I'm a CNN anchor and senior analyst. I start my day with a 2 a.m. wake-up and end it fighting to stay awake for my kids.

This as-told-to effort is based connected a speech pinch Audie Cornish, the 46-year-old CNN elder expert and anchor of "CNN This Morning pinch Audie Cornish," and the co-host of the network's podcast "Engagement Party." Cornish is based successful Washington, DC. The pursuing has been edited for magnitude and clarity.

I joined NPR successful 2006 and began hosting the "Weekend Edition" Sunday show successful 2011 earlier co-hosting "All Things Considered" during the 2012 predetermination year.

I've been astatine CNN since 2022, and I started hosting "CNN This Morning" successful 2025. I'm an analyst, which intends I show up connected predetermination nighttime and talk astir what's going on.

I'm besides an anchor of a greeting news show that airs astatine 6 a.m., and a podcaster. My caller show, "Engagement Party," is co-hosted by my friend Ari Shapiro.

I deterioration a batch of hats. Here's a time successful my life successful Washington, DC.

I commencement my time astatine 2:15 a.m.

I don't portion coffee — I conscionable request immoderate clip to aftermath up. I glimpse astatine the papers connected my phone. A ablution is my cup of coffee.

I get successful the ablution astatine 2:30 a.m. and past time off for activity correct after.

I caput into the agency astatine 3 a.m.

It takes astir half an hr to thrust there, and erstwhile I get there, I request thing successful my strategy to get going.

In the first six months of the job, I ne'er ate earlier the show. I felt truthful tally down, and it was very hard. What I've learned from a greeting displacement is that what you do first point sets disconnected a domino effect for the remainder of the day.

I person a gathering pinch the squad astatine 3:30 a.m.

We talk what will beryllium connected the show, and I stock my ideas for supplementing what they've found. There's fact-checking, and we reside each those questions.

I besides get my hairsbreadth and constitution done during this time. I return the Zoom telephone from the constitution chair.

I'm done pinch glitter astatine 4:30 a.m.

Then I settee successful for my office-kitchen breakfast. I put together the world's saddest bootleg omelet, which is made little sad by small sprouts connected apical and a cucumber slice. It makes it look for illustration a due breakfast.

I ever person immoderate benignant of tea. That's the only caffeine I drink, really. I'll person either an Earl Grey aliases a Jasmine Pearl. I emotion the process of making it.

I publication the investigation shared pinch maine while drinking my beverage astatine astir 5 a.m.

I deliberation astir the stories we're going to do, the things the guests mightiness say, and the things I person to remember, for illustration "oh, I request to fact-check this, aliases I person to opportunity this aliases that."

I get into a travel authorities of work, moreover though it looks for illustration I'm conscionable having tea. It's very helpful.

I commencement filming for the show astatine 6 a.m.

Once we get into the show, it's live, and location are aggregate group chatting. I image it for illustration I'm astatine the meal array and I'm checking successful connected everybody like, "What's happening successful your world? Let maine show you what I've learned." I look astatine it arsenic my clip to link pinch the audience.

I deliberation astir each the parents getting their kids fresh for school, each the group who get up early to spell to the gym, the group astatine the airdrome astatine the bar, the group who are stuck successful places they don't want to be, and I effort to make that hr really absorbing and nosy and to wrestle pinch analyzable ideas successful a nosy way.

As soon arsenic the show is complete astatine 7 a.m., I person a meeting

I do socials wherever I'm talking to group again. I look astatine that arsenic its ain shorter show, but there's an assemblage location that I cognize is scrolling first point successful the morning, and they want to cognize what's going on, too.

I person to pivot my encephalon aft wrapping the greeting show, and it feels for illustration intelligence origami. I person to scramble and past deliberation of wholly different things, particularly for a popular civilization show for illustration "Engagement Party."

On a podcast day, I hole from 7 a.m. to 8 a.m.

At 8 a.m., I'm backmost to hairsbreadth and makeup, and I time off the agency by 8:30 a.m. to get to the podcast location.

I person to do my hairsbreadth and constitution again because 5 hours aft getting it done the first time, I look for illustration The Joker.

By 9 a.m., I'm connected section 4 of my day

That's the beef of my day. Most group are conscionable getting up, and I'm already connected my 2nd show, which I deliberation is beautiful communal for this benignant of job.

Tuesdays are my busiest time erstwhile we record "Engagement Party," but we besides grounds interviews passim the week. It whitethorn beryllium that an writer aliases a comedian tin only talk to you connected Wednesday astatine 1 p.m. Now, connected Wednesday astatine 1 p.m., I should beryllium gone, but I don't want to move down the opportunity to person these conversations.

I commencement taping "Engagement Party" astatine 9 a.m. From 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., we're checking successful pinch the editors from the greeting show and the podcast squad for the adjacent day's work.

At noon — if I'm fortunate — I get to leave

My only nutrient truthful acold was astatine 5 a.m. By then, I'm starving, exhausted, and falling asleep. Still she rises!

I want 30 minutes of sunlight each day, which whitethorn sound for illustration a debased amount, but mounting a target for illustration that feels achievable. That mightiness mean getting retired of the car, putting my container down, past stepping a fewer blocks to consciousness the sun connected my face.

I effort to unplug from the news during the time aft finishing my talk shows, but I person to fig retired what to do pinch myself. For a nighttime owl, that's a small spot of a struggle. Mostly, I want to nap, but I don't nap. There's a full creation to napping, and the first fewer times I tried, I slept excessively long. Now, I only nap connected Friday afternoons erstwhile my assemblage quits.

The remainder of the week, I effort to enactment awake — tally errands, spell to the gym, effort to find a measurement to return attraction of myself earlier my kids get home, but I person very agelong days without sleep, and I haven't really solved that.

I locomotion into a buzzsaw of family erstwhile I travel location astir 3 p.m.

My family clip is incredibly important, moreover much truthful than my sleep. On the days I tin exercise, I person after-care for my kids. On days I don't, I locomotion to schoolhouse and prime them up astatine 3:30 p.m.

I don't really want to show them "Mommy's excessively tired," truthful if they want to play, I want to play pinch them. If they want to show maine astir thing they're watching aliases listening to, there's thing successful the world that will extremity maine from doing that.

By 4 aliases 5 p.m., I deterioration amber sunglasses to artifact each the bluish light

The glasses awesome to my body, "You person to spell to slumber soon."

We person dinner, past bath clip astatine 7 p.m.

If I miss my kids' breakfast, I don't want to miss their bedtime. This is simply a really typical age: They're betwixt 6 and 10, and I'm ne'er going to get that clip back. I'm ne'er going to deliberation connected my deathbed, "I really wish I publication that past article online," or, "I really wish I publication that past tweet," because I'm going to beryllium gladsome that I person my kids astatine bedtime, moreover if I'm exhausted.

I spell to slumber astatine 8 p.m. aliases 8:30 p.m.

I don't do thing to decompress aft the day. I dishonesty location for illustration a instrumentality that's trying to powerfulness down, and my encephalon is simply a spinning formation ball.

However, I do usage an app called Endel, which plays typical euphony for sleep. My downshift is done relaxing sounds: birds, the ocean, and James Blake. That's what I request to powerfulness down the machine.

A batch of my individual situation is reconciling my ambition pinch self-care, being protective of my energy, and knowing that power is finite.

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