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Comment by khazhou | Hacker News Reader

All CEO bios like to begin by noting how early they wake up, and how the work out every morning at 6am at the very latest. I used to think this was a form of self-aggrandizement. "I'm a powerful CEO because I have superhuman discipline and stamina that you can't even imagine!"

Now I just wonder: am I lazy?

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Now imagine that every single thing in your life that had the slightest bit of friction disappeared. Car doors opened as you walked towards them. When you wanted a coffee you said "coffee" to someone and it was brought to you just the way you like it, and soon as you were done the mug was removed. You never waited even a single moment for anything. The people you needed to meet with were all camped out in conference rooms just outside your office and you went to the next one when you were no longer being entertained by the one you were in. Your calendar was exactly the way you wanted it to, except for the rare occasion you met with someone more senior than you like the president of a country. Every day at precisely the time you wanted to, you had precisely the meal you wanted, cooked to your tastes and nutritional specifications by someone who could be running a Michelin star restaurant. When you got out of bed every day, the sheets were washed and the bed was re-made to military precision by a team of squarely built housekeepers.

Then it wouldn't be so hard to work out every morning at 6am, joined by your personal trainer who won a bronze medal at the 2002 Olympics.

How old are you?

I was a late riser until well into my thirties. Then suddenly something weird happened (well, not so weird sadly -- hormones shifting, I'm sure) and I started waking up early. Now, being up at 6am doesn't sound like some great accomplishment to me. Staying up past midnight on the other hand, now there's a challenge!

Yeah, I'm not to that age, but know plenty of people who stopped being able to sleep past 4 AM as they aged. Honestly, it's rough to actually live; I see nothing wrong with people trying to spin it as a positive.

Yeh it’s basically a choice between hating myself and thrashing around in bed at 5:30AM, or getting up and feeling like I’m accomplishing things. Was not something I had to force really...

If I ran Disney I'd be up at 4 AM too. What a blast. Yeah some stress but some fun ass chess pieces to move everyday.

I'm your average SV employee, not an industry-dominating CEO.

To me it's a matter of getting it done - no one is going to derail or disrupt your workout at 5:30 AM by calling you to see if you want to go get a drink last minute or by having to shuttle your kids around after school. Similarly, you're not going to be relying on your willpower at 8PM after a long, arduous day.

That's been the biggest benefit to me personally. The confidence (both in appearance and sense of accomplishment) and energy boost throughout the day is icing no the cake.

My willpower is exponentially bigger at 8PM on my hardest days than at 5:30AM following my easiest day.

This is a marketing strategy for the rich. These people have to demonstrate feats of work to justify why they make thousands of times more money than normal people. Of course, no person can do work that is a thousand times more valuable than that of an average person. It's a ruse.

Maybe CEOs don't have families? It's a priority for me to be around to see my kids off to school.

Big shot days run off the rails late. If you manage a significant organization, early morning is probably the only time truly under your control.

Nah. I know a very successful, multi-time Founder/CEO who won't schedule meetings before 10:30 because he doesn't like waking up early. He'll accept meetings with VCs as needed, but then complain to us about it if he has multiple in a week or a particularly early one (8am).

It's comforting, as I'm the same way. I'd rather work 10-10, than 8-4.

You are referring to Jeff Bezos right?

It's just a mode of operation. I start my work around 6am, sometimes earlier. I stopped using an alarm years ago, I just wake up 7ish hours after I go to sleep (I go to bed early).

Personally, it makes me way more productive and less stressed. I get my quality work done before everyone else starts the day, nobody sets meetings at 7 am so im not disturbed. If I get lumped with a task in the evening I dont sacrifice it, instead ill push it until the morning and have it done before the rest get into work. I don't hit rush hour ever.

Note at least for me its not about superhuman discipline & stamina. I prob do the same hours of work, just more productive this way. And im a lazy fart, so you dont need to worry about the discipline. Just need enough to force yourself to go to bed at 9pm for awhile and after a week you'll be up with the chickens too.

1. It’s a lot easier to maintain a schedule like that when you have a team of people to hold you accountable

2. They’re probably describing their ideal day, that actually happens less than 30% of the time

Not so. I know people who live this way.

In my experience, this isn't it at all.

The more people who need your input/help and make demands on your time, the less personal and free time you have.

Being a CEO feels exactly like being a Dad with 6 Toddlers. If you want even a micro-second for yourself it has to be before everyone else wakes up.

That's why they wake up at 4:00am. It's not because they are dominating the world... its because they are trying to hide from it.

I wonder how many CEO's are the opposite, i.e. stay up late for the same reasons.

Elon Musk?

Obviously you shouldn’t compare yourself to a CEO

>Now I just wonder: am I lazy?

Or perhaps you are just normal.

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