I enjoyed reading this book but be aware of what you're buying. It's very short and probably a bit overpriced for the length. It doesn't provide any real insights either - the entire book can really be reduced to: get up early and use that time to work on things that you consider meaningful ('important but not urgent' tasks).

This book in a nutshell: Wake up early and use that morning time to do something that enriches your life. The magic of this advice comes not in the words of the book, but in the dispositional change it suggests.
The book's central thesis: you have the power to change your life. What this book is doing, in a succinct and marvelous way, is intimating a reference group that you can be a part of if you desire. Movers, shakers, successful people-- all of them, the book claims, use the morning hours to advance something important to them.
There are a lot of concrete suggestions in this small ebook for managing your new routine, but it all comes down to making those morning rituals a habit. However, WHAT THE MOST SUCCESSFUL PEOPLE DO BEFORE BREAKFAST is not only for morning people. Vanderkam talks a lot about getting up early, but truly, it’s not about when you rise, but how you prioritize your day. It’s about using those first hours productively, whether they come before dawn or not. This is the dispositional change that can truly impact your life. It's a great message, and a great read. Had a cup of coffee and a biscotti and finished the book before I knew it!

I think I misunderstood what this book was going to do for me. I was expecting ideas and tips and what I got was almost an autobiography. I learned more about the author and her family than I did about reversing my late night/late morning habits.

It was well written and I have no real complaints other than the title being misleading. It wasn't a guide at all. It was humorous but not very instructive.

Also it led me to inadvertent irony in action - I stayed up late reading this book and ended up oversleeping the next day.

I love to read, but I'm also a "cut to the chase" kind of gal. As others have noted - some kindly, some not-so-kindly - this is a short book, but that also meant that on the first day of the new year, I was able to read it in an afternoon and then spend time thinking about how I could implement the ideas into my routines.

If you're looking for a hand-holding book - this is not it. If you're looking for basic ideas, inspiring stories from real people, and a kick in the pants, then you've come to the right place. Vanderkam shares from her personal experiences, as well as from those that she has interviewed. Whether you need some help getting motivated to make the most of your weekends, get up before 7 am, or get back on the treadmill (that's my personal one), I think you'll find what you need in this paperback.

Although I had read a couple of the e-books included in this paperback, it was a really good reminder to read them again, and perfect for the start of a new year.

** Word of Warning: If you buy the Kindle version of this book, you will ONLY receive the Breakfast book, so to get the full set (breakfast, weekend, and work), you will need to buy the paperback version. However, I believe it is worth the money, and will become one of those books you will want to re-read at the start of each new year.

In this slim, but practical ebook, time management author and trainer Laura Vanderkam has put together some gems on how to get the most out of mornings and, as a consequence, the rest of your day.
Mornings hold the key to taking control of our schedules, full stop. Drawing on anecdotes from some well-known American executives and solid scientific research Venderkam provides a compelling case for altering the way we start our day.
Studies show that most Americans, across age groups, get up at about 6 a.m. The time between waking and starting work is spent herding children towards the door for school, tidying up, personal grooming, commuting and so on.
From a study of the time logs and profiles of high-achieving people Vanderkam reports that former CEO of Pepsico, Steve Reinemund is up at 5 a.m., goes for a 4-mile run, prays and eats breakfast with his family before going to run a Fortune 500 Company. James Citrin, head of Spencer Stuart is also exercising at 6:00 and then spends time in quiet time to consider the day ahead. Citrin did a survey of the morning rituals of executives he admired to find that the latest any of them was up regularly was 6 a.m. Successful people have their priorities clear and early mornings are the time when they have most control over their schedules. But that is probably true for all of us.
We can divide the world up into “night people” and “morning people.” Both groups have only 168 hours each week, but not all hours are equally suited to all things. The common reason for not rising early cited by “night people” is that they do their best work then. There is little scientific evidence that this is true.
Professor Roy Baumeister has spent his career studying self-discipline (I reviewed his book in this paper earlier this year,) and has found a direct correlation between fatigue and self-discipline. “Diets are broken in the evening, not the morning. The majority of impulsive crimes are committed after 11:00 p.m. Lapses in drug use, alcohol abuse, sexual misbehaviour… tend to come about late in the day.”
In the early hours of the day we have enough will-power and energy to tackle things that require internal motivation, and that are rarely rewarded immediately. Baumeister also proved that once something is a routine or habit, it requires very little self-discipline to continue. Applied to the argument of this book, people who turn high value tasks into morning rituals conserve their energy for later battles.
What are the best morning habits? Vanderkam’s research showed that successful people use their mornings for nurturing their careers, nurturing their relationships, and nurturing themselves.
Nurturing your career can take the form of doing focused work, reading in your field, and thinking strategically about your projects or company, or planning the day. One executive is quoted as saying: Every day I have a job; in the morning I think I have a career.
To “nurture relationships” Vandekam advised one single mother to get to bed early so she can use her early mornings for Mommy-and-me time with her daughter before beginning her commute to work. What a beautiful way to start a day, giving your child your best, not what is left over of you at the end of the day. Much is made of the value of families having dinner together for the stability and moral growth of children. This surely true of pleasant breakfasts, too.
Statistics indicate that dual income couples can find only 12 minutes a day to talk to each other. Early mornings might go some way to address this relationship issue.
And then there is “nurturing yourself.” Most of the executives the author quotes use part of their early starts to exercise or do yoga – examples are Xerox’s Ursula Burns, Coors’ van Paasschen, Rodale’s Steve Murphy among others. These are incredibly busy people and they choose the mornings for their exercise routines possibly without knowing how beneficial exercise at this time of day really is. Stress hormones released on waking are counteracted by exercise, as is the blood glucose effects of high-fat diets, and so much more. People exercising in the morning are also more likely to stick to this routine with the heightened ability to apply self-discipline at this time.
Spiritual practices – praying, studying scripture or meditating were also found to be popular.
The inability to get to bed early enough to allow for an early rise because of the many chores that have to be done before going to bed, doesn’t hold up according to Vanderkam. In the same way that dieticians tell dieters to keep a food log, Vanderkam suggests that to know how you spend your time is best seen from actually tracking it. This involves jotting down what you are doing as you are doing it so you can reflect on exactly how you spend your time. It will become evident that much of the night time activity is unnecessary and of a far lower priority than what can be gained by the early start.
This is a practical guide that addresses many of the logistic and other complications that prevent one seizing the golden hours of the day. It will inspire you to rethink your morning routine and you will be so much better off for doing so.
Readability Light +---- Serious
Insights High --+-- Low
Practical High +---- Low

Ian Mann of Gateways consults internationally on leadership and strategy