Matt Cheuvront
Matt Cheuvront is a marathon runner, entrepreneur, and writer from Nashville, Tennessee. When he’s not partaking in his morning coffee Matt gives small businesses a helping hand via his branding agency.
What is your morning routine?
I wake up stupid early, usually between 4-5:00am. Most people think I’m crazy. My wife thinks I’m crazy. I probably am. But as I’ve learned through the years, it’s best not to fight what works – and early AM works for me. It’s when I’m most productive and most relaxed.
I typically wake up and do everything I can to get my inbox down to a manageable level while no emails are coming in (I’m regularly at/near inbox zero at the end of each day). Once I’m caught up, I often go for a run early in the AM. I’m the kind of person that has to get his workout in early in the day, or it just doesn’t happen. And as a marathon runner, it’s tough to block out the time in the middle/at the end of the day to get runs in.
At around 7:00am my wife wakes up, we make breakfast together, sip coffee, and by around 8:00am I feel like I’ve accomplished a hell of a lot. It’s a great way to start each day.
How long have you stuck with this routine so far?
I’m a creature of habit and have been in this general routine for years now.
How has your morning routine changed over recent years?
It’s remained pretty much the same.
On weekends I try to stay away from email and instead start the day catching up on reading (I use Pocket to bookmark articles around the web and catch up on weekends), and/or I go for an early AM run.
What time do you go to sleep?
I’m an old soul, I’m usually in bed between 9-10:00pm, and almost always asleep before 11:00pm.
Do you use an alarm to wake you up in the morning, and if so do you ever hit the snooze button?
Never. I haven’t used an alarm clock since I was a freshman in college. I blame my mom for ritualistically waking me up every single morning at the same time when I was a kid. Even if I try to sleep in, it doesn’t happen.
How soon after waking up do you have breakfast, and what do you typically have?
I’m awake for a couple hours before I do the coffee/breakfast thing.
We grind our own coffee every morning, and usually start the day with eggs and toast, or a fruit smoothie. That being said, I’m a big breakfast fan and grab coffee at one of Nashville’s bajillion neighbourhood coffee shops more often that I’ll admit here.
Do you have a morning workout routine?
I’m a runner and there’s nothing better than an early-morning run. It really sets the tone for the day ahead so I try to get a run in first thing as often as I can.
How about morning meditation?
I wish. This is something I need to be much more deliberate about. My hustle is a bit of a blessing and a curse. I work hard, and I’m a productivity guru, but I need to work on shutting it off and shutting down, especially early in the day.
Do you see to email first thing in the morning or leave it until later in the day?
It’s one of the first things I do when I wake up.
I’m a little OCD about maintaining a manageable inbox at all times. You know, the whole, “you control the inbox, don’t let it control you” thing.
How soon do you check your phone in the morning, either for calls/messages or social media and news?
Too soon. I’ve gotten BETTER about not keeping my phone near me when I sleep, but I need to go ahead and commit to keeping it in another room.
Far too often I wake up in the middle of the night, check email/facebook/twitter, get worked up about something, and can’t fall back asleep. That being said, I grab my phone to check emails pretty soon after hopping out of bed.
What and when is your first drink in the morning?
A couple hours after I wake up I have a cup of coffee.
Yep, I’m one of those “has to have a cup of coffee early in the morning or I’ll become a zombie for the rest of the day” kind of people.
On days you’re not settled in your home, are you able to adapt your routine to fit in with a different environment?
While I can usually do a better job of sleeping in while on vacation, I stick pretty true to my morning routine regardless of where I am.
What do you do if you fail to follow your routine, and how does this influence the rest of your day?
As crazy as it sounds, I don’t break routine. In the rare instance I do, I’ll admit that I do get a little thrown off. It doesn’t ruin my day by any means, but it does get me feeling out of sorts a bit.
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