Disclosed is a self-heating disk drive that comprises a voice coil motor (VCM), a spindle motor, and a temperature sensor. The VCM includes a VCM coil and the VCM is configured to move an actuator having a head attached to a distal end of the actuator. The spindle motor includes a plurality of spindle coils to spin a disk of the disk drive. The temperature sensor is used to read an internal temperature of the disk drive. Circuitry is configured to: command the application of current to the VCM coil without loading the head onto the disk and to the spindle coils of the spindle motor in a manner so as not to spin the disk; and, if the internal temperature reading reaches a pre-determined spindle temperature, the spindle motor is allowed to spin-up the disk.