Grace Beverley, CEO and Fitness Influencer, shares her morning routine

• Grace Beverley is 25, founder and CEO of Tala Activewear and Shreddy Workout App.
• She strives to get eight hours of sleep each night and lists three things she can’t do every day.
• She then creates a “quick ticks”, tasks and projects-based to-do list.

This is the as-told to essay. It was inspired by a conversation Grace Beverley (25-year-old founder/CEO) about her morning routine. It has been edited for clarity and length.

Although I’m sure many people swear by the habit of waking up at the exact same time each morning, my actual wake-up time is dependent on when and how I went to bed.

I’m obsessed with sleeping eight hours a night. While I don’t necessarily want to show up to work late if it’s been a long night, I try to be flexible.

I typically wake up between 6:45 and 7.45 a.m. but it can go as high as 8 a.m. when I work remotely.

I work from home three to four days a week, typically Tuesday through Friday. It’s a privilege to work from home so I try my best to enjoy a more relaxed morning.

My office dress code is casual so I can quickly get out of my house. It takes me about two seconds to put on activewear. 

Podcasts are something I enjoy listening to during my commute.

To get in the right mindset, I listen to podcasts that are aligned with my first task for the day. If I need extra inspiration, I will listen to something business-y. Sometimes, I just need to laugh and decompress.

First thing I do every day is to write down my daily to-do lists. If I feel overwhelmed and need to get into work, I’ll write it down before I go. Although it seems counterintuitive, I don’t spend my commute stressing over 101 things. 

Once I’m done with work, I often write down my to-do lists. 

To-do lists have three things that I must do every day. The rest of my tasks and projects are divided into three categories: tasks, quick ticks, and projects.

Quick ticks can be completed in five minutes or less. Tasks take 30 minutes, require more thought and take longer to complete. Projects take 30 minutes, are long and involve multiple tasks, and take over 30 minutes.

Then, I make a daily calendar that blocks my time and schedule these activities around my meetings. 

I am easily overwhelmed so it is important to plan my day and prioritize the most important tasks. I handwrite these on paper.

I try to avoid focusing on the nonnegotiable tasks that take up most of my headspace. I find this is a good stress-management tactic — by 10 a.m., you can feel like you’ve already accomplished something. This is also important for me because I feel most energetic when I tackle them.

These may not be the most important or time-sensitive tasks, but I make sure to block my mornings for the tasks that require deep work.

In the mornings, I won’t do anything that is too autopilot.

Some people need to wake up early in the morning to be awake. But if I do my admin work immediately, it will kill my creativity for the rest.

As part of Meta’s mentoring program, I am currently mentoring small-business owners. I need to dig deep into these businesses and not come to these sessions feeling stale. This is one example of what I would plan for my morning. 

To me, creating a productive routine for the morning is about knowing when I work best and when it is difficult to work. I know that I need to be more attentive at the beginning of every day. 

I will schedule a 20-minute reading time if I have a difficult task that requires concentration. If I sit down with my Kindle for a brief period, it takes me out of my day. Then I’m able to get back into a creative state.

It is essential to be productive throughout the day that I understand that there needs to be a space between calls and deep work.