What Successful People do with their Morning.

In case you thought your mornings were busy, read on to get an idea of what successful people pack in first thing in the morning

It's got to do with the positive power of the sun, and the reservoir of energy you build up after sufficient shuteye. Which is why most tasks, when taken on first thing in the morning, turn out far more productively than if you were to tackle it, say late afternoon.

Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, for instance, was up at 5 am to listen to Farming Today on BBC Radio 4. Here's how successful names across the arts, bureaucracy and sports leverage their mornings.

Mrunalini Deshmukh, Divorce lawyer
Wakes up at 4:45 am
She's possibly the woman every warring couple wish they could run to, especially after the launch of her sell-out book, Breaking Up: Your step-by-step guide to getting divorced, which is possibly why she begins her day with a caffeine kick. "I down the coffee, and am at my desk by 5.30 am, going through my case papers, depending on what I am tackling that day. It's only after this is out of the way, that I can get down to some yoga or head out for a walk," she admits. Brushing up on the Domestic Violence Act (1954) at 5 am may seem extreme, but for the woman who's represented celebrities like Aamir Khan, it's all in a day's work. "The one hour after waking up is when my energies and focus are the sharpest," says Deshmukh, who is at court by 9.30 am. "I've been following this routine for eight years. The only day I skip it is on a Sunday."



Sushil Kumar, World wrestling champion
Wakes up at 4 am
Olympic medals don't come easily, which is why Sushil Kumar starts training "immediately after he wakes up". "I eat very little before a work out. Just one banana," he says. The exercise routine changes daily depending on what his coach has planned. It could be running, sprinting or a workout on ropes. "Each session lasts for two hours. Post this too, I don't eat much; either a handful of almonds or the juice of raisins, and it's back to workout," he says, leading us to the baffling question, where does all that muscle come from?

Himanshu Roy, Jt Commissioner of Police (Crime)
Wakes up at 5 am
It doesn't matter what time the six-footer makes it to bed ("It's often post 1 am"), but the IPS officer of the 1988 Maharashtra cadre is up every morning by five. His physique might suggest that he gets on to a treadmill with toothbrush in hand, but Roy says, "The first thing I must do is listen to my favourite sitar maestros — Ustad Vilayat Khan and Nikhil Banerjee. I do this for an hour, and waking up at dawn helps me focus on the music while it's dark and quiet." Once "de-stressed in the head", Roy hits the gym at 6.30 am, where he works out till 8 am before it's time to save Mumbai from crooks.

Mallika Sarabhai, Dancer-activist
Wakes up at 6 am
One of the biggest names in Bharatnatyam and Kuchipudi, Mallika Sarabhai has been following the same morning routine for years. She says she doesn't stray from it even when she travels — except for a slight change. "The first thing I must do is let my eight dogs out for a morning walk. But I can't travel with them, so that's missing from my routine when I'm out of town," she says. For the next two hours, Sarabhai enjoys western classical music on radio stations BBC3, Portland Classical and New England Classical. "I like instrumental; the cello, violin and piano." She winds it up at 8.30 am with a session of yoga.

Raghu Rai, Photographer
Wakes up at 4:30 am
At 71, one of India's most celebrated photographers, finds his work exciting enough to wake up as early as 4.30 am. A quick one-hour session of yoga later, he's ready to spend the next couple of hours processing ideas for an on-hand project. "I spend the day contemplating the way forward. I feel as if it enters my subconscious when I sleep. And in the early hours, before sunrise, it all comes back to me in a rush. Then I shoot like a lootera (bandit), wanting to take away everything from the