What the Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast

A Short Guide to Making Over Your Mornings—and Life

By: Laura Vanderkam

Narrated by: Laura Vanderkam

Length: 1 hr and 3 mins

Publisher's summary

Mornings are a madcap time for many of us. We wake up in a haze—often after hitting snooze a few times. Then we rush around to get ready and out the door so we can officially start the day. Before we know it, hours have slipped by without us accomplishing anything beyond downing a cup of coffee, dashing off a few emails, and dishing with our coworkers around the water cooler. By the time the workday wraps up, we’re so exhausted and defeated that any motivation to accomplish something in the evening has vanished.

But according to time management expert Laura Vanderkam, mornings hold the key to taking control of our schedules. If we use them wisely, we can build habits that will allow us to lead happier, more productive lives.

Drawing on real-life anecdotes and scientific research that shows why the early hours of the day are so important, Vanderkam reveals how successful people use mornings to help them accomplish things that are often impossible to take care of later in the day. While many of us are still in bed, these folks are scoring daily victories to improve their health, careers, and personal lives without sacrificing their sanity. For instance, former PepsiCo chairman and CEO Steve Reinemund would rise at 5:00 a.m., run four miles, pray, and eat breakfast with his family before heading to work to run a Fortune 500 company.

What the Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast is a fun, practical guide that will inspire you to rethink your morning routine and jump-start your life before the day has even begun.

©2012 Laura Vanderkam. (P)2012 Gildan Media LLC

Not worth a full credit, but enjoyed it

This is not really a book, it's more like a 1-hr podcast. I bought it during a sale for only a couple dollars.

I went into this knowing it was short, and cheap, and as such I thought it was very good. I think the author gave some compelling reasons to better organize my time to maximize the valuable morning hours. I was looking for a little motivation and this book provided it.

Makeover your Morning, Makeover your Life

"Early to bed, early to rise, makes a person healthy, wealthy, and wise." This old proverbs continues to ring true with Laura Vanderkam's audiobook "What the Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast: A Short Guide to Making Over Your Mornings—and Life".

We may all know that we need our "quiet/me" time in the morning, but do we really make the effort to do so? Maybe you need a bit of guidance to get started without being overwhelmed. The information Ms. Vanderkam offers is good stuff. Nothing heady or overwhelming. Just enough to encourage you to examine how you spend your mornings and be more accountable for it - because this YOUR time for YOU. The advice is practical whether you apply it to physical or spiritual practices.

The audiobook is inexpensive and it's only a little over an hour long. A small investment that can reap benefits if you're looking for ways to improve your life for the better. Ms. Vanderkam's performance is a bit on the boring side; aside from that it's good stuff. I'd gladly recommend it to anyone looking for ways to change their habits that can change their life for the better.

Great for anyone new to self improvement reading

Wake up early and go to the gym/run/exercise pretty much sums up alot of this book, BUT I don't say that as a negative thing.
I enjoyed the personal recounts from people and why this works for them.
For me, the emphasis on why certain things don't end up working had way more impactthan all the advice on the things that the book claims do work.
'There will always be a reason to not go to the gym at 4pm, and it will always be a good one.' was probably the most enfluentual line I read.

I found the narration to be pleasant and well paced. the book was a nice reasonable length. There were not 3 starting chapters explaining to me WHY I should read the book I am already trying to read. And most importantly there was not a single sales pitch for a website, blog, time managment retreat/seminar or other books.

I am new to self improvement style reading, but I took more from this than I ever imagined and it made me less hesitant to venture out further in the category.

Simple But True Message

I read the (bad) reviews but after i listened to the book, I felt inspired to wake up early and pay myself first. A good book with a simple message. The hard thing is stick to the schedule.

Amazing!!!!

Amazing amazing amazing!!! Recommended by my therapist and I loved it!

Definitely recommending this to my friends and family. :)

Wake up and make up, good tips on hours in a day.

If you are naturally a morning person this may apply to you. If you have a resolution to be more productive with your time, this may apply . It is a good makeover for how you spend your morning time.

Short but effective message!

very good content and makes a strong case for why one needs to get up early and get going.

Very helpful.

What insight do you think you’ll apply from What the Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast?

Not only the importance of starting early as a way of making my life (each day) better, but of using that time and the rest of the morning that I may have got-lots-done days, weeks, and career.

Any additional comments?

That which I had already been doing, this reaffirmed and gave me confidence in it. Also, it gave me many thoughts to direct my morning time. Lastly, she leaves it open what one can use this early morning time to accomplish, based on one's own goals and stage in life. That is, she's not a one-size-fits-all, you-must-do-this-particular-activity author. I liked that a lot.

Inspiring and Helpful

I’ve listened to this book many times to get motivated again to get my mornings back in order. It’s a great little book. The perfect length to bust out in one day.

Get up ...... and start Living!

Any additional comments?

Get up and use your unused time! It's been said before, but for under $3 it was well worth hearing again. The narration is a bit slow and lacking enthusiasm, but, the point comes across clear. There is not a whole lot of information, but some nice short stories about some very successful and high profile people. What they do in the mornings, why and how it has helped them become a success.