I tried Trump's daily routine for a week - and I don't know how he does it

I've been experimenting with different morning routines for the past year or so, ever since I consulted a sleep doctor for a story. Sometimes I wake up at 6 a.m. and head to a yoga class; other times I wake up at 7 a.m. and start getting ready for work.

On the first day of the experiment, I woke up to a 5:30 alarm, dragged myself to the couch, opened my laptop, and found a YouTube channel with streaming cable news.

An hour later, I woke up again. Apparently I'd fallen asleep while watching the news — not very presidential, I know. I brewed a cup of black tea and made it through another few hours.

On the four mornings that followed, I managed to stay awake, provided I had some caffeine. (Trump's drink of choice is Diet Coke, but cracking open a can before dawn seemed vaguely nauseating.)

Starting my day at 5:30 a.m. and leaving for work around 10 a.m. meant I had over four hours of executive time. That's a lot of hours.

But every day they seemed to fly by. I watched Fox and Friends; I tweeted links to interesting articles I'd read; I prepared to-do lists for the workday ahead; on some days I made phone calls to sources. Then I'd look up and realize it was already 9:15 a.m.

One morning a friend asked what I'd learned watching the news — and I couldn't remember a single piece of information.

Maybe if I hadn't been multitasking, or maybe if I hadn't been so sleepy while watching, I would have absorbed more. As it was, I felt silly and frustrated about having wasted precious time I could have spent resting or devoting my full attention to work.

My typical work hours are about 9:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., so when the experiment began, I was somewhat apprehensive about squeezing everything in between 11 a.m. and 6 p.m.

I should have known better. A few years ago, I published a story about cutting my work hours and my grand conclusion was that I was just as productive as usual.

This time around? Much the same conclusion. Maybe knowing I was crunched for time prompted me to speed things up and stay focused.

But just like the last time I cut back my work hours, I felt guilty. So guilty about ditching my hardworking colleagues that I never really left at 6 p.m. like I was supposed to, instead leaving closer to 6:30.

Confession time: I never succeeded in watching a few hours of cable news at night or going to bed at midnight.

Trump may or may not be what scientists call a "short sleeper," meaning he only needs four to six hours of shut-eye a night. I am definitely not. I rarely make it past 11 p.m., unless I'm reading something riveting.

Most nights, I tried watching Fox and ended up dozing off around 11:30 p.m. (noticing a pattern?), again with no memory of anything I'd learned.

On Sunday — when I had the freedom to craft my own day — I took a nap. Then I took another one. Trump's daily routine is altogether enervating. It's decidedly not for me.

One thing I missed during this experiment was exercise — I couldn't skimp on executive time, so I skipped my morning yoga class for a week. Even in the days that followed, it was hard to get back into a workout routine.

That said, it's always worth knowing what works and what doesn't for you. I'm continuing to experiment with different morning and daily routines — eventually I'll find one that leaves me feeling energized and productive.