Is waking up early worth it?

[MTF]

I tried both.

Years ago I used to stay up until 2-3 am and got up around noon-1 pm. As far as I remember, I followed this routine when I was building my most successful business. And it worked. I wrote a lot of good stuff back then during my late night sessions.

But eventually I got extremely tired of losing so much daylight. I switched to the other extreme and started going to bed at 9 pm and waking up around 5:30-6 am. This is the routine I keep to this day (it varies a little depending on where I am and the time of the year) and it's WAY, WAY better for me personally. By 11 am I have all the most important stuff done for the day.

I don't think that everyone needs to wake up early as some operate better at night. But I'd definitely recommend testing it over at least several months.

 

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[Mathuin]

Everyone feels differently about this.

Try it and see for yourself.

What you get done in the hours you're awake is more important than what time you're awake.

 

[biophase]

I think you have to follow your own body’s rhythm. I am a late sleeper and I wake up around 9 or 10 AM every day.

I have not had a job for over 20 years now, so I can sleep and wake up whenever I want. However my body seems to default back to this sleep cycle all the time.

For example when I go to Europe for a month and I come back to the States my jet lag makes me sleepy at 8 PM. So usually the week after I get back from a vacation I will sleep anywhere from 8 PM to 10 PM and wake up from 5AM to 6 AM.

But eventually on about a week I get back to the same old rhythm of sleeping around 1 AM. To me, this is my body telling me that this is my normal sleep time.

 

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[No.1]

 

[Guest103804]

Hiya guys, just wanted to hear your thoughts on the matter.

What sparked my curiosity with this is almost all extremely successful people wake up very early(04:00-06:00am), very few of them wake up at 08:00am-10:00am. Personally, I'm someone who loves to stay up late and wake up late. I get most of my things done after 8pm, which means I go to bed usually at 01:00am-02:00am and wake up at around 09:00-09:30am.

Some of the guys in my country who I personally admire advocate waking up between 04:00am-06:00am. They all say that it gives them the mental edge over their competitors which is a great point. It gives some discipline too. But you also got all these life coaches and "gurus" on YouTube who promote it too.

Some doctors say that staying up after 11pm-12am is unhealthy for you because it messes up with your circadian rhytm(your body's natural sleep cycle). It can also mess up with your hormonal levels too.

Plus, it's more natural for us to wake up when the sun comes up.

Any of you who see any benefits in waking up early?

I have recently switched from getting up at 7.30 AM to 4.15 AM and have never got this much done or felt so positive, so yes is worked for me.

 

[Damien C]

I think getting up early benefits those who have standard 9-5 ish jobs. It allows you to prioritise and work on your own goals and ambitions before you are derailed and hit with everyone else's priorities. Once you're on your own schedule, maybe, maybe not? Only you will know this.

Personally I have never been a fan of exercise first up in the morning. I've tried it, I hate it. My body hates it, and I simply don't enjoy it. I do it at the end of the day to wind down after a stressful day. I don't care what the science is, or what some personal growth blogger says about their "miracle morning" - that works for them? Fantastic! I am sleeping in.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

Everyone feels differently about this.

Try it and see for yourself.

What you get done in the hours you're awake is more important than what time you're awake.

Ultimately this is the answer.

What did happen to him?

As far as I know, he's doing well. Or did something happen?

 

[Guyfieri5]

He had cancer in 2016, likely a result of his hustlecore lifestyle.

David Goggins would jump in an ice-cold lake and swim ten miles after reading that article lol.

And I agree. People who engage in hustle culture usually put rest last and suffer major health consequences as a result. If you're waking up at 3:30 AM to rise and grind but went to bed the night before at 11 PM you're in for a world of hurt.

 

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[Andy Daniels]

It's different for everyone. I wake up at 6am daily and I love it.

 

[Kak]

No alarm clock here. Usually up around 7 naturally. Normally asleep by midnight.

 

[Xeon]

The author of Miracle Morning raved in his book about waking up at 5 am or earlier daily, but what happened to him in the end?

All things in moderation....

 

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[Mathuin]

Spot on dude. You know, I'm just curious since you see all these gurus who preach waking up at 04:00am because some billionaires wake up at that time. And it seems to be a common thread with very successful people.

I understand where you’re coming from.
It’s very personal.

Jeff Bezos and Mark Cuban wake up at 6:30.

Some of the “professional motivators” wake up at 4am. I think a lot of them do it just to say they wake up at 4am.

MJ stated in the books he wasn’t a morning person and it was one of his main motivations for becoming Unscripted .

All depends on the individual.

 

[David Fitz]

I think waking up early is pushed by the self development industry. You don't have to wake up early to be successful. We're all different and some people do their best work late at night, others early in the morning. As long as you don't wake up at a time where you feel guilty, I think you're fine.

 

[Richy Rich]

I think it depends partly on where you live and the time of the year. I live in a location where the sunrise is very early and that makes it pretty easy for me to get up at 5-5:30am. But when I lived in another city where the sunrise was later, I found it much harder to get up early.

Now I'm getting up earlier, I find my mind is much sharper earlier in the day than it is at night. And I also prefer going to bed earlier because some of the most important sleep occurs between 10pm - 2am.

 

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[MTF]

David Goggins would jump in an ice-cold lake and swim ten miles after reading that article lol.

And I agree. People who engage in hustle culture usually put rest last and suffer major health consequences as a result. If you're waking up at 3:30 AM to rise and grind but went to bed the night before at 11 PM you're in for a world of hurt.

I know that it's a joke but David Goggins has been pushing his limits for decades. You don't wake up and kill it all the time. You build your physical and mental resilience. Also, even Goggins acknowledges the need for rest days.

Having said that, most people nowadays are weak and even exercising three times a week is too hard for them and they worry about overtraining (lol).

I think it's the same with work. People can take more work and feel great because they've built up to it. Nobody is saying that you start from zero to working 12 hours a day. And people who criticize those who work 12 hours don't understand that sometimes people who work so much don't see it as work at all. To them, common ways to relax like watching TV would be like work.

I was at the theater yesterday watching Oscar nominated shorts (by the way, most of it was F*cking garbage) and spent there 4 hours. I don't like watching movies (let alone shitty crap like that) so these 4 hours were way more tiring to me than writing for 4 hours.

LMAO. reminded me of the time I ran everyday in the morning for like 2 months without breaks after reading Goggins. In hindsight, it was one of the dumbest and funniest thing I could've done. To give you background, I was a lifter at the time and never knew running. Like "running" was not even apart of my vocabulary. Following "hustler" culture fed my ego... the personal image of being a "savage" and "a lone wolf" gave me adrenaline like I was off some kind of drug. Atleast, until my ankles gave out and reality throat-punch me one morning. That day I was limping to the bathroom, constipated out of my mind due to a lack of fiber diet. Sitting down and looking at my traumatized shaking feet, that was about to go for a 5 mile run, I knew sh*t had to stop. Or else I might end up not walking in a week or two. That day I learnt what moderation meant. And what blind faith really is.

This is a very typical example of people misunderstanding Goggins. I'm glad to hear you didn't F*ck yourself up permanently. Still, this isn't Goggins's fault. He states it VERY clearly in his book:

there is no need for you to find your own impossible task and achieve it on the fast track. This is not about changing your life instantly, it’s about moving the needle bit by bit and making those changes sustainable. That means digging down to the micro level and doing something that sucks every day. Even if it’s as simple as making your bed, doing the dishes, ironing your clothes, or getting up before dawn and running two miles each day. Once that becomes comfortable, take it to five, then ten miles.

I started (barefoot) running a few weeks ago. My first run was just 10 minutes. I keep adding 1-3 minutes to each session and I run just once a week until my body adapts.

Yesterday I ran for 22 minutes which was a 4-minute jump from my last run (I should have stopped at minute 21 but was close to home and wanted to run all the way). I can feel my left Achilles today so I won't run until it recovers (since I'm running once a week, there's plenty of time for that).

Yet, I'm a huge fan of Goggins and from my perspective, I'm doing EXACTLY what he would do. I started at 10 minutes just a few weeks ago. If I keep adding 3 minutes to each run, in just a few months I'll go from 10 minutes to a full hour of running.

My run yesterday was 3.35 km. In no time I'll get to running 10 km in a single session which to me is a lot. And if I decide I like it so much I want to continue, over the years I can probably build it up so that I'll be able to run, say 50-100 km each week. This is how you're becoming your best self intelligently. You don't just go out and run 100 km right away because yes, you're right, you'll destroy yourself.

My point is that you don't become a "savage" overnight. Nobody, not even Goggins, can start a new sport and do it every single day for hours on end without F*cking themselves up.

 

[starttoday123]

I've realized it's more important to get the work done that I need to and the right work not action faking work vs. just what time I wake up. Separately, there's the wake up time that makes me happy which I've learned is 5am so I've put in the work to make 5am my wake up time. That said, I've had plenty 5am mornings I spent action faking so I don't let myself get ahead of myself anymore about what time I wake up even if it's 5am. This is my two cents for what it's worth though because I'm in the skill building stage.

I've been waking up at 5am for 6 months or so finally after reading a lot about how to do it and implementing what I learned. There were like 2 years of failure for me where I just couldn't wake up at 5am even though I set my alarm for 5am every day lol.

You're right too that getting up before the sun has really good scientific benefits. One of my pillars of staying really healthy is I watch at least a bit of the sunrise and sunset most days and notice it really improves my health.

 

[cool]

Definitely

Some doctors say that staying up after 11pm-12am is unhealthy for you because it messes up with your circadian rhytm(your body's natural sleep cycle). It can also mess up with your hormonal levels too.

True

Sleep at 9, wake up at 3.

Or Sleep at 10, wake up at 4.

Some might even stretch it to 11, & wake up at 5. But I prefer the former ones.

 

[Guyfieri5]

I tried both.

Years ago I used to stay up until 2-3 am and got up around noon-1 pm. As far as I remember, I followed this routine when I was building my most successful business. And it worked. I wrote a lot of good stuff back then during my late night sessions.

But eventually I got extremely tired of losing so much daylight. I switched to the other extreme and started going to bed at 9 pm and waking up around 5:30-6 am. This is the routine I keep to this day (it varies a little depending on where I am and the time of the year) and it's WAY, WAY better for me personally. By 11 am I have all the most important stuff done for the day.

I don't think that everyone needs to wake up early as some operate better at night. But I'd definitely recommend testing it over at least several months.

I've found waking up early in the morning is the same for me. I'm way more productive during the day knowing the most important tasks are done already. 6 AM is probably the sweet spot as I could never quite adjust to 5 AM or under.

 

[Jobless]

I believe if you go outside daily and walk / exercise in the sunlight, you will have a good circadian rhythm.

I personally don't use an alarm clock or go to bed at a set time. I just sleep when tired and wake up naturally. Magical rest, low stress.

 

[K1 Lambo]

I understand where you’re coming from.
It’s very personal.

Jeff Bezos and Mark Cuban wake up at 6:30.

Some of the “professional motivators” wake up at 4am. I think a lot of them do it just to say they wake up at 4am.

MJ stated in the books he wasn’t a morning person and it was one of his main motivations for becoming Unscripted .

All depends on the individual.

Plus these guys got to be at the office at 08:00am-09:00am so it suits them better.

 

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[K1 Lambo]

I've found waking up early in the morning is the same for me. I'm way more productive during the day knowing the most important tasks are done already. 6 AM is probably the sweet spot as I could never quite adjust to 5 AM or under.

06:00am is probably more sustainable long term. Going to bed at 10pm or 11pm is not so difficult. But going to bed at 8pm or 9pm is much harder, especially if you're an active person.

 

[WillHurtDontCare]

Hiya guys, just wanted to hear your thoughts on the matter.

What sparked my curiosity with this is almost all extremely successful people wake up very early(04:00-06:00am), very few of them wake up at 08:00am-10:00am. Personally, I'm someone who loves to stay up late and wake up late. I get most of my things done after 8pm, which means I go to bed usually at 01:00am-02:00am and wake up at around 09:00-09:30am.

Some of the guys in my country who I personally admire advocate waking up between 04:00am-06:00am. They all say that it gives them the mental edge over their competitors which is a great point. It gives some discipline too. But you also got all these life coaches and "gurus" on YouTube who promote it too.

Some doctors say that staying up after 11pm-12am is unhealthy for you because it messes up with your circadian rhytm(your body's natural sleep cycle). It can also mess up with your hormonal levels too.

Plus, it's more natural for us to wake up when the sun comes up.

Any of you who see any benefits in waking up early?

Pick some big goal that you have.

Try waking up early every day for 3 weeks.

Then answer that question for yourself.

 

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[Xeon]

What did happen to him?

He had cancer in 2016, likely a result of his hustlecore lifestyle.

 

[Gina_28]

Waking up early is absolutely beneficial. But it is just hard to implement sometimes I used to wake up around 5:00 in university and do my homework before classes. And I can say it took less time and efforts than trying to learn something in the evening. Much more effective. So it is worth it.
Unfortunately, I didn`t practice it last couple years, thanks for the reminder, haha

 

[AnasHarn]

There is a good book about this subject, I dont know how scientific it is or if it's total BS, but it talks about chronotypes and the ability to wake up early or stay up late and the habits associated to each chronotype...
I can totaly see it in action, I am an early bird who can wake up early but need to sleep early, my wife on the other side can stay up very late and no wake up early morning routine can suit her lifestyle.

 

[Guest103804]

What is the total hours you sleep daily ?

I would say between 6.5 and 7.5

 

[K1 Lambo]

Waking up early is absolutely beneficial. But it is just hard to implement sometimes I used to wake up around 5:00 in university and do my homework before classes. And I can say it took less time and efforts than trying to learn something in the evening. Much more effective. So it is worth it.
Unfortunately, I didn`t practice it last couple years, thanks for the reminder, haha

For sure, because you're in a fresh state of mind when you wake up. Waking up early will also mean less distractions like your phone, messages, friends etc. Which means you become more effective in the long run.

 

[Guyfieri5]

I know that it's a joke but David Goggins has been pushing his limits for decades. You don't wake up and kill it all the time. You build your physical and mental resilience. Also, even Goggins acknowledges the need for rest days.

Having said that, most people nowadays are weak and even exercising three times a week is too hard for them and they worry about overtraining (lol).

I think it's the same with work. People can take more work and feel great because they've built up to it. Nobody is saying that you start from zero to working 12 hours a day. And people who criticize those who work 12 hours don't understand that sometimes people who work so much don't see it as work at all. To them, common ways to relax like watching TV would be like work.

I was at the theater yesterday watching Oscar nominated shorts (by the way, most of it was f*cking garbage) and spent there 4 hours. I don't like watching movies (let alone shitty crap like that) so these 4 hours were way more tiring to me than writing for 4 hours.



This is a very typical example of people misunderstanding Goggins. I'm glad to hear you didn't f*ck yourself up permanently. Still, this isn't Goggins's fault. He states it VERY clearly in his book:



I started (barefoot) running a few weeks ago. My first run was just 10 minutes. I keep adding 1-3 minutes to each session and I run just once a week until my body adapts.

Yesterday I ran for 22 minutes which was a 4-minute jump from my last run (I should have stopped at minute 21 but was close to home and wanted to run all the way). I can feel my left Achilles today so I won't run until it recovers (since I'm running once a week, there's plenty of time for that).

Yet, I'm a huge fan of Goggins and from my perspective, I'm doing EXACTLY what he would do. I started at 10 minutes just a few weeks ago. If I keep adding 3 minutes to each run, in just a few months I'll go from 10 minutes to a full hour of running.

My run yesterday was 3.35 km. In no time I'll get to running 10 km in a single session which to me is a lot. And if I decide I like it so much I want to continue, over the years I can probably build it up so that I'll be able to run, say 50-100 km each week. This is how you're becoming your best self intelligently. You don't just go out and run 100 km right away because yes, you're right, you'll destroy yourself.

My point is that you don't become a "savage" overnight. Nobody, not even Goggins, can start a new sport and do it every single day for hours on end without f*cking themselves up.

Couldn't agree more with the overtraining part. It's a myth if you're eating right, getting good sleep, and you know what you're doing with the equipment. Call me fatphobic, but I go to the gym every day at 5 AM for a solid hour and a half lol. Started years ago with once a week, then two, then three, so on. It's about building up mental resilience for sure. Also, I love Goggins lol, he's just hilarious sometimes.

 

[K1 Lambo]

I know that it's a joke but David Goggins has been pushing his limits for decades. You don't wake up and kill it all the time. You build your physical and mental resilience. Also, even Goggins acknowledges the need for rest days.

Having said that, most people nowadays are weak and even exercising three times a week is too hard for them and they worry about overtraining (lol).

I think it's the same with work. People can take more work and feel great because they've built up to it. Nobody is saying that you start from zero to working 12 hours a day. And people who criticize those who work 12 hours don't understand that sometimes people who work so much don't see it as work at all. To them, common ways to relax like watching TV would be like work.

I was at the theater yesterday watching Oscar nominated shorts (by the way, most of it was f*cking garbage) and spent there 4 hours. I don't like watching movies (let alone shitty crap like that) so these 4 hours were way more tiring to me than writing for 4 hours.



This is a very typical example of people misunderstanding Goggins. I'm glad to hear you didn't f*ck yourself up permanently. Still, this isn't Goggins's fault. He states it VERY clearly in his book:



I started (barefoot) running a few weeks ago. My first run was just 10 minutes. I keep adding 1-3 minutes to each session and I run just once a week until my body adapts.

Yesterday I ran for 22 minutes which was a 4-minute jump from my last run (I should have stopped at minute 21 but was close to home and wanted to run all the way). I can feel my left Achilles today so I won't run until it recovers (since I'm running once a week, there's plenty of time for that).

Yet, I'm a huge fan of Goggins and from my perspective, I'm doing EXACTLY what he would do. I started at 10 minutes just a few weeks ago. If I keep adding 3 minutes to each run, in just a few months I'll go from 10 minutes to a full hour of running.

My run yesterday was 3.35 km. In no time I'll get to running 10 km in a single session which to me is a lot. And if I decide I like it so much I want to continue, over the years I can probably build it up so that I'll be able to run, say 50-100 km each week. This is how you're becoming your best self intelligently. You don't just go out and run 100 km right away because yes, you're right, you'll destroy yourself.

My point is that you don't become a "savage" overnight. Nobody, not even Goggins, can start a new sport and do it every single day for hours on end without f*cking themselves up.

For sure. You got to play to your limits. Overtraining is all relative. For someone who's jacked or is a bodybuilder and they've been training for 7+ years, 2 hours 4-6 a week may not be overtraining for them, but it might be for a dude who's just started and it's his first week. Eventually you just build up to it.

Same thing in business. You eventually build up to it and it just doesn't feel like work anymore.

 

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[Chapas]

I usually wake up at 6 am. I spend the first hour on my morning routines and then I get to work. Before lunch I have already done more than I usually would throughout a full workday.

There is a special feeling, sitting at 9 in the morning, observing people arrive at their respectable workplaces and knowing that you already managed to get SO MUCH done while the rest of the country still even haven't had their first morning coffee at the office yet.

I used to hate mornings. Now they are my favorite part of the day.

 

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