An inspiring article by Genevieve Fish:
Morning time is precious time, those few brief moments before the outside world bleeds noise into your day. Building a routine that gives you a calm, efficient, and fulfilling morning can take some serious trial and error. If you haven’t nailed down your own productivity-inducing routine yet, don’t fret. We’ve rounded up the morning routines of 10 successful women from different industries to inspire your mornings. All of the women mentioned below have figured out how to make family, exercise, and “me” time priorities in their first waking hours.
Arianna Huffington, Editor in Chief, AOL Huffington Post Media Group

Photo:Peter Yang for Wired UK
First Thing: Practices yoga and meditation.
Routine: “A big part of my morning ritual is about what I don’t do: When I wake up, I don’t start the day by looking at my smartphone. Instead, once I’m awake, I take a minute to breathe deeply, be grateful, and set my intention for the day.” Huffington radiates positive energy and has been setting the pace for the digital media industry for the last decade, so we think she’s a great woman to emulate.
Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Model, Actress, and Entrepreneur

First Thing: Has cuddle time with her action star boyfriend, Jason Statham.
Routine: By mid-morning Huntington-Whiteley has already walked her miniature dachshunds, made breakfast (a “preferably Paleo” meal), spritzed herself with perfume, and endured a major sweat session. “I’m addicted to Body by Simone and Ballet Bodies in L.A.,” the lithe blonde told Harper’s Bazaar. By the time most of us settle into our office chairs, Huntington-Whiteley has already sipped her green juice, replied to emails, and had her hair and makeup done for the day’s shoot. The one non-superwoman morning ritual we can get on board with? Coffee. “I’m totally useless without coffee,” the model admits.
Payal Kadakia, CEO and Founder, ClassPass

Photo:Dustin Drankoski
First Thing: Checks her smartphone.
Routine: As a fitness maven, Kadakia unsurprisingly loves to get her workout in early. Instead of reaching for a cup of coffee, she goes for a 30-minute run or—if really pressed for time—squeezes in a 10-minute core workout at home. So we guess feeling “too tired” to exercise is not a legitimate excuse in Kadakia’s world. Her longest-lasting morning activity: stopping by Starbucks for a Venti citrus green tea. “It’s been a part of my routine for over 10 years!” the innovator recently said.
Michelle Kohanzo, Managing Director, The Land of Nod

Photo:Julia Stotz
First Thing: Makes wardrobe decisions.
Routine: Kohanzo’s morning routine has been masterfully edited down to a mere 30 minutes: “just enough time to get dressed and drink as much coffee as possible,” she told Women Who Work.
Anna Wintour, Vogue Editor in Chief and Condé Nast Artistic Director

Photo:via Splash News
First Thing: Plays tennis.
Routine: Every morning at 5:45 a.m., Anna Wintour arrives at New York’s Midtown Tennis Club for one hour of tennis. The arbiter of taste might run into other tennis playing fashion stars, like Hilary Rhoda or Sean Avery. Then it’s a quick primping process at home before the editor in chief goes to her office at One World Trade Center to take an endless set of meetings. Long meetings are “anything that runs over seven minutes,” according to The September Issue’s director, R.J. Cutler.
Isabel Marant, Fashion Designer

First Thing: Has a cup of tea.
Routine: After donning her uniform—flat shoes, a tight pair of jeans, a cashmere sweater, and a jacket—Marant drives her scooter to the pool in St.-Germain for a set of 35 laps. “I need this to breathe and to handle my stressful days. It’s a pool from the beginning of the last century,” the designer toldHarper’s Bazaar. I love that you get your own cabin, so you don’t have to go into a locker room.” After showering in her cabin, Marant stops by a juice bar for a carrot-and-ginger concoction on her way to the office. Once at the office, Marant has her coffee. “I have a black coffee—American style, not espresso… It’s not very French.”
Gwyneth Paltrow, Actress and Goop Founder

Photo:Mario Testino for Vogue
First Thing: Drinks warm water with lemon.
Routine: After the kids are dressed, fed, dropped off at school, and even read to, the Oscar-winning lifestyle guru takes an hour for responding to work emails before exercising from 10 a.m. to noon. Yes, that’s a two-hour dailyTracy Anderson Method workout.
Katherine Power, Co-Founder and CEO, Clique Media

Photo:Justin Coit
First Thing: Exercises.
Routine: “Exercise wakes me up and gets my juices flowing. I get my best ideas working out or on a drive back from the gym to the house,” Power tells Selfguest editor and Honest Company CEO Jessica Alba. Post-workout breakfast usually consists of “one egg on a piece of toast and some avocado.” Power puts her sweat session ideas to action immediately. “Well I obsess on them the whole class. And then I got to my car and I open my Notes on my phone and I either type it or make a call to somebody who will listen to me at 7 in the morning.”
Juliet de Baubigny, Partner, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers

First Thing: Checks emails.
Routine: De Baubigny either does the Tracy Anderson Method Perfect Design DVD or has a trainer come to her house. If she’s Spinning or on the elliptical, de Baubigny will get her daily digital download on her curated iPad. After a good workout, the VC partner always carves out a little time to sit down with her kids for breakfast. She keeps her primping time down to a 15-minute affair thanks to weekly blowouts. Before the investor hits the office, she drops her two children off at school. “Our 15-minute drive together is treasured time, and I really feel that we all start our day on the right foot,” she told Goop.
Victoria Beckham, Founder and Creative Director, Victoria Beckham Fashion Line

First Thing: “Me” time.
Routine: In the half-hour before her kids wake up, Beckham showers, washes her face, checks emails, and has a modest fruit breakfast with green tea followed by a double espresso. If only we could look that put together after so little sleep and such a hectic morning!
Love planning the perfect morning? Share your a.m. routine below!







