Take the Plunge Like Melinda French Gates

11 Jul 2025 · 0 min

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Excerpt from a short interview where Melinda French Gates shares a personal efficiency habit: she does something hard within the first hour each morning (examples: a cold plunge she has done for 10 years, and pushing through a hard Peloton ride). She reports that completing a difficult task early makes the rest of the day feel easier. The clip includes a specific anecdote about a 41-degree morning in Seattle.

Any life hacks, any little shortcuts that you have that sort of help you be more efficient, get through the day professionally, personally, it doesn't matter. I'm always curious. I'm always curious. Little, little, little hints and helps.
I try to do something hard first thing in the morning. Not like, not in the first 10 minutes, but in the first hour. If I do something hard before I get on a flight or before I go into the workplace, it makes everything else less hard. For example, I have been going in the cold plunge for 10 years. The other morning, it was 41 degrees in Seattle and it was colder outside than it was in my cold plunge. But I still went in the cold plunge and believe me, I did not want to. But later in the day, everything else was less hard. Or, you know, I'll grid it out on a really hard peloton ride, right? Like, you know, just when you don't think there's any gas left in the tank, you're like, okay, I'm going to do one more minute. And so you push through that hard thing and then it's like, oh, okay. Things later in the day are easier.
Sa.