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White House chief of staff Jeff Zients has an alarm set for 4:20 a.m. But he rarely needs it — he usually beats the buzzer by 10-15 minutes, Axios' Mike Allen and Jim VandeHei write.

• His first two tasks of the day: 20 minutes of transcendental meditation ... followed by four shots of espresso. He does an hour of work, then a workout, and is in the office by 7:30 a.m.

Why it matters: Zients, 58, had a lucrative run as a CEO and chairman (The Advisory Board and Corporate Executive Board) and entrepreneur — including co-founding Call Your Mother, the D.C.-area bagel chain.

• He has stayed upbeat despite running a White House that is in the dumps and ending on a very downbeat note.

President Obama brought Zients into government as deputy budget director and the nation's first chief performance officer — before making him top economic adviser.

• Under President Biden, Zients had the high-stakes, thankless role of COVID response coordinator, helping lead the U.S. back. He took a nine-month break before returning as Biden's second chief of staff.