The 5am Club - Worth it?

[Apo]

After 3 months of a 5am wake up time, I have some observations and comments.
- First, my productivity has been way higher than before. I used to waste a few hours at night since I was sapped of energy after I finished my workday. Doing any work on my side business was not as productive. I’m a lot fresher and can think and plan a lot more in silence and relaxed starting at 5am.
- I read the ‘Morning Miracle’ as part of the morning routine which was inconsistent at first (just tried to wake up earlier to get more done as an experiment) And it helped put things in prospective.
- I’ve read 7 books in the past 3 months. More than all of last year.
- I sleep incredibly deep, and I am very refreshed when I wake up. I am very tired by 8 or 9 and mostly in bed by 9 or 9:30.
- I wake up at 5am every day no matter what. Even weekends. If I want more rest on the weekends, I take a nap.
- I don’t have a set wake up routine but I start with reading for 30 min or more, usually meditate after for 10 min, and then I write in my journal whatever is on my mind to get everything out, then write out what I am grateful for in life, which puts things in prospective for me. I then plan my day with 3 main things I want to accomplish and the action steps to complete them. Finally I work out or play tennis. The workout is what really gets me going for the day.

I didn’t think I would like getting up so early, but I do love it now. It is nice to be up 2 hours before anyone, and having 4 hours before my job has been a good way to feel more in control. I’ll take some time for goals and read longer at times. I also try to move and stretch a bit the first hour to get my mind and body more awake.

Your response is so relatable! I had the same experience! It is hard to start but once you are launched, the benefits are great! Welcome to tue club!

 

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[Olimac21]

If you can manage to sleep around 7-8 hours and you need that space of time to get things done (business, exercise, meditation wise) sure go for it. But if you are getting less than that time to sleep and you feel you have nothing productive to do I would recommend just waking up a bit later.

 

[BigDaddyKane]

I find that my sleep and work schedule WILDLY varies. It’s partly due to the nature of my business and the clients I work with but also has a lot to do with my personality. Often my decisions on sleep and to-do’s are based on how I feel in the moment.

For example, it’s not uncommon for me to work through the night until 3, 4 or even 5am when it’s utterly silent and wake up at 9, 10, and 11am respectively. Usually this happens when I get extremely excited about a new project or campaign I’m working on, either for myself or a client. A few weeks ago, the homies and I worked on a video project for a client between LA, Big Bear and Vegas where we were literally up shooting for like 48 hours. Loved every minute of it.

Other times, I can go on a month long streak of a more “disciplined” routine, in bed by 11pm with 5am wake ups. My general rule is 6 hours of sleep and 1 hour of exercise for every 24 hour cycle. Follow how you feel and get the work done!

 

[business_man]

I once woke up at 11pm. Stayed up all night and went to work the next morning. True story yo.

Hey, I once woke up, started my work day in the morning, worked till 7pm, went to my side hustle in the night club (was helping a friend and working as a bouncer at that time for his club), got back at 3am, get on the call with a client on 4am (I was in Europe and my client was in US), chatted till arround 7 am, after that had a quick chat with my mentor till about 10 am. So I guess it was like 25 hours word day or something... Highly not recommend that Good thing that, besides my nigh club hustle, all the other stuff was happening at my home office, so bed was not too far away, haha

 

[guaava23]

Some of my friends are huge fans of the 5 am club. I used to be a night warrior but with the kids getting older, staying up later (and sleeping later!), I’ve slowly shifted to being a morning person. It’s a bit tough. The coffee, etc doesn’t kick in for a bit but just gotta bust through it!

Best thing for me is to do yoga when I wake up. Brings so much energy into my body. (Do NOT try these unless you’ve been trained/learned to do yoga.) But they are game changers.

Great use of space. I totally agree. My day doesn't really flow until I start moving. I try to stretch a bit in the first 30 min and then after my morning routine, I go to the gym or play tennis. Thanks for adding.

 

[guaava23]

I've noticed huge improvements in my personal life, health, energy and confidence levels as well since starting this. I always used to be a night owl but this has easily been the single biggest improvement I've made in my life.

As Hal mentioned in the "Miracle Morning", the 1st 20-30 days are super hard (especially the 1st 10), but once you get there, it's hard to imagine any other way of life and it just feels natural. I dont even have an alarm now and just use Alexa to turn on the lights to wake me up (and a gentle nudge 5 minutes in followed by a slightly louder "heavy metal" one in 10 haha, but it rarely comes to that).

For my routine I wake up ~5 and exercise / work out for 30 minutes followed by reading and meditation for another 30 before getting down to business for ~3 hours

Weekends are definitely the best part of this routine which keeps me much more focused and motivated to be bold and earn my freedom. This started as a way to earn more time in the day around work hours but I definitely plan to continue this when I go full time with my own ventures.

Nice! I started as an experiment, and to start the day my own way, plus have the quiet uninterrupted time. I have found so many benefits, and I love the weekends since I can do more that has to do with my goals outside of my 'job'. I also sleep so deep and most of the time I sleep my 7-8 hours without waking up and more rested.

 

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[business_man]

I know the 5 am club is totally worth it and I have read The Miracle Morning but lately I have been having trouble going to sleep early / before 11 pm... Especially if I begin to get deeply involved in my work nearing bed time. How do you force yourself to go to sleep when you are actually making decent progress on your work?

In the long run I found that having a bit of regime is better. I try to finish all brain-intensive tasks before 10pm. Do some light excersises ala yoga, meditate, take a cold shower. So I could lay in bed before at arround 11. I am guilty as everyone for working late, especially with difference in time zones with my clients. But I found out that you are more suitable for different tasks at different times. Morning is good for intensive, communicative tasks, so I don't want to lose that productive time 9-12 in the morning. But if the situation requires, finishing the project or have a Skype call in different part of the world - yeh you sit till the next morning, who cares

 

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[Stargazer]

I see you are from New England.

In Old England we tend to still use the old fashioned method of standing on our feet and using our hands to open the refrigerator.

Dan

 

[moneytree3006]

No. Just making a statement based on what usually happens when new people show up and start making shallow posts with video links to drive traffic to their channel.

^this

Anyway, I have a friend who told me all the benefits he had experience since starting to wake up at 5am so I decided to give it a shot.

At first I thought it would make no difference. There are only 24 hours in a day, right? So what's the difference between doing work before starting the day job or after?

I actually found there is a huge difference!

By doing 3 solid hours of work Mon-Fri AM on my passive income project I feel like I'm closer to launching my blog after 1 week than a couple of months trying to squeeze in hours after the day job.

I definitely don't think it's for everyone though. If you have no issues with energy levels or finding motivation after a long day at the day job then it's probably not necessary.

You've got to get tasks done. Doesn't matter if it's in the AM or PM.

 

[Apo]

I wake up at 2. Gives me time to produce videos, work on client copy, meditate, for several hours before anyone else wakes up. Also time to check if there's anything new worth reading on the forum. 5 am is too late for me. It would feel like half the day was wasted.

Ok now I m confused and dont know if you are sarcastic haha.. what time do you go to bed? How many hours of sleep do you need to go through your day without any issue?

 

[Apo]

For my part, I'm wary of the "one fits all" solution. Waking up at 5am isn't some magic pill that will revolutionize everyone's life.

There have to be real, practical reasons for waking up at 5am. You cite some of them, like having a side project you want to dedicate time too but don't have enough time in the "regular" day.

We must keep in mind that Steve Jobs, Tim Cook, Elon Musk, Richard Branson, Oprah Winfrey, etc. they're not them because they wake up at 5am. They wake up at 5 am because they are them.

Yes absolutely agree with you, you re right and I concur, having a reason to wake up

I feel like giving him the benefit of the doubt, he looks like a nice guy

Although, @Mark Fobo , I understand the reaction of @RazorCut and @Lex DeVille , your post is at least "clumsy".

Posting a video and then asking "do you do the same / what are your observation on this?" doesn't make you sound really interested in what we have to say. It sounds more like a question thrown there just to make your post not look like self promotion, justly.

Be more specific. What do you really want to know? Are you worried you do that for nothing? Do you need encouragement? Are you looking for ways to use your morning time better?

You are absolutely right. Thank you for your feedback.
I think the question is, I am struggling to balance social life, girlfriend, work and project. Waking up earlier and being disciplined helped a lot but I am still fine tuning this "routine". Some weeks I run low on energy. I am curious about how people balance everything and if some people used to do it and then stop and why did they.

When it comes to Elon etc, having read few of them biographies, it seems it is a routine they had for many years, so I guess it pays off once you fins what is working for you.

 

[Apo]

6 hours of sleep. I go to bed by 8. Usually I stop working by 3-4pm because my mind gets too foggy. Nothing going on after 8pm in my house. Waking at 2 is automatic. Anything less than 6 hours and I'm too foggy to be productive.

Same here, 6 hours minimum seems to be what I need however I would find it hard to go to bed at 8pm for me considering my job which asks me to travel a lot. How long have you been doing that for now? Is it an effort of doing it or is it just natural now?

 

[Apo]

I usually hit the gym around 3-4pm. Get home, have my OMAD meal then chill till 10pm then bed. I'm just experimenting with going to the gym between 10am and midday then coming back to do work till 5:30 / 6pm. Will try that for a couple of weeks to see if it makes any difference to my productivity.

Going to the gym at 10 works well for me but I do like also doing it first thing in the morning, more like a wake up routine more than hardcore gym.

 

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[Apo]

More importantly than what time you woke up...

How much sh*t did you get done today? And did sleeping in negatively impact communication windows with people who can’t get ahold of you.

China is 13 hours ahead of me, they begin their work day when it’s 7pm here. I have been up all night going back and forth with them on material specs, but also needed to make some calls in the morning to US manufacturers with the info I got from China the night before.

Getting up early every day shows discipline, but keeping your business going, regardless of time is more important to me. Being up early doesn’t magically make things hapoen. You make things happen.

Generally I’m up sometime between 4 and 6. By 5 I’m rolling around restless, even if I went to bed at 2.

In your case I guess it is hard to have a routine as such if you have to deal with different time zones. Do you get tired of having, from what I understand, a schedule that can be random because of driven by who you have to talk to and their time zones? My dad was a long haul commercial pilot, his body clock was all messed up which resulted in tiredness..

 

[Apo]

Hey I agree with B.Cole
This "Wake Up Early" trend feels a bit artificial.

Depends on what my team is doing, where my clients is and a lot of factors. Discipline is important, whatever you wake up at 5 or 9 or 11.

I don't think your success is measured by the time you wake up, but by the things you do.

Most importantly, don't forget to have a sleep, otherwise, productivity drops significantly

Definitely, in my case it was rebalancing the hours in the evening where I was working without being the most productive to the early morning which I now find more beneficial. My situation might be different to yours as I have a 8 to 6 job with some travel involved in Europe every week from London.
I am technically not creating time but using mine more wisely to achieve more but indeed this change of habit combined with social obligations can be tough at times.

 

[Apo]

I was just making a joke about people who one up each other all the time to boost their own ego

I thought so however I wouldn t be surprised some people developing a b

Early to rise
Late to bed

is the motto

I like that!!!

 

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[Apo]

Very true. The benefits of a 5am start for many is that you can be much more focused and productive as distractions are vastly reduced when most of the population are still asleep.

Also, if I shifted my day forward by two hours (went to bed at midnight instead of 10pm and got up at 7am) I would probably not work the extra 2 hours into the evening as that would interfere with family obligations etc.. So that means my effective working day would be cut short.

It's very much an individual thing. We tend to build a flow dependant on our particular business.

When I had a pizzeria many years ago I used to get home late, sometimes after midnight. I was wired and sleep was the last thing on my mind. I would fire up the PC and play CSS with my fellow clan members, sometimes until dawn.

It took me a long time to get out of that late night, late morning habit. A long time after I had a manager in place and didn't spend my evenings at work.

Exactly, I feel I also realised that too late... Just shifting these 2 hours in the morning when distraction is reduced makes a difference. Also when you wake up earlier you have to have a reason pushing you to make good use of this time otherwise you feel like you woke for nothing.

Haha and.. I was also guilty of CSS and Battlefield long hours gaming. I dont regret this time but I could have done so much more if I had used this time differently...

 

[Apo]

its not only how many but when - too. I never really researched that, me personaly just go by the feeling. But I heard that certain hormones are only made between 00.00-02.00 am, so if you miss that, you don't get them. Again I have no idea how it works exactly. And I am sure there are more factors like that.

I feel like I am most productive in the morning and then again in the evening. Noon between 2-3pm till 4-5pm my brain is foggy Probably something like Lex said, he found interesting way battling that

What helps me most is to go out of this state is going for meditation/walk, for about 20-30min. I just figured out I might write a post about this, haha

Please copy the link of your post here. I d be interested to read more of your thoughts!

 

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[business_man]

Please copy the link of your post here. I d be interested to read more of your thoughts!

Not sure if I can write engaging, but hopefully it can give you some value RANT - STOP Hustling!

 

[Apo]

I go to bed at 9:30-10:00 and get up at 5:00 to work out before wife and kids wake up. I am not a morning person so it takes time for my brain to be active which is why I do a physical activity instead of things that take my deep concentration.
Honestly, I think it really depends on a person. I feel like the wake up early routine is in the same category as wearing the same style shirt (uniform) every day to decrease your thinking of selecting what to wear (think of Steve Jobs turtleneck shirt). It is what the "successful people do" theme. Just because you wake up early doesn't mean you will be more productive.

No true you have to adapt it depending on your lifestyle, objectives and whenever you can be the most productive but my opinion is that in the morning you do not have any interruption, less distraction and you haven t been through a long day yet so, for me, it is when I feel the most productive.

 

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[Apo]

Why can't I play the video embedded? Why must I watch it on youtube?

I dont know, something to do with the forum settings I guess. I will look at that. You can still view it on YT though.

 

[Apo]

I could get up at 5am but I don't really work well until about 6pm. I've always pushed the envelope to get up as close to the time I have to do something as possible. I get up at 6:40am every day to take my grandson to school but I come back home and sleep a few more hours. lol Even when I had a lot of girls working for me, I'd get naps in when ever possible.

Yes it all depends on one's lifestyle and routine. A lot of girls working for you? Wanna share more details?? Haha

 

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[Apo]

I agree with this as well, I can usually get more done waking up at 9am, its all in your mindset. I actually get the most done late at night, after 9pm. I think everyone has different focus zones, mine is definitely not the morning.

Totally appreciate that. Interesting to see the difference in opinions on this thread. But yeah it doesn t work for everyone!

 

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[Apo]

So assuming this isn’t just a post to promote your YouTube video I supposed my question to you is... why?

Why do you want to know what other people are doing? Why do you want to poll and ask people what time they get up? Why does it matter to you?

We are all individuals so what works for one won’t work for someone else. For years when I had to be at work at 7am I would get up at 6am. Now I get up at 8-9am. Has it changed what work I get done? Nope. Has it changed my motivation for the day? Again, nope.

So I was obviously closer to be a millionaire or a “great” entrepreneur when I got up earlier... right?

Some people feel like they get nothing done if they sleep in. We are all on our own journey and everyone’s body and life is different.

So again... why does it matter?

Totally fair question Ecom man, I had it earlier in this thread and this was my response:

"I think the question is, I am struggling to balance social life, girlfriend, work and project. Waking up earlier and being disciplined helped a lot but I am still fine tuning this "routine". Some weeks I run low on energy. I am curious about how people balance everything and if some people used to do it and then stop and why did they."

Technically interested in seeing if the new habits I take could be improved or rethink. I appreciate everyone is different, and the responses on this thread is the proof of that, but I think that reading about the different experiences could help me fine tuned my own routine.

 

[Apo]

This is a setting on your YouTube video or account.

I will check. Thanks

 

[Apo]

I wake up around 4:00AM or so. I've fallen off the wagon a bit, but no later than 8AM.

Normally go to bed from 8-9PM. Would go to bed earlier but my favorite food stall opens at 6PM and housekeeping cleans my room at 5PM (I live in a hotel).

Sleeping when the sun goes down is definitely the natural way to do things and works for the vast majority of people.

If you don't believe me, just go backpacking in the wilderness. No phone. No electronics. Way too dangerous to leave camp or really do anything. Especially if you can't get a fire started.

Everyone goes to sleep after sunset once they've been on the trail a day or two. There really isn't another option.

Said this way it actually makes sense when going back to our origins or closer to a more natural way of living. Thanks for this comment, I did not see that this way.

 

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[njord]

#landfill

 

[timmy]

Hi all,

So I recently tried to change my habits and wake up at 5am while going to bed much earlier in the evening. I used my morning time to work on my project, organise my day and thoughts and work out. Results have been good although there are some drawbacks I address in my video.

Are some of you guys doing the same, what is your experience and observations about this?

View: https://youtu.be/5fX1uNEjpW
High achievers tend to rise early. BTW ... not financial in that space (yet) After a while it does become a habit. A big problem when staying overnight with family & friends so I eliminated that from life first. 5-7am is my time to get my head aligned /shit done. Nobody has to look at me or bother me during this high octane ritual. Nobody

 

[Apo]

Oops...Sorry ...click the expand for my post

Hey Timmy thank you for your reply. I m curious though, how did you deal with family/friends? Eliminated?
For me I now only see my very close friends and got rid of the noise. I "only" have a girlfriend that I do intend to keep so dont want to neglect her. Balancing everything is an art haha

 

[Apo]

I wake up between 4:30 -5am everyday and go to the gym. Get back around 6:30am and get my son off to school by 7:35 and back in my home office by 8:10am.

Then I have the rest of my day to work and focus.

The gym is my coffee. I do not drink caffeine so without the gym to get the blood flowing I feel off.

Even on vacation I am up at the crack of dawn. I do some exercises with resistance bands and what not then off for a surf.

With all that said I put my son to bed around 7-7:30pm and start unwinding myself by 8. I will usually read or entertain the wife and then be asleep by 9:30pm.

If works for me and I love it.

I love being up and moving around when most people are sleeping.

I like your routine and would love to achieve the same when I will have a family. This is inspirational and I will work towards this objective! Gym is also a big part of my routine and couldnt spend a week without going at least 4/5 times so I understand your feeling.. (I still need tea/coffee though ha!)