Indra Nooyi is best known for being the CEO of PepsiCo, where she is both the first woman and first person born outside of the US to hold the title.She was also twice named the No. 1 most powerful woman in the world by Fortune magazine.Like many other CEOs and leaders, Nooyi starts her day earlier than everyone else, waking up at 4 a.m. and getting to the office by 7 a.m.After four weeks of following the morning routines of Jack Dorsey, Arianna Huffington, Barack Obama, and Benjamin Franklin, I was getting accustomed to 5 a.m. starts and exercising before the sun came up.Waking up at 4 a.m., however, would be a whole new challenge.It would require going to bed extra early, which meant a radical change in how I structured my day and social commitments.I didn't manage to wake up at 4 a.m. the entire week. In fact, I only attempted it for three days, and the earliest I managed was 4:15 a.m.After the experiment, however, I realized that I'd created the perfect morning routine for myself in the process. It just doesn't involve starting at 4 a.m.SEE ALSO:I followed Jack Dorsey's morning routine for a week and was surprised by the difference it made in my dayDON'T MISS:I followed Barack Obama's morning routine for a week, and it taught me a valuable lesson about mental toughnessThe experimentWhen I attempted to follow Benjamin Franklin's meticulous schedule while simultaneously trying to live up to his 13 virtues, I struggled with practicing all his habits consistently.After some analysis and some guidance from a man who spent a year trying to be more productive, I realized that I had made my goals too big, too soon. That opened up plenty of opportunities to fall short of what I was trying to accomplish.So I decided that instead of waking up at 4 a.m. right off the bat, I would try to build up to it. I would try waking up at 4:30 a.m., and then 5 to 10 minutes earlier the next day, and so on until I got to 4 a.m. The same would go for bedtime, until I reached 9 p.m.I managed to stick with this for three days, starting at 4:30 a.m. on Monday, 4:20 a.m. on Tuesday, and 4:15 a.m. on Wednesday.I spent my mornings doing 15 minutes of meditation, reading the news over a cup of tea for 30 to 45 minutes, working out for an hour and a half, and making breakfast and lunch before heading to work. I generally got to work around 8:30 a.m., an hour earlier than my usual time.I originally aimed to get to work by 7 a.m., like Nooyi does, but in the end, I wasn't prepared to slash an hour and a half of my morning routine.The resultsMy productivity levels spiked on Monday, but I noticed them decline on Tuesday and Wednesday as I got up earlier without going to sleep earlier.On Wednesday night, I went out to dinner with friends and got home at 9:15 p.m.pretty early, but not early enough for a 4:10 a.m. wake-up without concentration issues the next day.So I set my alarm for 5:30 a.m., though I ended up waking up at 5. The extra sleep made all the difference, and I felt more productive than I had been all week.On Thursday night, I didn't finish doing everything I needed to do until after 9 p.m. After playing mind games with myself, I decided that I would get up at 5 a.m. the next day.Friday morning, I was extremely tired, and I started to feel the lack of sleep in my body, my brain, and my eyes.Despite the tiredness, I realized that I'd performed a consistent morning routine every morning. As a result, I started strong every day, even if I struggled a bit mid-afternoon.I concluded that the experiment wasn't a total failure. And if not getting up at 4 a.m. every day is a failure, it was one I was happy to accept.I learned that my perfect morning routine takes three hours.Some of my coworkers were amazed that I would choose to try an experiment that required me to be up five hours before work.However, the extra time in the morning led me to discover that my perfect routine takes three hours.That time allows me to meditate for 15-30 minutes, read the news over a cup of tea for 30-45 minutes, exercise for an hour to an hour and a half, prepare and eat breakfast, pack my lunch, plan my day, get ready, and go.It may sound elaborate or excessive to some, but I've found that having a slow morning routine sets me up for a productive day.See the rest of the story at Business Insider
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