Tammy Tibbetts is the co-founder and CEO of She’s The First, an leading organization fighting gender inequality through education. She has been featured on Forbes.com’s 30 under 30, Times.com’s 30 under 30, and is on the advisory board for the Barbie Global Advisory Council and The Medici Group. These are her morning and evening routines.Â
a.m.
I’m 100% a morning person. Half the time, at 7am or 7:30am, my phone alarm goes off and I instantly jump out of bed. The other half of the time, I walk up before my alarm clock and my mind is already spinning with what I have to do that day.
I check my phone and I always have sweet WhatsApp messages from my fiance Michael, who lives in the UK, which is five hours ahead of New York time (our marriage this year will put three years of long-distance dating to an end!).
Exercise is super important to my sanity. In the springtime, I tend to wake up extra early and go to the gym first. In the dark and cold winter, it’s not as motivating to go to the gym so early. I wake up, have coffee and make eggs for breakfast, and then head to the office, The Wing, or a meeting–and I save the gym for the evening.
In January, I did 30 Days of Yoga, on the Yoga with Adriene YouTube channel. It wasn’t always easy to squeeze it in, but I was so proud when I did it every single day for a month straight!
I ride the BQ train from Brooklyn. On the subway ride to work, I skim Twitter and The Skimm. Generally, I prefer silence to collect my thoughts for the day, but I try to use the time to read a book, too. It depends on how much coffee I’ve had. if I’m spending more time at home in the morning, I turn on Good Morning America on YouTube TV. I subscribe to The New York Times weekend edition in print over the summer, when I can take it into Prospect Park and read outside.
If I have a big event or meeting, I decide what I’m wearing the day before. I like to wear the brand colors of whoever I’m pitching a partnership to, if possible. I think it leaves an extra good impression, even subconsciously! My beauty routine is barely worth mentioning; I really don’t fuss over it.
Once I sit down to work, I clear through my emails; then I see if there are any messages from the team on Slack that need my attention. I check my to-do list on Trello and reprioritize as necessary. I remind myself of the three most important things I have to finish that day. I like to do this before my first meeting of the day, whether that’s at 8am or 10am. It sets my head straight for the day.
p.m.
I usually head out by 6pm, either to attend an event or to go to the gym. I check email throughout the evening, unless I’m hanging out with my fiance or busy at an event.
I am a morning person, so I’m usually asleep by 11pm. On Tuesday nights, I watch This is Us, but that’s the only TV show I’m devoted to. Sometimes I read for twenty minutes, either on my Amazon Fire or the physical book. Currently, I’m reading Drop the Ball by Tiffany Dufu, someone I know and admire!
Right now, Cleo Wade’s Heart Talk is on my nightstand. I also always have a glass of water and my One Line a Day: Five Year Memory Book journal, along with my phone, which doubles as my alarm clock. I’m on year four of the memory book, so it’s the longest-running diary I’ve been able to keep up with! You only have to write a few lines a day, and you can see on the page what you were up to that very day the year before and the year before and the year before.
On most nights, the last thing I do before turning out the light is check my social feeds. I know that’s not setting a zen example, but it’s how I’m able to cheer on my friends and get inspiration.
You can learn more about Tammy here. Check out her non-profit organization She’s the First, and be sure to follow Tammy Tibbetts on Twitter and Instagram. For more morning/evening routine inspiration, click here.
