Mindy Kaling on her morning routine, resistance to email and best advice Oprah ever gave her

Mindy Kaling likes to keep herself busy.

The creator of "The Sex Lives of College Girls" always has a new project to work on, whether it's an acting role or a film or TV show she's writing and producing. And while it can be a lot to keep track of, Kaling tells CNBC Make It that having a full schedule is by design.

"I like to have a lot of irons on the fire for a number of reasons, both creative and for self preservation, to be totally honest," she says.

Kaling, who is currently promoting a partnership with Sharpie and Paper Mate, says she likes to always be able to have another project to look forward to.

"It's a comfort thing in my line of work," she says. "I never know what's going to hit and what's going to be a miss. Having a lot of different things on the fire sort of mitigates my fear about that."

Below, Kaling shares her morning routine, the downsides of email, as well as the best advice Oprah ever gave her.

Despite juggling numerous TV and film projects, Kaling doesn't use caffeine to fuel her creativity.

"Both of my parents drank coffee their entire lives. I don't know what happened, I just missed the coffee train," she says. "I've seen firsthand how much that ritual affects my writer friends and how it helps them come alive and energizes them in the morning."

Instead, Kaling gets her boost from working out first thing in the morning.

"It can be any exercise," she says. "It can be a Peloton workout or hiking or going for a good steep walk on my treadmill. There's something about doing that and listening to music that activates me creatively and focuses me for the day."

For Kaling, email is a blessing for managing her busy schedule. But the convenience of sending off quick messages can also make it tempting to avoid more direct forms of communication.

"Writers have big egos, and we have delicate egos. I'm an employer, and a lot of times I think my decisiveness over an email can also seem like terseness," she tells Make It. "A mistake I've made has been not knowing 'I shouldn't write this [in an email], I should make this a phone call.'"

Picking up the phone is particularly important when there's a difference of opinion, she says.

"When you disagree with someone over electronic communication, I think that's where it gets a little tricky in terms of tone," Kaling says. "I think the expectation with women and our communications is that we add a lot of disclaimer language to distance ourselves from our opinions. I feel like often I add a lot of unnecessary exclamation points to show that I'm an excited, upbeat, positive person."

Throughout her career, there's one piece of advice that Kaling has returned to more than any other.

"Oprah told me a quote once — and this is really name dropper-y — it's from Maya Angelou: 'Do the best you can until you know better. And when you know better, do better.' It has really profoundly affected me and the way that I work."

As a public-facing person who is trying "to do the best I can as a mom, as an employer, as a writer," Kaling says she has two main takeaways from the quote.

"One is forgiveness of yourself for not being hyper-prescient about everything going on in the world and all the changes going on in the world," she says. "It's also knowing your responsibility as someone who has a voice that is very public and that people listen to that when you do know better, you should try to do better."

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