Why I Still Wake up at 5am

These surprisingly easy tips have helped me to wake up at 5am every day. Check out these 5 tips to help you wake up early and have a more productive day.

The other day, I had about 20 messages in my IG message box with regular followers and strangers asking why I was still waking up at 5am.

We’re in the middle of a pandemic, everything is upside down, and why on earth do I still need to wake up so early?

Reread that last paragraph…that’s why.

I am naturally a morning person. I am also naturally more productive when I first get up.

I used to wake up at 4, before all of this started, so 5 is my consession.

But the main reason I still get up at 5am, is because..I need that time alone.

I don’t know about you, but once my family wakes up, there is no me time until late afternoon, after I’ve cooked dinner. And by then, I’m exhausted from working, and meeting and helping with school work and conversation and cooking.all.the.things.

So those few hours in the morning that I get before everyone wakes up are my quiet in the storm. My peace that allows me to feel centered and productive and able to face the day.

The next request I get is this: tell me how to wake up at 5am everyday.

Well, keep reading!

How To Wake Up at 5am Every Morning

1.Know Why You Are Waking Up Early

I start here because if you don’t know WHY you are waking up early, it will never happen.

Why are you waking up early? Do you need more time to work on a specific project? Do you just want silence? Are you working towards a goal? Do you want to journal in peace, exercise, read?

I’ve found that when you have a purpose for your early wake up time, it makes it much easier to wake up.

For most of us who wake up early, the answer is simply that waking up early gives us a few hours every morning when no one is going to disturb us. It’s MY time. For someone who craves and needs her alone time, this is my why.

2.Get Enough Sleep

I got to bed every night between 8 and 9pm. I go to bed before my 10 year old. LOL

I do so because I need my sleep. I function really well as long as I get 6 hours. 8 is even better. However many hours you need to sleep, set your bedtime accordingly.

So how do you start? By slowly scaling back the time you wake up and go to bed. I did it in 30-minute intervals until I was waking up as early as I needed.

3. Don’t Hit the Snooze Button

This is my key to success. Even now, there is the temptation to hit the snooze on my apple watch. But if I do, I do not get out on bed until an hour later.

When your alarm goes off, get up immediately and turn on a light.

For me, so that I don’t wake my husband up, I go to my bathroom, close the door and turn on the light. It’s jarring, it’s rude, but it tells my body that sleep time is over.

4.Have a Morning Routine.

You guys know I love my morning routine.

I look forward to it every morning. But there is one thing I do every morning FIRST and it’s like a signal to my brain to get my day going:

I meditate.

It varies, but some mornings I pray, some I read my bible, some mornings I read inspirational text, I say my morning affirmations. But my morning routine ALWAYS starts this way. Before I go to social media, before I turn on the tv or my computer, or even look at my to-do list.

So have a routine. Have that one thing that signals your brain that it’s time to wake up. That might be drinking a glass of water, having a cup of coffee, writing in your journal, or exercising. Do the SAME thing first every morning. Habits matter.

5.Give Yourself a Day Off.

I know, seems counter productive right? But trust me, it helps.

I sleep in on Saturdays. Now for me, sleeping in might mean 7am, but from 5 that’s sleeping in! LOL

I experimented with giving myself 2 days off and 3, but it always messes up my sleep pattern somehow. So I stick to one intentional day.

Does that mean that I never sleep in on the other days? No! Some days there are inevitably those nights where I stay up later watching a Prince special on TV or jamming to club quarantine. Or when a book is so good that I MUST FINISH IT.

On those days, I give myself grace and start again.

Ok so hopefully, this answers your questions that you may have about how to wake up at 5am

And don’t beat yourself up if you don’t wake up at 5 am right away! Remember, James Clear, in his book Atomic Habits, said that

“On average, it takes more than 2 months before a new behavior becomes automatic — 66 days to be exact. And how long it takes a new habit to form can vary widely depending on the behavior, the person, and the circumstances”

Ok, go forth and wake up early!

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