These 7 Hotshots Are Awake Way Before the Sun

Owls, hang your heads in shame. And larks—well, you may not be as lark-like as you think you are. Business Insider has compiled a list of 24 uber-successful luminaries who laugh in the face of the snooze button and rise before the sun to cross a bunch of items off their to-do lists before they even start their morning commute. Here, five early risers and their oh-dark-thirty routines:

• Tim Cook, 3:45am: The Apple CEO goes through email, hits the gym, takes care of more email at Starbucks, then goes to work. "The thing about it is, when you love what you do, you don't really think of it as work," he tells Time.

• Bob Iger, 4:30am: The Disney CEO thinks of the early hours as a "quiet time" before work, for exercising, listening to tunes, reading the paper, checking email, and watching TV—all at the same time. "It's a time I can recharge my batteries a bit," he told the New York Times.
• Brett Yormark, 3:30am: The Brooklyn Nets CEO told SellingPower.com that he's in the office by 4:30am so he can send motivational email to his staff (part of a "who can get up the earliest" competition with his brother, Michael, the ex-CEO of the Florida Panthers). He doesn't roll into work until 7am on weekends.
• Sallie Krawcheck, 4am: The former Citigroup CFO makes stumbling out of bed sound so relaxing. "I brew a cup of coffee, I keep the lights pretty low, I sometimes light a fire in the fireplace," she said in a LinkedIn post, noting that's the time when she's most creative. She admits she's "out of gas by about 8pm."
• Geraldine Laybourne, 6am: The ex-Oxygen Media CEO is out the door by 6:30, sometimes looking for young people to give advice to during her weekly walks in Central Park. "If someone is up early in the morning, then they are serious about life," she has said.

Read the full list at Business Insider. (More lists stories.)