Brian Armstrong's Daily Routine

Build a side project without quitting your job. Brian Armstrong worked a day job until 7:00 PM, then built Coinbase from 8:00 PM to midnight.

By Colin PaceUpdated Sep 29

Remix Run framework

Overview

Brian Armstrong co-founded the cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase in 2012 with Fred Ehrsam and is its CEO. He built it at first on nights and weekends, around a day job.

The day job ran until 7:00 PM. From 8:00 PM to midnight he worked on Coinbase, 3 or 4 nights a week, plus Sunday afternoons. He told The Tim Ferriss Show about those years in 2022. His day now looks different, with 7.5 to 8 hours of sleep, morning stretching, breathwork and exercise, and training 6 days a week, but only the founding version has times.

It's for anyone with a job and an idea that won't wait: fixed hours give the project a real place in the week, not whatever energy is left, and you find out whether it works before you quit. It's a hard pace, so treat it as a season, not a life. Which nights he worked, the Sunday start and the rest of the day's times are our estimates.

Goals

Who's it for

At a glance

7 hr 30 min sleep per night
68 hr work per week
3 meals per day
13 hr eating window

Sleep

52.5 hours/week

Bedtime

12:00 AM

Wake up

7:30 AM

7 hr 30 min per night

Sleep12:00 AM → 7:30 AM · 7 hr 30 min

Work

68 hours/week

Start

9:00 AM

Finish

12:00 AM

13 hr 30 min a day9 hr 30 min day job4 hr side project

Day job9:00 AM → 12:30 PM · 3 hr 30 min

Day job1:00 PM → 7:00 PM · 6 hr

Side project8:00 PM → 12:00 AM · 4 hr

Day job9:00 AM → 12:30 PM · 3 hr 30 min

Day job1:00 PM → 7:00 PM · 6 hr

Side project1:30 PM → 6:00 PM · 4 hr 30 min

Nothing on Sat

Eat

14 hours/week

First meal

7:30 AM

Last meal

7:00 PM

3 meals11:13 eating window2 hr eating

Breakfast 7:30 AM

Lunch 12:30 PM

Dinner 7:00 PM

Breakfast 8:00 AM

Lunch 12:30 PM

Dinner 7:00 PM