CMers know that mornings can have a huge impact on how the rest of the day unfolds. That’s why we’re always curious to see how our inspiring speakers start off their day. 

We asked our March speaker, Adam Bent, co-founder and chief operating officer at thisopenspace, about his morning routine. It was refreshing to hear that you don’t have to be a morning person or even have a strict routine to have a successful, productive day! Here’s what he had to say…

What is your morning routine?

I am not a morning person and prefer to be left alone for the first hour of my day. I keep my phone on do not disturb from 9 p.m. until 8:30 a.m. I hop into the shower and I always throw on “world report” on the CBC radio app. I stretch in the shower and practice some deep breathing while I start building a mental checklist of my top to-do’s that morning.

Food is a huge priority for me and breakfast is usually one of three options: Granola with almond milk and bananas, cold press juice or my classic smoothie with 12 ingredients or I’ll have sourdough toast with boiled eggs, avocado and tomato all with a side of coffee of course.

I get dressed based on my day’s most important meeting or how I want to feel that day, and then I walk to my office which is about 20 minutes. I’ll throw on the news or a podcast on CBC (I’m a CBC junkie). If I have a backlog of calls from the east coast from that morning, I’ll get on the phone and get through some calls on my walk. 

How long have you been following this routine for? Why is it important to you?

I have travelled frequently my whole career so my morning routine really forms around where I am that week, my routine suits the market. I am a very adaptable person and consistency is not something I need to do my best work, in fact change of environment is a driver for me. This year I am splitting my time 30% east coast and 70% west coast, and my respective routine changes to suit the weeks priorities. 

Toronto has a night culture both socially and in business. Networking and after work events are much more prevalent and they are an important part of being a successful entrepreneur in that market - relationships are everything. My morning routine is not as much of a priority when I am in Toronto, I might rush out of bed and be ready in 20 minutes and out the door to my first meeting at 9 a.m. In New York I’m up early because I don’t know how to get anywhere and lots of travel planning for meetings needs to happen.

In Vancouver people wear sweatpants or leggings to work and they go to bed at 9 p.m. so they can wake up and do yoga at 5 a.m. The business culture there doesn’t demand a nocturnal component so I wake up much earlier and follow more of a routine in the morning.

What time do you typically go to bed?

 It’s rare for me to be in bed before 11 p.m., I usually can’t get to bed until 12 or 1 a.m. Business culture tends to celebrate the early risers as a common denominator for productivity but I am glad to see research and the profiling of successful late night entrepreneurs and creatives that have been published over the last two years. There’s a lot of us out there and I think it’s an important story to tell. 

Do you hit snooze? How often?

Absolutely, but I also set three alarms for the morning 10 minutes apart. If you mix that in with the 5 minute snooze delay, my phone is guaranteed to terrorize me out of bed.

Is it important to you to get a certain amount of sleep in a night?

I can get by on 5/6 hours no problem. I’m a sprinter, so I will go weeks with little sleep but definitely need a recharge week at the end of a sprint. If I haven’t slept much the night before I will have a late afternoon lull, that’s when I will switch to an hour of something less demanding of my brain like research or candidate searching. If I have a day full of meetings then I stay spry, deal making and pitching gives me a lot of energy, it’s better than coffee. 

Do you do anything before going to bed to make your morning easier?

When I am crawling into bed, I listen to podcasts or I read to help shift my mind off work. This helps me fall asleep faster which I suppose helps me wake up easier on a good day.

Do you have a morning workout routine?

In the summer I will go to the gym or run before work a few times a week. In winter I cannot be compelled to wake up early AND work out. I need to be at the gym or go to a class, I need the environment. I don’t like working out at home, even Yoga at home I can’t get into. It’s my space to cook and relax or sit at my desk.

Does your morning routine change on weekends? How?

Ironically I get up as early on weekends as I do on weekdays, depending on Friday night’s activities. I love Saturday, it’s the only day I take off and when I wake up, I just lie in bed longer and I will cook a great breakfast or go for brunch. When I am in Vancouver I like to call my friends in Ontario since they are further into the day, it’s a great time to catch up.

What do you do in the morning that makes you feel the most prepared to start your day?

I think of my team and what everyone else is working on that day. Everyone at thisopenspace compels me to do my best work and each individual team member has a responsibility to each other and what we are building. That’s what makes me prepared to go and crush the day, alongside my incredible team.

What do you do if you fail to follow your morning routine, and how does this influence the rest of your day?

I think if you took coffee away and my breakfast then we have a problem, but other than that I’m totally unphased. 

Adam Bent will be speaking on this month’s theme – Taboo – how start-ups that operate in a legal grey zone bend the rules to scale their business and disrupt archaic industries. Don’t miss it on Friday, March 31 at 8:30 a.m. (hopefully Adam will be awake enough to talk to us by then!)

Free tickets will be released on Friday, March 24 at 11 a.m. Stay tuned and be sure to RSVP!