your career by reading useful articles and books, you can exercise , do yoga or even dance if you like, you can do your hobby ( or build one) whatever it is, and also you can make it a family time.

All those things mentioned above will be as a bonus to your normal day routine and will make your day less clattering and your mood much more cool.

And in order for you to get up early, you need to go to bed earlier than usual and you can do that by using gradual process ( 15 mins every day, 30 mins , 1 hour... ) until you reach your target. Keeping in mind that there is always time to do things we normally stay late at night to do them. So no need for us to stress ourselves about them.

This is a short summery of this useful book. Which was written smoothly using some successful people's life as example.

To be honest I am an awel and normally take 2 to 3 hours for myself late at night to read because of my kids and other responsibilities but after reading this book I will shift those hours to be early morning and get my health as a reward.

What your brain focuses on becomes your relaity.

Small rituals can achieve great things.

Finally, I highly recommend this book to everyone who is looking for time management solutions.

[Rachel (TheShadesofOrange) · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.0 Stars
This was too short, but it had a few good suggestions about utilizing the early hours of the day.

[Heidi Wiechert · Rating 3 out of 5]

What the Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast was helpful but not as earth shattering as The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up (which if you haven't read yet, I very highly recommend). I've already discovered that if I tackle the projects that take the most amount of focus earlier in the day, it generally flows a lot more smoothly than if I wait to do it until the afternoon. I suppose that if I got up earlier that I could do more but I don't think that this will encourage me to start getting up at 5am. I really do love to sleep in...

My big takeaway from What the Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast was to plan to have fun like I plan to do work. I juggle my responsibilities pretty well because I map out when certain things need to be done to have the operation that is my life run smoothly. What I don't do well is maximizing my free time on the weekends that I have off or to make the most of my open days during the week. Laura Vanderkam convinced me that I can do better. I may start my 100 Dreams List tomorrow. But not before 8am. And probably not until I get my other stuff done. :) You see my problem?

[Janssen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great book to read as the new year kicked off and I always like Laura Vanderkam.

[7jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite useful... the 'breakfast' part concentrates on the benefits of being an early bird, which can mean more me-time: to strategise and focus on work, to spend more time with family and to take care of oneself (exercise, spiritual, creatively). The 'weekend' part concentrates on how to spend weekends productively and making good memories. The 'work' part concentrates on tips how to make work easier and more fun (though not all tips fit all work types).

The 'work' part was the least useful for me, the 'breakfast' part could be the most inspiring. Also I got good motivation on how to change one's weekly schedule to be the most satisfying kind. The book is a pretty quick read and not too heavy, nor did I feel like I was pushed to do something I didn't want to (though the point about leaving chores mostly to workdays is crazy, in my opinion, but tastes vary anyway). The 'weekend' part's tip of making a list of things one wants to do is a really great idea, planning to do that soon.

A very good, inspiring read.

[Christine (Tina) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some insightful stuff, however, Vanderkamp caters her suggestions to the upper middle class. Additionally, I listened to this as an audiobook. The author should NOT be the reader for her book!

[NV · Rating 2 out of 5]

Narrow perspective, but at least it's short.

[Cinthya Yuanita · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is divided into four sections. It’s not only about what the most successful people do before breakfast, as written on the title. Laura Vanderkam also shows us how to maximize the productivity on the weekend and at workplace.

It’s such a cracking book for the nocturnal creature (like me). I’m not a morning person. Well, I used to hate morning, by the way. Then I guess this book is very enlightening. Laura teaches me to manage my morning much much better, which is automatically, (hopefully) will manage my day better.

At beginning, I really praise the script for its brilliant idea. I constantly struggle with super-long to-do-lists, but end up with doing nothing. Then the writer passes on another point of view about the importance of practice in achieving successful time management. She’s not only presenting some tips, but also combining it with some stories about fascinating people. Unfortunately, she dies to preserve the rhythm. The book is getting dull when it gets to the third section.

Whatsoever, after reading this book, I try to enjoy what morning gives. It’s obviously hard, as Laura said, “Willpower, like a muscle, becomes fatigued from overuse.”

But whenever I’m tired with all of this habits building thingy, I always recall that “Time, not as money or any other things in this world, is absolutely limited!”

So … dare to make over your mornings? Dare to make over your life?

[Megan · Rating 2 out of 5]

For the first couple of chapters I felt like this book was certainly entertaining and slightly informative. After 40 pages or so, it became clear that it was a monotonous read that I found to be only minimally informative. Have kids? Get a babysitter! (Don't worry about being a parent...) Run a business? Hire someone to do what you don't want.

Not the worst book I have ever read, but not one that I personally loved. In a world where blogging is so popular, I didn't feel that this book offered anything that I couldn't find on a popular self-improvement blog.

[Hà My · Rating 3 out of 5]

Một quyển nữa bình mới rượu cũ, đọc cái đề mục thôi cũng biết được chưong đó nói vấn đề gì.
Chủ yếu là tập trung nói về việc dậy sớm để tận dụng năng lượng tích cực, lên kế hoạch, theo dõi sát sao để biết được thời gian bị lãng phí ở đâu, giảm các đầu việc không cần thiết. 3/5 sao.

[Lex · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting to hear what successful people do with there mornings but nothing groundbreaking. It's kind of obvious to get more done in your day to wake up earlier and use your time productively. It's short and a good motivational speech though.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quick read that talked about prioritizing the things that need to get done, or the things that you want in your life. For most successful people, early mornings involve some exercise and a spiritual aspect. I want to begin a more intentional morning routine, so I enjoyed this book.

[Christina Pilkington · Rating 3 out of 5]

I always get in the mood to read a time management type book right before the New Year, and since I've read a few other of Vanderkam's books before, I decided to give this one a try.

There were some nice tips and ideas, but more than anything I walked away encouraged that I already do most of the things she's suggested! The only thing I'd like to improve on even more is having a better habit of going to sleep the same time at night and having a more consistent waking up time.

If you are a time management literature connoisseur, I don't think you'll find anything new here, especially if you're already a fan of weekly reviews and having a weekly view of your time. But it's encouraging and helpful as a review :)

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Anthony Trollope once said, "A habit has the force of the water drop that hollows the stone. A small daily task, if it be really daily, will beat the labors of a spasmodic Hercules" (33). That's essentially the philosophy of Vanderkam's main idea: manage increments of time well, repeatedly, and you can accomplish great things. This is the second Vanderkam book I've read (168 Hours was the first). A wonderful feature of this smaller book is her section on What the Most Successful People Do On the Weekend. Because weekends typically have less structure, her idea about "keep a tech Sabbath" and setting "Anchors" to break the weekend into "weekend spots" is helpful for accomplishing more:

Friday Night
Saturday Day
Saturday Night
Sunday Day
Sunday Night

All in all, we have more time than we think and we waste more time than we think. The honest truth (though it may hurt) is "If you have time to watch TV, you have time to read. If you have time to watch TV, you have time to exercise. If you have time to watch TV, you have time to get reacquainted with whatever hobbies you ditched when you decided life was too busy" (165). Apparently, the most successful people in the world don't watch much TV.

[Sonia Mallet · Rating 5 out of 5]

Utterly impressed!

I've been trying to rehaul me routine/schedule, but was having trouble doing so. It's not that I didn't know what to do, I didn't know how. Or what to do first. One of the biggest reasons the important tasks did not get done is that I accomplished the day-to-day chores or activities during my peak energy times, and had no energy left for anything else.

Everything explained in this book is very easily actionable. Getting quick wins lead to big wins!

Very little of what Laura wrote was new to me, but the way she presents it transformed my knowledge into action. For instance, go grocery shopping in the evening, when I'm tired, not early in the morning when I'm full of energy. And planning for the weekend does help you get more out of it: more rest, more satisfaction, more accomplishments.

[Lilly Minasyan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had this book in an audiobook format and listened to it during my morning run. I felt extra motivated than I anticipated.
The book itself is short and to the point. I love self-help books that aren’t beating around the bush. I liked that Laura talked about that the first few days are the easy ones and then your willpower slowly goes down and it is crucial to form habits and habits take a while to form. “Choose one new habit at a time to introduce. ” And definitely concentrating on one goal at a time helps. I think this is where I suck. I take lots of things to do and then I feel more overwhelmed than motivated. I’m going to take a one step at a time.

“Ultimately the amazing thing about mornings—they always feel like a new chance to do things right. ”
I want to be that person who wakes up at 5am without hitting the snooze and I’ll read as many books as possible to achieve my goal.

[Leslie · Rating 2 out of 5]

The best thing I get from Laura Vanderkam is that we all have more time than we think we have, and we use it the way we want to (whether we admit it or not). Vanderkam relies on interviews, time logs, and anecdotes for her guides, so in that way, it has a very different vibe than Power of Habit, which is more evidence-based. Written as 3 short ebooks, they read that way. I don't think I gleaned any specific new tricks from this book, but if you're new to productivity hacks and time management, I would recommend it as a starting place.

[Heidi Goehmann · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a pleasant useful little read on three components to consider for your morning routine. A little bit of research, a little bit of annecdote made this read fun. The three components she brings forward to consider I have found true in my own life and I like the flexibility of the results rather than a "do this" guide.

[Catherine · Rating 2 out of 5]

This very short read didn't contain anything I hadn't read before. No surprise here. But I was hoping for a new slant, an inspirational tone, but it was not to be for me. That doesn't mean it wouldn't be for someone else.

[Shelby Leavitt · Rating 3 out of 5]

I listened to the audio of this book because it was one hour and I need to fill time on an airplane. There were some good tips and fun stories but nothing life changing.

[Bethany · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nothing revolutionary here. Probably written for the clueless.

[Amber · Rating 3 out of 5]

•What the Most Successful People Do at Work—to accomplish more in less time.


I read this so you won't have to! Just kidding. I was on a big self-help kick towards the end of last year and it petered out. I finally finished this a few weeks ago. Everyone is going to get something different out of this collection. I put post-its on items I wanted to remember.

From What the Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast... minimize the have-to-dos. The key thing with chores and weekends is not to focus so much on easily seen and measured goals, such as scratching everything off the grocery list, that you divert energy from your highest value projects: nurturing your relationships, nurturing your career, nurturing yourself.

One way to do this is to set aside time for small chores. You feel less guilty about not doing something right then because you know you'll do it during the small chore time.

Schedule in hours for top work priorities like strategic thinking or creative work. This makes these priorities seem like a commitment. Do the same for leisure activities. If it's written down it's more likely to get done.

Schedule something fun or meaningful for Sunday night. It stretches out the weekend and gives you a good way to start off the week. This really hit home because so many people I know hate having something scheduled for Sunday; they want to set aside the entire day to gear up for the next week. To me that's wasting an entire day being mopey.

From What the Most Successful People Do at Work one of the hardest things for me to do is to increase my capital with others. Your next opportunity can come from an unexpected place. For example, I told one friend I would want to volunteer for events at a mutual friend's business. The next day I was helping Simon Mujamdar with a cooking demo.

Create a log for a week or so to find out what can be eliminated or cut down. This is one of the first things to do in the weeks leading up to NaNoWriMo. It can show a better time to do a task. For example, taking a walk around the block or building every 45 minutes instead of working in 2 hour blocks is great! When powering through I can get restless. But taking a short walking break is refreshing. It clears the mind and lets me get in some steps.

The appendix includes 50 time management tips. A lot of these I can get behind such as: take naps, work from home a day or two a week, lower your housekeeping standards, and if you plan something fun go ahead and do it (even if you're tired).

[Cullen Haynes · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Instead of saying 'I don't have time', try saying 'it's not a priority and see how that feels" - Laura Vanderkam

For many of us in today's world of hustle and bustle, mornings are a madcap time for many of us. We often wake up in a daze - often reaching for the snooze swipe on our phone, "just five more minutes" we tell ourselves. Then, we make a frenetic rush around, going hither and thither to get out the door so we can officially start the day. Sound familiar?
Before we know it, the precious morning hours have slipped by without us accomplishing really anything of substance, before downing a cup of coffee and dashing off a few filler emails, and then going out for some more coffee with our colleagues. We're 'busy' today huh?

By the time our actual work day wraps up, we feel utterly exhausted and defeated and any motivation to accomplish anything worthwhile (those Q2 activities Stephen Covey talks about - Important/Non-Urgent) has slipped us by.

Enter time management expert Laura Vanderkam, who believes that it's mornings that hold the key to really take control of our schedules and our lives. That is, if we learn to use them wisely, we can eventually build positive habits that will allows us to lead more productive and happier lives.

In her book, she is able to draw on scientific research and real-life anecdotes and scientific research that shows why the early hours of the day are really so vital to us. She shows us how to really utilise our mornings to accomplish things that we know will get crowded out by the end of the day.
While many of us are still in bed, there are individuals who are scoring daily victories to improve their careers, personal lives and health without sacrificing their sanity.
For instance, did you know PepsoCo CEO and Chairman Steve Reinemund would rise at 5am to run for 4 miles, pray, eat breakfast with his family (No Pepsi) and then head to work to run a fortune 500 company.

What most Successful People Do Before Breakfast, is an engaging little read I'd recommend anyone wanting to rethink their mornings and live a more inspired life with a morning routine and jump-start before the day has even begun.

#Books #ReaderLeaders #Reading #Mornings #SelfEnrichment #RisingEarly

[z · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love Laura Vanderkam. I have read quite a few of her books. She includes a lot of research in her books, so I find them entertaining to read. This book isn't as groundbreaking as some of her other books, but I did get some great tips about how I can make the most of my life. For example, get home late and miss out on time with your young kids? Make family breakfast the regular meal to connect.

If you haven't read any of Laura Vanderkam's books, I'd recommend "I know how she does it" to read first. The concept of looking at our lives like mosaics (blocks of time that fit together) has reframed how I view my life. I used to fret for hours before it was time to leave for work or something else important. Now, I set an alarm for when I need to start getting ready and it's given me time to relax, be in the moment, and make the best use of the time leading up.

Note: This book is a printed compilation of three different eBooks: What the most successful people do... before breakfast, on the weekend, and at work. If you are purely interested in the "Before Breakfast" version, I'd recommend getting the eBook version, as it's cheaper.

[Alberto Lopez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very short but interesting nonetheless. Note that it is not the best researched book. In fact, it feels as if it was written to satisfy a writing commitment by the author. In any case, it still addresses something I feel is essential. There is nothing like starting the day with a clear mind of what's important to accomplish and what's not. It's all about knowing what the "A" priorities are. "B" and "C" tasks should be identifies as less important. So, the mindless activity of checking the e-mail inbox as soon as one arrives to the office is to be left for after the important stuff gets done. Besides, reading e-mails is both, reactionary and a good way to let others control our day. Think of it. We are in trouble if we are to leave the responsibility of what to do and when to third parties sending us e-mails. Because of its short length, this is a perfect book for those just starting.

[Ashley · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some good thoughts on time management and general encouragement that, essentially, there is time if you make time.

However - and this is partially my own fault for not reading the description closely enough before getting the kindle version - it was SUPER short. I was expecting a lot of interesting info about how famous writers, artists, thinkers, politicians, etc (both contemporary and historical) structure their morning time. And there was a tiny bit of that....but mostly seemed like a small handful of CEO types the author was able to get on her interview schedule.

Also since I currently get up 3-6 times every single night and am woken up for the day by 6am, this is obviously just the wrong book for this season of life.

[Janine · Rating 2 out of 5]

It started so good. I read the first chapter and I was already recomending it to friends. Then, all of the sudden, the "morning" topic dissapeared. The book turned into a rendition of the other book she wrote (168 hours) and about things I am personaly not interested in. The conclusions and recomendations of the book I also enjoyed.

I understand this book was made from publications of her blog, but even though, the title is so wrong, missleading... If you are expecting to read a book that talks about morning motivation and organisation, THIS BOOK IS NOT FOR YOU. If you want to know stuff in general about successfull people, then maybe it is. Unfortunately, the "other stuff" was awfully boring to me (sorry!!)

[Chelsea · Rating 3 out of 5]

My key takeaways from this were:
*Schedule your weekends/leisure time in advance so you don't waste time trying to think of things to do (have "anchor" events/activities planned)
*willpower decreases as the day goes on - people who want to workout should probably do it in the mornings
*protect your productive hours - don't schedule meetings in the mornings if you are most productive in the mornings
*schedule meetings back to back to minimize awkward transition breaks
*if working on the weekends, schedule delivery of emails for Monday morning so people don't read and assume a response is required on the weekend

[Roy · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book is a rather short collection of essays on examining and planning how we spend our time in order to create more productive habits and routines that balance our work and personal life. Although no earth-shattering concepts are presented here, the author offers a number of concrete, lively examples of the book's key principles. I also find the part about deliberately scheduling weekend plans rather informative. Joyful, memorable weekends don't just happen by chance. If spent well, weekends can not only help us decompress, but also rejuvenate us and set us up for a good head start into the coming week. Overall, the book is quite an easy, enjoyable read.