Experiences with waking up at 5:30 AM for a productive workday?

[Suelin23]

I used to get up at 5:30, and go to bed 10:30-11, and was tired all the time. After advice on this forum, I'm sleeping longer now, go to bed at 10m and wake at 6am, and feel much better and get a lot more work done. I used to only be productive in the morning, now I am productive for most of the day, till about 4pm.

[TesTeq]

You are sleeping on less than 6:44 minutes a night! Aren't you awfully tired and how long have you been doing that?

How long? About 5 years since my company moved to the opposite part of Warsaw.

I am not tired too much. My secret is that I am a lazy sleepyhead on Saturdays and Sundays when I wake up at 6:44 (what a coicidence!) and go to a local swimming pool.

[Barb]

I discovered something, quite by accident. If you drink no caffeine...none at all...you sleep way more deeply and wake up feeling much more rested. I was amazed. Even just 1 cup of coffee in the morning can affect your sleep a bit.

If you decide to try giving it up, do it very gradually, though.

[NewbGTD]

I think the bottom line is if getting up at 5.30am suits you and your schedule then do so, but if it doesn't then don't.

[treelike]

After reading "23 Successful People Who Wake Up Really Early", I am wondering whether there are people here who have experience with waking up as early as 5:30. What time do you wakeup and get to sleep again? What do you do on such a morning and how do you feel in the evening? Do you feel tired during the day? Do you need a powernap? Is your day truly more productive?

On work days I'm up before 5am and I go do work (widget cranking). On non-work days I usually wake up at a similar time, without the alarm because my body clock is set to that. I usually go to bed not long after 9pm, although I'll go later if I'm not tired. No point trying to sleep if you're not tired.

I find non-work mornings generally good for reviewing and planning as it's quiet (once the cat's fed) and without interruptions. I try and wind down in the evening by making a point of doing nothing productive and veg out in front of the TV/ read pointless forums on the net (not this one ). If I try to do something stimulating like work on a complicated project during the evening then I don't sleep so well during the night.

Occasionally I feel tired in the afternoon and sleep for 1/2 hour to an hour. Some people believe that humans naturally sleep "biphasically" like this, with a portion of sleep during the night and a portion during the day. I have come to the conclusion that everyone is different, and different in different circumstances when it comes to sleep. Don't get worked up about sleep because this is the one guaranteed way to stop you sleeping!

I've noticed that if I let my body clock drift during holidays i.e. get up later, go to sleep later then I tend to get depressed. This could be unproductive but I have also noticed that a more depressed state causes a re-evaluation of the higher levels, which maybe doesn't occur when I am more focussed on runway projects and activities. But, yes, keeping my body clock advanced seems to have an anti-depressive and motivating effect.

[CJSullivan]

I've noticed that if I let my body clock drift during holidays i.e. get up later, go to sleep later then I tend to get depressed. This could be unproductive but I have also noticed that a more depressed state causes a re-evaluation of the higher levels, which maybe doesn't occur when I am more focussed on runway projects and activities.

Really interesting observation. I've found the same kind of effect on activities in the idea generation phase of the creative process. If I'm a little (not a lot) overtired, my censor isn't as active, ideas come more easily, and it's easier to do big picture thinking. I wouldn't label it depression in my case - just a relaxation of my usual framework that can lead to a slight (not unpleasant) feeling of disorientation. A bit like having one drink too many!

[macgrl]

How do you guys get going that early in the morning? I do believe that you can be more effective by getting up early. The problem I find is that when I get up at around 5/6am that I feel really groggy / not very sharp until around 11 or 12 where as if I get up at 9am Im good to go and alert...any tips or is it just getting used to it

[PatinSC]

This is not meant as a slight to those who really have to be up early. Or even to those who do better when they get up early. I would be willing to wager a small sum that it would be possible to find 23 people who succeeded by staying up late, and almost impossible to sell a book about them.

I am a natural night owl, struggling to manage in a world organized around larks. I suppose I could say that I get up early, but it's really that it takes me a long time to get up. I have a layered approach to waking up on a work day. The lights come on at 5:30. The first alarm is at 5:40 and the second is ten minutes later.

When I can.. which is almost never anymore... my most creative time is between midnight and 3:00AM. But to meet that morning schedule, I have to be in bed by 9pm. Every once in a while, my body rebels at this treatment, and I will find myself unable to fall asleep, no matter how tired I am until three or four in the morning.

[MarkDillon]

How do you guys get going that early in the morning? ...any tips or is it just getting used to it

Hi macgrl,

I used to be a late sleeper. Then something shifted for me and I began getting up early. It was due in part to having something to get up for! If you don't have a reason to rise early, why would you?

I think it is like most things and boils down to habits. Can you create the habit of rising at 7, 6 or even 5am? I now wake around 5:15 whether my alarm wakes me, weekdays, or on the weekend when my habit is to wake up around that time automatically. As we look forward to setting clocks back an hour here this weekend I plan on rising at 4:15 and sticking with it.

I am much more productive in the morning...and truth be told; I love the stillness of the morning, the hope of a new day, the chance to do it all right once again.

If you are setting your clock back this weekend I encourage you to play with it and see if you can start a new habit...join us Morning Risers...we're an okay group!

[TesTeq]

any tips or is it just getting used to it

Just get used to it. No excuses. Yet another Standard Operating Procedure.