A Day in the Life of 9 Famous People

Flickr/Penn State
Flickr/Penn State

For some of us, daily responsibilities are limited to "showing up to work for eight hours" and "breathing." Others, have a little more weight on their backs -- like entire TV shows, record labels, and countries. Because we've woken up many nights wondering what Maya Angelou was doing that very second, we combed articles and books for some insight into what she and eight other famous, successful people do and did on an average day. If it's taught us anything, it's that we need to be getting out of bed much, much earlier.

Fox/Fox Image Collection/Getty Images

Mindy Kaling

(From her book Why Not Me?)

  • Wake up at 5am
  • Shower, drive to Universal Studios
  • Report to hair and makeup by 6am
  • Start shooting for The Mindy Project at 7:45am
  • Break for lunch around noon
  • Drive to writers' room in production office to go over their work
  • Table read for next episode at 1pm
  • Makeup again at 2pm, back to shooting at 2:30pm
  • Voice-over recording at 5:30pm
  • Quick nap wherever at 6pm
  • More shooting at 6:15pm
  • Wrap by 8:15pm, go to writers' dinner at 8:30pm
  • Editing starting at 9:30pm
  • Collapse in bed (possibly without putting on actual pajamas) at 12:30am
Jerod Harris/WireImage/Getty Images

Stephen King

(From his books On Writingand Haunted Heart: The Life and Times of Stephen King)

  • Sit down with cup of water or glass of tea around 8am or 8:30am
  • Take vitamin pill, start writing
  • Write for at least four-six hours in same seat, with papers arranged the same way
  • Take afternoon nap, catch up on letters
  • Read, watch Red Sox games, spend time with family
  • Make any necessary revisions
  • Go to sleep
Kevin Winter/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images

Jay Z

(FromThe Big Idea with Donny Deutsch)

  • Get up around 8am
  • Eat breakfast, run a mile
  • Get into office, catch up on e-mails
  • Meetings
  • Listen to new music (legally)
  • Check in at studio
  • Grab dinner
  • Head to Barclays Center, watch Nets game
  • Sleep
Fox/Fox Image Collection/Getty Images

Gordon Ramsay

(From Business Insider and Reddit AMA)

  • Wake up at 5am
  • Go to the gym
  • Have a bowl of oatmeal for breakfast
  • Tape Master Chef until 9pm or 10pm
  • Eat something quick
  • Call the UK around midnight to say good morning to kids
  • Catch up with London business
  • Go to sleep at 2am
Wikimedia Commons/The Official White House Photostream

Barack Obama

(From Vanity Fair and public schedules)

  • Get up at dawn, immediately head to gym
  • Put in 45 minutes of weight and cardio
  • Scan papers over breakfast, see daughters off to school
  • Quick rundown of day with chief of staff
  • Daily intelligence briefing with vice president and national security team at 9:30am
  • Economic briefing
  • Discussion with congressional leadership over legislation
  • Meeting with senior advisers or international dignitary
  • Deliver remarks for labor summit
  • Meeting with vice president and secretary of state
  • Wrap meeting with chief of staff around 6:30pm
  • Dinner with wife and daughters
  • Catch up on calls and e-mails beginning around 8:30pm
  • Get to bed sometime around midnight
Maddie Meyer/Getty Images Sport/Getty Images

Erin Andrews

(FromElle and The New Potato)

  • Wake up, drink hot lemon water
  • Leave hotel by 8:30am
  • Arrive at arena, prep for interviews
  • Report on NFL Sunday for Fox
  • Wrap coverage, head to airport
  • Board plane back to LA
  • Land around midnight, head home and crash before Dancing with the Stars the next morning
Maya Angelou

Maya Angelou

(From The Paris Reviewand The Daily Beast)

  • Left the house at 6am
  • Arrived at hotel room she kept at 6:30am
  • Wrote on made-up bed (she didn't let the staff change the sheets) with dictionary, Roget's Thesaurus, yellow pads, and Bible
  • Left room by about 2pm to return home
  • Showered, went food shopping
  • Cooked dinner for herself and possible guests
  • Cleaned dishes
  • Read over everything she wrote that morning, edited
  • Turned in for the night
Amanda Edwards/WireImage/Getty Images

Carrie Brownstein

(From The Wall Street Journal)

  • Grab an everything pretzel bagel and cappuccino around 7am
  • Begin shooting scenes for Portlandia at 8am
  • Break for makeup touch-ups between takes
  • Wrap at night, head to dinner with Fred Armisen and writer(s) at 9:45pm
  • Go home, relieve dog nanny, head to bed
Flickr/Marquette University

Dwyane Wade

(From Haute Living)

  • Get up at 7am, join sons for breakfast
  • Meet team trainers at 9am for treatment
  • Start two-hour practice at 10am
  • Answer questions at media session after practice
  • Meet with business manager at 12:30pm
  • Head home around 3pm to catch up with sons after school, take quick nap
  • Get 5pm massage or acupuncture
  • Meet with stylist to discuss wardrobe for upcoming events
  • Dinner at 7pm
  • Catch up on favorite show, Scandal, before going to bed


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Kristin Hunt is a staff writer for Thrillist, and would gladly watch Scandal with Dwyane Wade. Follow her to presidential affairs: @kristin_hunt.