The First Hour of Your Work Day

How do you spend the first hour of your work day? That’s the question Kevin Purdy asked this morning over at Fast Company, and he highlights a few answers that have been given from people like Steve Jobs and Craig Newmark, the founder of Cragislist. I basically do the opposite of some of the suggestions, for example, the idea that you should avoid checking email in the first hour, as Tumblr’s David Karp does.

My workday begins the moment I wake up, which is usually between the hours of 5 and 6 a.m. I use my phone as my alarm clock, so the minute I shut it off, I start skimming emails to see if there’s anything I need to address (apparently, a lot of you guys send emails in the middle of the night — what is keeping you up?).

I then spend a significant amount of time reading, which is how I ended up discovering Purdy’s Fast Company article. I find a lot of stuff to read by checking what people are sharing on Twitter and Tumblr, and also the New York Times wire feed for up-to-the-moment stuff.

If there’s not a lot of reading I have to do, I’ll go for a quick run in the park, and then hop in the shower, followed by a banana or english muffin for breakfast, and throwing together a quick sandwich to eat later in the office. On the subway to work, I’m responding to emails on the phone, and confirming appointments and phone calls I have for the day. Next is coffee. By the time I get to the office around 8 a.m., I already feel very accomplished and ready to start blogging.

How do you start your workday?

Photo: Sean MacEntee

Support The Billfold

The Billfold continues to exist thanks to support from our readers. Help us continue to do our work by making a monthly pledge on Patreon or a one-time-only contribution through PayPal.