I Tried Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey's Early Morning Routine

I replicated Jack Dorsey's morning routine for a week in New York City. In addition to his commute -- 5.3 miles, on foot -- I woke up at 5 a.m. to meditate and work out. It took me about 90 minutes to walk to work every day.

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Billionaire Jack Dorsey can afford to hire a car, or even charter a plane, to drop him off at work every day. Instead, the Twitter and Square CEO chooses to walk.

His Bay Area commute is about five miles and takes him a little more than an hour.

Taking the time to walk to work every day is the most worthwhile investment he's ever made, Dorsey told author Tim Ferriss for his book "Tools of Titans." During the five-mile trek, the self-made billionaire unplugs. He doesn't email or text. He uses the time to listen to music and audio books or simply to think and draw inspiration from the streets of San Francisco.

Dorsey posted his walking stats on Twitter in July 2018, noting that he's been commuting on foot "for 2 years now. Usually get it done in 1h 15m, but was feeling tired this morning."

Kathleen Elkins, Senior Money Reporter at CNBC Make It, decided to spend a week replicating Dorsey's morning routine, which, in addition to the 5.3 mile walk commute, includes waking up at 5 a.m. to meditate and work out.

Here's what happens:

Monday

The first day of the week is by far the easiest to pop out of bed: I'm fresh and excited to see what Dorsey's routine is all about.

I make coffee right away. It's my reward for getting up. Plus, I find that doing something active with my hands — boiling water, measuring coffee grinds, brewing the French press — wakes me up a bit. I also make my bed, another task that isn't exactly strenuous but requires enough movement to help fire up my brain cells.

While my coffee steeps, I download the Headspace meditation app, which offers 10 free, basic courses. I've never meditated before this week and try to get through the first 10-minute course without falling back asleep. After, I prep my lunch, check email, and download podcasts for my upcoming walk.

My apartment is 4.7 miles from my office, which is pretty comparable to Dorsey's distance, but I tack on an extra 10 blocks (about 0.5 miles) to make my commute as similar as possible to his.

Having no idea how much time to budget for my commute — Dorsey does 5.3 miles in one hour and 15 minutes, which seems like an absurdly quick pace — I aim to leave at 7 a.m. and get out the door by 7:10 a.m. It's still dark out.

I fire up a podcast, "The Daily" with Michael Barbaro, and have several more on deck. Twenty minutes into the episode, though, my phone dies from the below-freezing temperature, leaving me a full hour to spend with no company but my thoughts.

Most of that time is spent kicking myself for not fully charging my phone and complaining about the cold. I even contemplate abandoning the walk commute and finding a train, but I march on in silence.

No phone means no concept of time. I'm pleasantly surprised when the clock outside my office reads 8:37 a.m., meaning I did the walk in about 90 minutes. Not as fast as Dorsey, but still, pretty good time.

Day One really takes it out of me and I'm in bed by 6:15 p.m. and fast asleep before 8 p.m.

Tuesday

I get nine hours of sleep and wake up before my alarm sounds. I'm feeling peppy enough to go for a jog this morning and even run into a friend who's a devoted member of the 5 a.m. club.

After my jog, I take a quick shower, throw on a warm, walking-friendly outfit and am out the door by 7:20. My phone is fully charged and I put it on airplane mode to try to conserve battery. It does the trick. I get through three podcast episodes this morning, more than I sometimes listen to over the course of one week.

By the time I arrive at the office, I feel sharp and ready to hunker down. I'm also ravenous and end up heating up my lunch at 11:15 a.m.

Wednesday

I hit snooze for the first time of the week today. The 5 a.m. wake up call is becoming less appealing.

Read about the rest of Kathleen's week here

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Jack Dorsey wakes up at 5 a.m. and walks 5 miles to work—here's what happened when I tried that routine for a week | CNBC Make It.