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

Short and sweet reminders of elements of success

What did you love best about What the Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast?

This is a short and sweet narrative of key elements of what successful people do on a daily basis? It is a good reminder of what I should be doing every day. Inspiring.

Glad it was short.

What did you like best about What the Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast? What did you like least?

It was a quick listen. But it lacks any substantial new ideas. I didn't learn anything.

Has What the Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast turned you off from other books in this genre?

Not at all. I've read quite a few of these books before and I find most of them to be very intriguing. This was not one of them.

What aspect of Laura Vanderkam’s performance would you have changed?

There was no entertainment value. Just reiterated facts. Almost all of which are not only covered in other books but by books by this same author.

Who do you think would benefit most from listening to What the Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast?

People who can't seem to find the time to do what's needed to make the changes in their lives they want to.

Any additional comments?

Could have been summed up in a 2 page blog. But still a fan of the author.

Little Power House of information

What about Laura Vanderkam???s performance did you like?

Lots of to the point information without filler.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The book is very short, less than 2 hours. Everything in the book was informative and interesting.

Any additional comments?

Top book under 2 hours I've listened to so far.

Love the book

Any additional comments?

This is a quick book. It’s only about one hour. I was actually looking for someone to convince me to wake up early in the morning and exercise. This book did that well by explaining tons of examples of senior executives and what they do in the early morning. Now I wake up early, write for about an hour and exercise for half an hour. Thank you Laura

More review details is available online

Tarik Alsharafi
Best Selling Author and Founder
IamWealthyToday.com

Get Up Early...

... focus on your priority. Set up your stuff the night before. There. Now you don't have to buy it. You're welcome.

A habit has the force of a water drop that hollows the stone

The author’s reading was pleasant. I actually slowed it down a bit (x 0.75) simply because I like to make sure I have time to really let the gems of wisdom set in as I listen, NOT for any other reason. Slowing down was also easy to do for this book because it was not very long. Great examples throughout and pearls of wisdom on those minor “hacks” we could all do for anyone looking to shake up their routines, particularly in the early hours of the morning before our time, energy, and attention get pulled in myriad other directions. Nothing here I do not like or appreciate! Finally, I chose this rating because all works with this obvious kind of intentionality and sincerity (even succinctness) deserve the great reviews they merit!

Good Advice

What made the experience of listening to What the Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast the most enjoyable?

I was a good quick listen.

What about Laura Vanderkam???s performance did you like?

I always like to hear the writer read their own work.

What???s an idea from the book that you will remember?

Do what ever is most important first thing in the morning.

Okay - short story self-help

What did you like best about What the Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast? What did you like least?

This was a short self-help type of book with ideas about how to manage time, put the important things first. Not that insightful as much of a reminder about what Franklin Covey taught us all.

What do you think your next listen will be?

The Goldfinch - fiction.

What three words best describe Laura Vanderkam’s performance?

Lively and authentic as she is the book's author.

Who do you think would benefit most from listening to What the Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast?

Young professionals, seniors in college - those who have not been through many time-management workshops that this borrows from.

Great tool (book) to add to my tool belt

*Spoiler Alert* This book is the perfect length, to get the point across, that we should do the most IMPORTANT things FIRST each day.

Great Info but hard to listen to

If you could sum up What the Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast in three words, what would they be?

Informative, Interesting, Slow

What did you like best about this story?

I enjoyed the topic and am inspired to try to revamp my morning routine.

Did the narration match the pace of the story?

The narration was slow - the rate of speech was unnaturally slowed. This made it difficult to listen to at times.