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

[kkuja]

Earlier I wake up, more productive I can be. From productivity perspective around 5 am would be the best time for me to get up. I don't know what's the magic about those morning hours, but somehow I manage to get more done than if I work some number of hours in evening, for example. Maybe it's because other people are away at early morning.

Unfortunately I am evening person, with some kind of sleeping disorder (insomnia). I can postpone sleeping as much as I like, but if I try to sleep at 22 for example, it's just rolling at the bed until 2 am or something like that. Time I wake up has nothing to do with time I can fall sleep again. I have medication (melatonin) for that problem, but it's only a slight help.

[treelike]

Earlier I wake up, more productive I can be. From productivity perspective around 5 am would be the best time for me to get up. I don't know what's the magic about those morning hours, but somehow I manage to get more done than if I work some number of hours in evening, for example. Maybe it's because other people are away at early morning.

Maybe you could use the time after 2200 when everybody else has gone to bed and it's all quiet. Depends what kind of stuff you want to do of course. Performing woodwork in the middle of the night is not likely to be appreciated by those asleep!

Unfortunately I am evening person, with some kind of sleeping disorder (insomnia). I can postpone sleeping as much as I like, but if I try to sleep at 22 for example, it's just rolling at the bed until 2 am or something like that. Time I wake up has nothing to do with time I can fall sleep again. I have medication (melatonin) for that problem, but it's only a slight help.

You may or may not have insomnia but it sounds like you do have a delayed body clock. If you are able to sleep 0200 to 1000 with no problems then I suggest that you don't have "insomnia". Melatonin is not a sleeping tablet, it is a body clock modifier. Taking it at the wrong time could make things worse.

[kkuja]

Maybe you could use the time after 2200 when everybody else has gone to bed and it's all quiet. Depends what kind of stuff you want to do of course. Performing woodwork in the middle of the night is not likely to be appreciated by those asleep!

Somehow I have found morning hours most productive. I have no idea why evenings don't work as well. If I need to get something done, I better force myself to wake up at 5 am (and try to get at least 6 hours of sleep).

You may or may not have insomnia but it sounds like you do have a delayed body clock. If you are able to sleep 0200 to 1000 with no problems then I suggest that you don't have "insomnia". Melatonin is not a sleeping tablet, it is a body clock modifier. Taking it at the wrong time could make things worse.

This is a bit off topic so lets not delve too deep to this subject. Natural rhytm for me would be around 30 hours. Sleeping is never non problematic to me. Falling to sleep is always problematic. Also, light affects me quite a much, so summers, with their 20 hours of sun light are nightmare to me. Anyway, thank you for your insight.

[ericmage]

When I'm about to wake up, I find my Ipod, connect it to my speakers and then adjust the volume. After everything is done, I play Scorpion music on my Ipod. That's how I start a new day

[jasont]

I'm an early riser and an early to bed person.

Up at 0420, workout, breakfast and start work at around 0600-0630. I really value the early morning time for clearing my head, working on key projects etc. I'm very productive early in the AM and it's some of my best time. Because of the crazy awake time I do go to bed between 9-9:30 every evening. Staying up much beyond 10:30 will pretty much render me useless the next day!

The above noted, I recently listened to an HBR podcast and one of the discussions was on people who are naturally wired to get up early and those who were later risers. I definitely think that trying to force something that is not natural is not always a good thing. Give it a shot for a few months and see what happens!

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?

[NewbGTD]

I'm an early riser and an early to bed person.

Up at 0420, workout, breakfast and start work at around 0600-0630. I really value the early morning time for clearing my head, working on key projects etc. I'm very productive early in the AM and it's some of my best time. Because of the crazy awake time I do go to bed between 9-9:30 every evening. Staying up much beyond 10:30 will pretty much render me useless the next day!

The above noted, I recently listened to an HBR podcast and one of the discussions was on people who are naturally wired to get up early and those who were later risers. I definitely think that trying to force something that is not natural is not always a good thing. Give it a shot for a few months and see what happens!

Do you seriously sleep and rise at those times consistently? I just find life to never be that forgiving much like the philosophy behind GTD with its 'in the moment' decision making based on the topsy turvy nature of life and ourselves.

[macgrl]

I'm an early riser and an early to bed person.

Up at 0420, workout, breakfast and start work at around 0600-0630. I really value the early morning time for clearing my head, working on key projects etc. I'm very productive early in the AM and it's some of my best time. Because of the crazy awake time I do go to bed between 9-9:30 every evening. Staying up much beyond 10:30 will pretty much render me useless the next day!

The above noted, I recently listened to an HBR podcast and one of the discussions was on people who are naturally wired to get up early and those who were later risers. I definitely think that trying to force something that is not natural is not always a good thing. Give it a shot for a few months and see what happens!

Did you find that it took time to get used to getting up at 420 and do you feel "awake" - full or energy etc or sleepy..does it take a while to get going?

Many thanks

macgrl

[treelike]

Do you seriously sleep and rise at those times consistently? I just find life to never be that forgiving much like the philosophy behind GTD with its 'in the moment' decision making based on the topsy turvy nature of life and ourselves.

GTD's great for making use of snippets of time which come about due to this topsy turvy-ness. When I was on night-shift I would usually wake up in the middle of the nights when I was not working unable to sleep. All I needed to do was look at my "computer" or "net" next actions, get on the computer and make good use of this time, rather than waste it awake in bed.

[rkndavis]

I have to get up at 5:30 so I can get my son up for school. I recently decided to set a habit to sleep at least 6 hours a night but I'm not making it most nights with going to bed coming in around midnight most days.

I'm usually pretty good through the day - no breakfast, lunch at noon, granola bar mid afternoon, dinner around 7.

What I do find though is on days when I sleep in past 8:00 am I'm truly miserable and not fun to be around. What I've come to realize it that it's because I feel I've wasted the best hours of the day - I could have been achieving something.

[paulmcdonald]

I'm up at 5:00 or 5:15 at the latest every weekday. I find that I have to get up early at this time because part of my morning duties include helping my family get ready, and that's a lot of work for us.

I was getting up at 5:30, but I found myself rushed. So I bumpted it back to 5:00 and it's been good.

I usually get to sleep around 11:30 at night. That means that I have about 5 1/2 hours of sleep every night. Gosh, when I type it in, that looks terrible!

On weekends I normally get a full 8 hours in plus a nap (usually during the third quarter of any given football game) so I do well that way. Also, I find that the better food I eat, the less sleep I need.

If I don't set my alarm, I usually wake up anyway.