Brian Chesky's Daily Routine

Brian Chesky, a RISD-trained designer, co-founded Airbnb in 2008 and has led it as CEO since 2010. His daily schedule runs against the usual advice. He starts slowly, and his best ideas come late at night, around 10:00 PM.

Mornings begin with cardio or a walk with the dog, and nothing goes in his calendar before 10:00 AM. The rest of the day runs on a clock, with lunch, a snack and dinner at set times and a trainer session in the evening. His late block alternates between personal time and heads-down work. He walked through it in a 2025 video, reported by Fortune.

It suits people whose sharpest thinking comes late and whose days belong to other people: teams, meetings, a calendar that fills up before they do. It also suits anyone who has quietly noticed that their good ideas show up after dinner, not at 9:00 AM.

You get an unhurried morning, a workday that ends on time and a protected stretch at night for the work only you can do. Try one late evening a week with nothing scheduled and see what turns up. The end of the workday, the workout time and the weekend are our estimates.