Book Review 8/200 - 4/5 - ‘What the Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast', Laura Vanderkam - Non-Fiction - Mornings/Habits/Productivity

"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.