Why waking up at 5 am is not for everyone

Internet is filling with posts promising that waking up at 5 a.m. is the best to improve productivity. Then why do I include this post in the well-being category? Because I believe we should think about some points before considering to get up at 5 in the morning.

Which are the promised benefits of waking up at 5 am

The mentioned posts tell us that it is a habit of the most successful people. People with this habit say they enjoy the peace of the small hours. It allows them to dedicate themselves calmly to their morning routine. They say that it makes them more productive due to starting work before interruptions and distractions come up.

However, there are no scientific studies that prove that people getting up at 5 are more productive or successful. So, it is important to consider if we like to rise very early or it rather seems a torture that would adversely affect our well-being.

If you want to introduce yourself into the concept of getting up at 5 in the morning, you may do so with these two books:

The 5 AM Club: Own Your Morning. Elevate Your Life. by Robin Sharma

The 5 A.M. Miracle: Dominate Your Day Before Breakfast by Jeff Sanders

What they do not tell you

The majority of posts on the benefits of getting up at 5 do not mention some points I think one should consider. Let us see the doubts I have come up with and the questions you should pose.

What time do they go to bed?

An important question is what time those people go to bed or if they take a nap during the day.

In order to wake up at 5 in the morning you will need to go to bed early. An adult needs between seven and nine hours of quality sleep. Taking into account that we do not fall asleep immediately, that means you should go to bed between 7:30 and 10 in the evening. In some countries people have dinner in this time period.

It is important that you know how many hours of sleep you need in order to recover your energy. Are you able to adjust your routine accordingly?

Do you they also get up at 5 on weekends?

In addition to figuring out how many hours we need to sleep, sleep experts also recommend getting up every day more or less at the same time. The people who recommend to wake up at 5, also do so on weekends? Are you interested in rising that early on your days off? When you make plans in the evening like going out for dinner, to the cinema etc. at what time do you usually get home?

Where do you live?

The place where you live and the local customs influence quite a bit how easy you can make this change in your life. In which timezone do you live? At what time does the sun rise and set? Which are the usual times for breakfast, lunch and dinner? Which working hours do you have? In which hours does social life take place? Taking all this into account is going to bed early in order to get up at 5 reasonable and doable?

Which is your biorhythm?

Waking up at 5 in the morning can be a good idea for early risers. However, not all of us are. It is important that you know which are your most active hours. When do you feel most productive and energised? Do you get up in the morning with a lot of energy and get into gear quickly? Or are you rather an owl and take time to get going? Then forcing yourself into a routine of getting up really early might not be for you. You will probably feel exhausted all day or feel guilty when you do not manage to do in the morning everything you planned.

Is it really necessary to wake up at 5 to be more productive?

The people getting up at 5 a.m. mention as a reason being able to work peacefully before the rest of the world wakes up and along with it distractions and interruptions. Taking into account that it is always daytime somewhere in the world, this is a bit relative.

In my opinion rising at 5 is not the only way to ensure peace for work and be more productive. Maybe you feel that you cannot concentrate during office hours due to meetings, calls and other interruptions and distractions. Then I suggest you take into account the following things.

Learn to eliminate distractions

Throughout the day we face many potential distractions. From environmental noise to other people’s conversations up to temptations like social media notifications. However, we can train ourselves to be able to concentrate despite the surrounding noises. Moreover, we can eliminate distractions such as our smartphone notifications.

This will help us train our self-control. Ask yourself how often you check your phone or social media. Is it really necessary? Should you set certain hours in order to reduce the time you spend surfing the internet, checking social media, watching videos etc.?

Learn to deal with interruptions

When working and living with other people, interruptions are a usual distraction. However, on one hand we can limit interruptions. Do you schedule time slots when you do not want to be interrupted? Have you communicated this to those you work or live with?

With assertiveness we can convince others that we need moments of peace without meaning that we do not care about them. If you have colleagues who tend to interrupt whenever they come up with something we can suggest them that they first consider the urgency of their request and if they could rather send an email with the enquiry.

On the other hand we can learn to better cope with interruptions. If we get annoyed and stressed whenever we suffer an interruption, we will have a much harder time to recover concentration. Therefore I suggest you observe how you usually react to interruptions. If you accept that they can arise, you will get riled up less and be able to return quicker to what you were doing.

Check your agenda

Do you feel you do not manage to progress with your work during normal office hours? We have already seen how to deal with distractions and interruptions. If this is not the only problem, I suggest you check your agenda. Do you have too many commitments? Is your agenda packed with meetings?

Check whether your commitments contribute to your priorities and goals. Consider if all the meetings are necessary. Are all the meetings on your agenda effective? Are they the best way to solve tensions and progress with projects? Maybe you feel that there are meetings or commitments that do not contribute much. Think if there is a better way to coordinate the matters to be discussed. Consider if there are commitments you can eliminate from your obligations.

Can you group the meeting more together in order to leave time slots for concentrated work? There are company which have implemented a day in the week without meetings. Others have an afternoon without interruptions when you should not make calls, interrupt colleagues or have meetings. Be it as it may, I suggest you check if you can clear your agenda in order to block time slots to work continuously with focus.

What do you think about the phenomenon of waking up at 5 a.m.?

Same as we should not follow all fashion trends if the clothes do not suit us, this seems to me another fashion we should assess before practicing it.

Have you tried getting up at 5? Why and how does it work for you?

You do not consider waking up at 5? Which are your reasons?

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