From Night Owl to Early Riser: My Journey to the 5AM Club
How I became a recovered night-owl and joined the 5am club.
I have never been an early bird. Never. Whenever my mom would wake me up to go to elementary school, I would literally be on the brink of tears. That’s a not-so-fun fact that my family makes fun of to this day. Later in life I discovered that I was definitely the opposite of an early bird: a night owl.
The Allure of Night: My Night Owl Past
I don’t really know why, but I always found myself drawn to the late nights rather than the early mornings. It got to the extreme that, at one point while studying for the bar, I spent 2 weeks where my days were flipped. I would be so deep in studying that I wouldn’t go to bed until 7 or 8 in the morning after an all-nighter. Then I’d head to bed at sunrise, wake up around 3 in the afternoon and do it again. It was crazy, but I felt really productive.
The Shift: Why I Wanted to Change
The problem is that in most “standard” circumstances (such as when working a 9–5 job), early birds have it better than night owls. If you have a 9–5 job, you can’t decide to stay up too late or otherwise you risk being late for work the next day. And guess what? Being a lawyer is one of those professions that requires you to work 9–5.
So, I decided to try being an early bird instead. Sometimes I still have the urge to punch the pillow when that alarm goes off. But waking up early has helped my productivity so much that I will continue to do it for as long as I can.
Here’s how I was able to do it, and how you can do it too.
Five Steps to Redefine Your Morning Routine
1. Have an official bedtime.
I’m not even kidding. I know this sounds a bit childish, but there is no going around it. If you want to be able to get up early and be productive, you still need your 6–8 hours of good sleep. You may be like “oh, I don’t need that, I can go for ages on 5 hours of sleep”. Well, good for you, but you may be leaving some productivity on the table.
The actual bedtime will vary for everyone, but I want to get up at 5 a.m., I have to go to bed by 10:30 p.m., or 11 p.m. at the latest. I have a bad habit of having to listen to something while falling asleep, so it takes me a bit longer. After a few days, however, it gets way easier to quickly fall asleep around your set bedtime.
2. Have a bedtime routine that helps you wind down.
You already know that you should avoid screen time or doing any brain-stimulating activities before going to bed — almost every article out there touting the benefits of sleep will tell you that. Don’t get me wrong, I do agree with that advice. But life doesn’t always afford you the luxury to set aside 1 hour before bed to read a book or meditate or do a relaxing activity. What you can do, is try to not spend every last waking minute exposed to your computer or phone screen. Emphasis on try.
As long as you follow all the other steps in this article, you should be just fine. One thing you can do to help with this step is follow step #3 below. This hits two birds with one stone: you do something that doesn’t use too much brain power (and can be done without a cellphone or computer), and it prepares you for the next day. Win-win.
3. Plan your day the night before.
This is a hard habit to get into, honestly. But, I realized that if I wanted to make a dent in all the different projects on my wish list, I needed to add structure to my day. If I left it to chance, I risked not having the energy/motivation to do it. I take the time right before going to bed — arguably a slower time in the day — to carefully plan things for the next day.
I find it helpful to use a physical notebook or notepad, because that way I can avoid using my phone before bed. Plus, this way I am “forced” to really think about what I write down since you don’t want to write stuff down for the sake of it. I would suggest you write down things that you know you can realistically accomplish the next day. A shorter list keeps you from chasing an unrealistic number of things to get done.
4. Don’t eat within the last hour before going to bed.
Honestly, this should be a no-brainer. If you’ve ever gone to bed on a full stomach and felt your food trying to suffocate you, you know what I mean. If you must eat something right before bed, try to choose something that is lighter. I personally drink a light smoothie with a blend of whey/casein protein and almond milk. The casein takes longer to digest in my body and I don’t wake up famished.
5. Get up.
I mean it. Just do it.
This will be by far the hardest step in this process, hands down. But once you get over this obstacle, you get an incredible sense of satisfaction and accomplishment. And it only gets better through the day.
Snooze-monsters (like myself) exist because the beautiful, enticing snooze button is so tempting and close to your bed. In the morning, those “extra 5 minutes” of sleep are irresistible — even though they later turn into 1 hour. But trust me, this short-term reward pales in comparison to seeing your day be way more productive than you imagined. The small sacrifice is definitely worth it.
One trick that works for me (although it may not for everyone) is setting up my alarm on my dresser across the room, instead of next to my bed. In order for me to turn it off (or even hit the snooze button), I have to physically get up and walk a few steps. The hard part here is to resist the temptation to turn around immediately and plop down on your bed again. Try a 3-second stretch by taking a deep breath and stretching your arms to the ceiling. Do this just once (even if you have your eyes closed) and you will feel more awake almost immediately.
The Aftermath: My Newfound Morning Productivity
I won’t insult your intelligence and tell you that I have never gone back to bed right after zombie-walking my way to the dresser and stopping the alarm. But even when I did do that, I hit the snooze button, not the “stop alarm” button. So, my “5 minutes” were only 5 more minutes. Even if I don’t meet the goal of waking up at 5 a.m., my day is still more productive by getting up at 5:15 a.m. instead of at 8 a.m.
I still get many of the benefits of that early wake-up time, and I can live to try to conquer the 5 a.m. waking time another day.
So, you are up, now what?
The world is your oyster. The sky is the limit. [Insert motivational phrase of choice]. The truth is that waking up early is a gift that you give yourself, so you get to choose what you do with it.
I, for example, used the extra time to workout, shower, and spend some time writing down and developing the products I am working on with Rode & Ankor (coming soon). Essentially, doing the things that I would normally be too exhausted to do after 8–10 hours of working my day job. By waking up early, I am able to get stuff done on my side projects without my work performance suffering one bit. Even if I am too tired after work to do anything else, I can be a couch potato for the rest of the afternoon (guilt-free) because I already got my progress in the morning.
SOME IMPORTANT FINAL NOTES: Patience & Perseverance Are Key Takeaways from the Journey
Listen, Rome wasn’t built in one day. The easiest way to fail at something is to go all in, at once. Waking up early is one of those instances where slow and steady wins the race. If you normally wake up at 8 a.m., try setting your alarm for 7:30 a.m. After a couple of days, try going for 7:00 a.m., and so on and so forth. Be patient with yourself. And lastly, start enjoying the process. You don’t have to wake up early — you get to wake up early and work on yourself and your projects.
That being said, give it a try. From one [recovered] night-owl to another, I think you might like the results.
Click here if you want to read the book “The 5 AM Club” by Robin Sharma.
Let’s do this.
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