#3 Perfect Ways for Entrepreneurs to Start Their Day Your routine needs to fit your situation and other social conditions

The mornings of Howard Schultz, the man in charge of Starbucks, is all about coffee. He gets up around 4:30 am to walk his three dogs. Coming back, he prepares coffee, coarse grind of Aged Sumatra, for himself and his wife by 5:45 am. Work starts after that.

Steve Jobs did one simple thing every morning. He would go to the mirror, and ask: "If today was the last day of my life, would I be happy with what I'm about to do today?" If the answer was no too often, he would know that it was time to change things.

Tech billionaire Bill Gates, the Co-founder of Microsoft and one of the world's richest men, starts his mornings with exercise of the mind and body. While spending an hour on the treadmill, he also watches instructional videos ensuring that all parts of his health are taken care of.

Your Routine should Fit Your Situation

Morning rituals are very individual and special. It often takes time, trialling, and meticulousness to discover what is ideal for you. Your routine needs to fit your situation and other social conditions. While many like to start their day checking their inbox, others stay away from it like the plague.

Entrepreneur India got in touch with established entrepreneurs and industry experts to know how they initiate their days and why. Exclusive interviews with Subir Dutta, Director of BKR International and President of Eastern Chamber of Commerce; Debasish Dutta, Director of Orange Corp and Arnab Roy, Director of Sales of VEDROOP, revealed a lot on the importance of morning rituals.

Importance of Morning Rituals

According to Subir, morning customs are known to prepare the human minds for their respective work schedules. "Carefully crafted morning customs build healthy habits and get you in the mood to do your best work. Such habits induce will power and energy into your system that will sustain you throughout a demanding day," he shared.

He starts with workouts, which is followed by answering email and catching up on social media networks (Twitter and Google+ are his primaries). He drives to work and starts the first set of meetings between 10:30-11am. "The half-an-hour drive to work is a good exercise and at the same time a nice way to clear my head," he pointed out.

"Being alone for a while in the morning and able to concentrate on myself – exercise, introversion, and checking on the digital profile – make a huge difference for me. I get extremely perturbed if I don't get that opportunity," he added. Subir feels that people need to find their own happiness and what works for them in the morning. He advises against listening to what others recommend as the "right way" or "only way" to do it.

Most of the days, things are simple for Debasish: wake up, take a shower, have a bowl of oat meal, make a cup of his favourite Darjeeling tea, and head over to his work station. There's hardly anything unique about his morning routine, but he does find that consistency super essential. "There are times when the routine gets upset. An untimely ring of the phone waking me up to a problem that needs immediate attention sets the tone for the entire day. My level of productivity and my mood are both impacted," he said.

His single piece of advice is to commit to follow the morning routine every single day. "Starting the day with a sense of control over life, helps in making the rest of your day a lot easy, it helps you stay calm and gives a sense of control when things don't go as planned," he opined.

Every morning Arnab wakes up early without an alarm. He takes his breakfast and goes for a walk with his dogs. Even during winter he doesn't put on a jacket as the cold air rejuvenates him.

"Once inside, I follow some basic movement and stretching routine. This helps in raising the blood flow to the brain and also eases the joints. I get irritated if I'm out of town and can't do it for some days. This morning custom helps me in remaining purposeful and productive for the rest of the working hours," he elaborated.

Arnab advised against starting the day by checking emails or voicemails. He advocated finding a routine that fills you with vivacity and energy before you hit the day.