7 Hours With One Of Forbes 30 Under 30

In 7 Hours With, we explore the routines of leading professionals in their space to learn the when, why, where and how they work. In each diary, we will look at what they’re doing at seven different check-ins throughout their day. Nik Sharma runs his own consultancy where he advises DTC brands including beverage powerhouse Cha Cha Matcha, Haus, and Twice. At 15, he ran social content for Pitbull, and was recently lauded in Forbes 30 Under 30.

6:35 AM

Today I woke up around 6:35 AM, which is late because I had a 7 AM workout at Rumble with Austin Rief, founder of Morning Brew. I’ve realized that doing a workout class instead of the classic “drinks” is a much better way to hang out.

I’ve never really been big on a morning routine, but these last 3 weeks I’ve been pushing myself to be up early, sleep on time, sleep without my phone in my room, and also drink a bottle of water with Hydrant (a powdered rapid hydration supplement) before sleeping… it’s really helped me be a morning person.

8:30 AM

I either work from my apartment, or I work at a client’s office, or if I’m really feeling it, I’ll work from a Cha Cha Matcha café in New York City. I don’t drink coffee, sometimes matcha, but usually just Hydrant+, which has the same amount of caffeine as coffee, and no bad breath! If I eat breakfast, it’s after a workout, and usually a vegetable-heavy omelet with some bacon.

Usually get working around 8:30 AM. The first thing I do is open Superhuman and check my important tab. If there are no fires to put out, then I switch to the news tab and quickly get context for the day. After that, I go through my calendar and see if there are any meetings or events that need to be rescheduled/moved/etc for urgent client meetings that pop up, or for some other reason.

I’m a consultant and run my own company called Sharma Consultancy. We invest, advise, and operate the next generation of eCommerce. I work with a portfolio of brands to help them unlock growth in new ways. Some have called me a Swiss Army knife for growth… I’ll take it!

10 AM

I continue working on and pressing projects and sync with clients. Here you can see my standing desk, thanks to Autonomous. I need 2 monitors to get things done efficiently, and I love my really loud gaming keyboard.

My morning work routine changes on a daily basis! There are some normal elements to my morning like wake up time, drinking a ton of water, etc, but there is always something new each morning. I like it that way – sort of like controlled chaos.

In terms of productivity, Hydrant has actually helped a ton. It used to be caffeine in different forms (Red Bull, Monster, coffee, etc.) but I’ve switched over to heavy hydration and dropped coffee. It has enhanced my productivity a lot.

12 PM

I don’t normally eat lunch. I tend to have a dinner every day, in the form of a meeting, and those are usually at places you want to show up hungry for! So I usually eat a snack if I get hungry or a protein shake, but other than that, I save my appetite for dinner, especially if I have a night time workout.

2 PM

Today I am meeting with Roc Nation’s investment arm as well as a new brand launching soon out of Red Antler’s studio. Luckily I have an assistant who helps me with my schedule on a day-to-day basis, so I don’t need to block off time, she knows when I need to just clear my calendar and plug in.

7 PM

I mentally never leave the office, but physically I probably leave around 7 PM for this time of year. Because I’m involved with multiple brands, there are different factors. Some might be in different time zones, some might have product launches, media launches, deadlines, etc. Again, it’s controlled chaos. I love it but it’s not for everyone.

8 PM

If we’re being really honest, if I don’t have a dinner meeting, then I’m ordering Thai food from Postmates. Not just any Thai food though, I usually order from Up Thai or Thai Villa, both verified spots from The Infatuation.

I try to begin my heading to bed process around 9:30 PM, and that’s when work shuts off. Usually I’ll watch a show to chill, and then turn on my Eight Sleep bed so it cools, slide in, and close my eyes by 10.