This is the first update to my waking up at 5 am experiment. I think the firsts days are important in order to make an habit, so here we go.
This morning I woke up at 5 am without much trouble. Last night I went to bed at 9.30 so I slept 7.30 hours.
The first thing I did was going to the bathroom to drink some water and do some basic exercise to properly awake my body.
At 5.15 I sit down in front of my computer and I was ready to start working. When I just wake up I like to write. I use a software named writeroom when I write in the morning, so I can write without distractions and without stressing my eyes.
I wrote for my upcoming free book on the law of attraction (will be available for RSS readers) until 6 am.
From 6 am to 7 am I accomplished some internet tasks that I needed to get done, and then I took the time to organize all my projects.
At 7 am I had breakfast. Two toasts and water when I would usually only have a brioch. After that I began working on personal projects until 9 am.
From 9 am to 12 I worked for my regular job, and I continued for one more hour after lunch at noon (yes, I work at home).
After lunch I managed to study a bit and take a nap. I took a nap not because I was tired, but rather because I wanted to perserve a high level of productivity.
At 14.30 I started working again, and as of this writing, I’m just taking a break in order to write this short update. I don’t feel tired and I have a lot of energy, but I’ll probably see some effects in the evening.
One thing I want to say is that I got a lot done in the early hours of the morning. From 5 am to 9 am I was able to do what would usually take me 3 days of working after my regular job. And with the planning I did this morning, I expect to double that productivity starting from tomorrow.
If every day goes like today, I’m not sure if I’ll ever want to sleep late again :D
Posted on February 22 2010
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I am trying to get back to my habit in waking up early to focus on my online entrepreneurship. At times it is difficult especially working over 50 hours a week and going to grad school at the same time. We all know people who start their day early to accomplish their task will most likely be successful. Great post.
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Hey Renelda, I know it can be difficult, but.. you could try it like I’m doing for just 30 days and see what happens. You don’t necessarily have to wake up at 5 am. Go with what you think is best for you. For the motivation, think about how much you could get done with one extra hour in the morning!
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The problem with this is I have event that run late in the evening. I don’t get home till 11:30 at night, but its a choice I make to be active and involved in other things besides work. I work to live, not live to work.
I would be curious if you started going to bed at 11:30pm and still woke up at 5am.
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Hey Scott, I acted based on my current lifestyle. If I had to stay up late during the evening I probably wouldn’t get up at 5 am. But again, my father wakes up at 4.30 for going to work, and he usually stays up until midnight or more. I just like sleeping.
Regarding social involvement, I’m making this commitment for just 30 days, and after that I’ll evaluate if I am not able to have a social life.
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Hey Oscar,
I’m pretty much an early riser at this point regardless of when I go to sleep. Last night I went to sleep at 1:30 and I was up by 7:15. You’ll see that as you form the habit your subconscious has a built in alarm clock which is awesome.
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Hey Srinivas, I hope to develop my alarm clock soon then. I think it’s like changing time zone the firsts day, nothing impossible to do.
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This post was mentioned on Twitter by deakaz: 30 Days Habit Change – Waking up At 5 am Day 1 http://bit.ly/9P79oi via @oscardelben
Hi Oscar,
It looks like you are very productive in the morning. I didn’t see the word “coffee” anywhere. Maybe you don’t do caffeine. I’ve been working out early in the morning and I am at the gym by 5AM so I get up around 4AM. Believe me, it gets easier the more you do it. Good luck!
Best,
Bob
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Hey Bob, I eliminated caffeine 10 months ago, and with that I also eliminated stress. I too want to start training in the morning, and that might be an additional 30 days challenge.
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I just started working on a schedule again last week Oscar.
I set the alarm for between 6:30 and 7:00 in the morning. Once I’m up I’m good to go as I’m a morning person.
My productivity has skyrocketed and my energy levels seem to be higher.
All the best with your new sked!
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Hey Ryan, it’s nice that you can be very productive in the morning, because usually it’s so quite and nobody is disturbing. Also you don’t have all the stress accumulated through the day.
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Hi Oscar:
Thanks for sharing your ideas in the latest post.
One of my dreams in life is to wake up at the crack of dawn and bear witness to the rising of the sun.
Unfortunately, the only “crack” I can see is the one in my wall and the one in my brain—both as a result of beer consumption. And, of course, indifference to work.
I also want to hear the croaking of the rooster, who tries to wake me up after I have murdered my alarm clock. Once again, the rooster’s cries have fallen on deaf ears. I just turn over and play dead, that’s all.
Some of us are just too darned lazy to wake up early and get to work and increase our productivity. Who needs shit like that anyway? Even so, I am happy that life seems to be working out for you just fine. That’s swell.
And please be sure to read the works of Robin Sharma.
The guy’s all about waking up at 5 a.m. in the morning.
I read his book and it made me go back to sleep. You folks who are achievers—and want to make progress—just do it, but leave me the dang alone. I need my beauty sleep, and gave up on such weird notions long time ago.
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Hi Archan, if what you need is motivation, we can work on that. If you’d really like to get up early in the morning, I’m pretty sure you can achieve that starting from tomorrow.
I can’t say it’s hard because until now it hasn’t been hard for me, but I can see your point when you talk about laziness. My best advice is to do a challenge like this, and as soon as you get up you could go out for a walk. You decide the length. You could also return to sleep after you get home if you are terribly tired.
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“Dawn is a natural disaster to be avoided at any cost!”
Lazarus Long
But, seriously, I’m one of those two in ten night-owls that you mention. When working from home, I usually get up about 9:30 AM, to start work by 10. I’ll work six to eight hours (software developer), usually grabbing lunch at eating at my desk. Perhaps 1/3 of the time, I will take a nap after work; meaning I lay back on the living room recliner for half an hour, or so. Then, it’s into the garage to do my woodworking (usually no later than 7:00 PM). I’ll do that ‘till dinner at 9:00, then back by 9:30 to 9:45. Then it’s heads down woodworking, until one or two in the morning.
Honestly, I feel much more productive at the end of the day than at the beginning.
YMMV
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Hey Randy, there’s nothing wrong with that, everyone is different and it’s important to find the time that works better for you.
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I used to get up early as well, but for some reason the habit doesn’t stick. It always fascinates me to read stories like this. Seeing people achieve something (even if it is getting up early) really inspires me. Keep them coming, Oscar!
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Hey Bart, glad to have inspired you. It would be cool if you could share the reason why the habit doesn’t stick. Maybe it’s because sometimes you prefer to sleep late? I think I could share some tips in a later post, so every feedback would be highly appreciated.
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I don’t know about waking up at 5a.m. but lately I have felt like that I simply don’t have enough hours in the day, coupled with constant fatigue.
I have personal projects (which I am interested in completing)and work projects (Maybe not so interested in completing but need to be done anyway) piling up, and lately it’s just been ‘meh’ when I look at it. With every passing day the pile just keeps growing, and I know if I don’t start on it, it’ll never go away.
There used to be a time when I was good a finishing what I started :P I wonder what happened to all that?
I think I’ll give this a go. What’s the worst that can happen?
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You know, for me working in the morning is productive because I’m refreshed while in the evening I would have to deal with the stress of the day. Give it a try for a few weeks and let me know how it goes.
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Great to see that you succeeded Oscar. I’ve just found out about your blog, coincidentally I’m waking up around 5-5.30 all by myself. Maybe because I’m going to sleep early (like 10-10.30 pm). But your experiment inspired me, I’ll try to wake up at 5 from now on. I’ll set the alarm just in case, but waking up by yourself is a lot better than some disturbing alarm sound.
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Hey Onur, it’s great that you can wake up by yourself. Unfortunately for me, I would sleep like 10 hours per night without an alarm clock. Glad I inspired you.
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5am
A moment that can happen at any time.
when everything falls into place,
clarity is at it’s clearest,
confusion transforms into oneness
and when fate…
Welcomes you with open arms.
www.project5am.org
Project 5am is about capturing and following the essence of being in the moment. It is a site which falls on various levels. It can be viewed as a celebration of creativity or as a 2 year old diary of exploring a moment of enlightenment. The cryptic aspect of the site reflects the Allen Ginsberg poem 5am that it was inspired from and the mystic of the people, stories and philosophies that I have encountered on my journey. The aim is for the reader to connect with references that are on the site and put into their own context because questions answers life. 5am is an eternal project that has given me so much joy, growth and knowledge and I hope that it gives people the same yellow feeling like it has given me…come, drink, live.
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last three months, i woke up at 5.am and study one hour for my part time studies before heading for work. And my GPA points jumped for that semester. :)
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That’s awesome Zin!
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