'The 4-Hour Workweek' author has a 5-part morning routine to maximize his productivity

Andrew "Drew" Kelly

Tim Ferriss started his podcast, "The Tim Ferriss Show," in 2014 as a way to have in-depth conversations with people at the top of their fields.

The author of "The 4-Hour Workweek" conducted more than 100 interviews with a wide range of highly successful people — from award-winning actors to Navy SEALs, from filmmakers to billionaire entrepreneurs — and he's collected what he's learned in his book "Tools of Titans."

One of the questions he's asked each of his interview subjects is "What does your morning routine look like?" Along the way, he's found five habits that he's incorporated into his own mornings, noting that he probably checks all five items on his list about 30% of the time, and that if he hits three of five of them, he's had a successful morning.

"And if you win the morning, you win the day," Ferriss wrote. Here's what his mornings look like.

He makes his bed.

Ferriss wrote that in 2011 he was at a difficult point in his life and felt like his "energy was traveling a millimeter outward in a million directions." He met a Hindu priest and speaker named Dandapani who told him that a way to help bring grounding into his life was to start off his day by making his bed.

It's the same advice Naval Admiral William McRaven gave in his 2014 commencement speech at the University of Texas at Austin. As McRaven said, "If you make your bed every morning, you will have accomplished the first task of the day. It will give you a small sense of pride, and it will encourage you to do another task and another and another."

He meditates for 10-20 minutes.

Ferriss said that at least 80% of the people he's interviewed have some form of a daily mindfulness practice.

He recommends trying a guided app like Headspace or even going for Transcendental Meditation classes (though those will set you back $960). Ferriss uses a blend of different techniques that he thinks some purists wouldn't approve of, but that get the job done for him.

Whichever approach you take, regular meditation gives you time to practice control of your emotions, which then influences how you react to challenges throughout the day.

He does at least 30 seconds of light exercise.

Most of the people Ferriss has interviewed have a daily exercise routine and some, like former Navy SEAL commander Jocko Willink, wake up before dawn to get a workout in. Others, like WWE star Triple H, work out at night.

Ferriss falls into the latter camp, but he gets quick exercise in to get his blood flowing and mind focused. He usually goes for some push-ups and dips.

"Getting into my body, even for 30 seconds, has a dramatic effect on my mood and quiets mental chatter," Ferriss wrote.