I've been Waking up at 4AM everyday for two weeks
Since I started a new job and grad school a few weeks ago I knew I needed to make a change in my routine in order to get things done. I definitely function better in the morning but had been in a bad habit of staying up later playing video games etc.
So, I decided to try waking up at 4AM everyday and it has worked out splendidly thus far. Here is a breakdown of my daily routine:
4AM-445AM: Workout at the gym in my building
445AM-5AM: Shower and make coffee / grab a snack
5AM-7:15AM: Work on schoolwork or on my side project (soccercruit.com)
7:15AM-7:30AM: Take my dog out and feed him
7:30AM-8:00AM: Commute to work in the loop of downtown Chicago
8:00AM-4:30PM: Work my software engineering job
4:30PM-5:00PM: Commute home
5:00PM-9:00PM: Eat dinner and spend time with my wife
9:00PM-9:30PM: Read
9:30PM: Bed
I have noticed that my energy levels have actually increased due to this routine and I am much more focused and productive. I would definitely say this would not go smoothly if I did not work out and get a good sweat first thing in the morning - this is what actually wakes me up (just coffee doesn't work for me).
My overall goal here is to get more done, be healthier, and have enough time in my day to work on things I care about while also having plenty of down time to spend relaxing and with my wife. If I did not "ship" early in the morning I would be thinking about getting that stuff done all day at work, making work less productive and then I would need to work on it at home which takes time away from my wife which is unfair to her/us.
What do you guys think? Has anyone else tried changing their routine to meet their goals?
The founder of the co I work for does this too. Except he only sleeps 4 hours total https://clickup.com/blog/sleeping-4-hours/
Anything less than 7 hours of sleep is just not sustainable. You're gonna waste those 2-3 hours anyway. It's not about how much you sleep, it's about what you do when you're awake.
Here are two tips that work for me to maximise good sleep and energy level during the day but the second tip requires absolute resolve for me because I am a caffeine addict.
For a few hours before going to sleep avoid night lighting that contains too much light from the blue end of the visible spectrum. This is typically light emitted by so called cool or daylight colour flourescents/neons and low power LED lights, especially from mobile phone screens. Prefer instead warm white lighting that has less blue and a little more red spectrum in it. This has to be one of those evolutionary things that our bodies use to sync into night sleep mode. The Flintstones sat around the warm glow of campfires before going to sleep, etc. etc.
Avoid coffee. The energy/alertness boost that one gets from the caffeine in coffee only lasts about 20 minutes before you feel like having another hit. Problem is caffeine increases heartrate artificially (i.e unlike intentional cardio-vascular exercise). Tea is preferable to coffee as it still gives a psychological boast but contains much less caffeine.
You can find lots of corroborating articles about these two subjects on the web.
Good tips @indiescripter!
No worries. Hey, my name is Justin. Just signed up IH last night and haven't completed my profile. Fabulous community here.
You mentioned blue light, what do you think of f.lux and similar blue light filters?
Like all apps YMMV (your mileage may vary) but things like f.lux are well worth trying out if you must check your phone after you have decided to go to sleep and don't want your biorhythms to jump start into daytime mode. Yeah, go for these sorts of apps if your phone doesn't come with a decent blue light filter already. Also it's worth the small pennies to be advertisement-free if that's the app's revenue model.
Is too much drinking coffee bad for health?
Probably too much of drinking/eating anything is bad for your health. There is a heap of caffeine not only coffee but also in cola drinks such as Pepsi & Coke and those "energy boosters" such as RedBull. (Think RedBull and others have a warning on the can not to consume more than 1 a day or something like that). Caffeine makes the heart race but not in a healthy pumping way like a good workout at the gym so on balance consuming too much coffee is not a great idea. But then the genes you were born with makes different for everyone as to what is too much.
Thank you. :)
I'd be concerned that only getting 6 hours of sleep would be detrimental to learning, besides just seeming overall incredibly short. But this is coming from someone who really needs his 9 hours every night to be functional :)
yeah, most of people need more than 6 hours. Science shows it prevents lots of long-term diseases, especially brain diseases. If you don't need it, that's great for you, but being deprived of sleep has long-term impacts for average population.
Yes, the list of things that gets worse with lack of sleep is really long and scary.
Hey @bemmu for sure! I will see how this continues but I am pretty used to getting 7 hours asleep. On the weekends or days I don't feel up to it I can always sleep a little longer, but for now 9-4 is working well for me. On the contrary I was doing 11-6 or 12-6 a lot before and that's the same amount of sleep. I was already used to less than 8 hours of sleep before this routine change :)
I've tried A LOT, but I'm not a morning person.
I perfectly could write a post called "I've been going to bed at 4AM every day for two weeks" 😂
do it!
...
2AM: Short break / snack - found Youtube video on String Theory...
4AM: Still watching Youtube on Dark Matter😔
😂 😂 😂 Please write it! I don't think my way is better than people who are the opposite. The key is finding the time!
@colin_mcatee so I decided that I need to have some discipline and a routine and to switch things up a bit, I went to the gym this morning, granted it wasn't at 4am, but instead 10am. Still 2 hours later I feel great and motivated. I think I will exercise in the mornings from now on
5 am following a Miracle Morning routine. Bulletproof coffee + parenting book + Duolingo (Mandarin) + Bible + FreeCodeCamp + Scribbing + 10 minutes walking/stretching. Definitely sets a great tone for the day. Currently job hunting so following hour I write cover letters then log in to work.
I used to wake up at 4am age 16-18 for school as my commute was 2-3 hours. I felt terrible.
Now I wake up at 5 - 5:30. I would love to wake up earlier because I'm 100% a morning person. But I can't get over having to go to bed by 8am in order to get 8 hours of sleep.
I'd LOVE LOVE LOVE to become a morning person. It's been a New Year's resolution for the last like 3 years haha. Are you "naturally" a morning person or was there anything special you did to help you get out of bed that early?
Chiming in -- I was a go to sleep at 4am/opposite of a morning person all of my life.
I had a baby, 1.5 years later am now a morning person :)
I just wanna mention, putting water in front of my alarm clock and setting up your coffee machine on a timer the night before were 2 easy things that help me wake up early.
Good tips @ShineMonk - certainly great things to add to my routine. I usually have water but have been making the coffee after my workout.
I was definitely a night person most of my life up until about 2 years ago when I made the effort to switch. I just started setting my alarm earlier and forcing myself up. It didn't take long for me to start getting tired at an hour that worked with that wake up time then it just became natural. Wake up most mornings now a bit before my alarm at 4 depending on when I fall asleep(I wake up pretty much after 7 hours on the dot every day).
I am more naturally a morning person for sure but I was being a night person for a lot of the last year while at my old job and without school. A lot has changed in my life in the last year that has added a lot more responsibilities leading to me making these changes.
#Commenting to bookmark.
I've been noticing that lots of people claim that this early morning routine is effective. How does your wife copes with you waking up so early? Does she has a similar routine?
Do you take any supplements/nootropics to help?
How many off days do you take? Going to the gym every day from Monday to Friday, depending on your workout of course, is counter productive and may result in exhaustion throw out the next days.
I have an Apple watch so my alarm is silent but my wife wakes up at 5 most days so not far behind me. She needs more sleep than me so we go to sleep at about the same time too.
I do my workouts in the morning so I have a pre-workout usually about 30 minutes after I wake up.
I do it every day. I do crossfit 3 days a week and powerlifting in my home gym the other 4.
Thanks for sharing Shawn!
Hey Mario,
Good questions. Trust me I know these kind of claims sound fake and seem ridiculous (I used to think so). The true key to my success comes down to a few key factors:
Motivation (I don't technically have to do this but I do need to graduate from grad school and ship my product AND spend time with my wife)
Working out (this really does wake me up even if its a lazier workout)
Sleep in more on the weekends and maybe one day during the week (haven't done this much so far but will need to to stay consistent)
consistently going to bed early so that I can get enough sleep ( I do pretty well with 6-7 hours)
As far as my wife, I thought it was going to bother her more but I have only truly woken her up once. I keep my alarm pretty quiet and now that I am used to it I am naturally waking up around that time.
I'd love to try something like this. I also stay up later than I think I should. Would be a cool experiment to see if it improved my productivity.
Please let me know if you do try it and what you think!
How much have you made in those two weeks?
Still building the the beta version of my side project but as far as $$ I have earned two weeks of pay at my actual job lol :)
awesome!
Hey @colin_mcatee great post.
Question: How long did it take you to get used to this routine? Do you feel this has had a minor negative impact on your personal life outside work?
I've been experimenting my productivity switching between waking up early and waking up just before I go to work. The routine usually takes place anywhere from 2 weeks to 2 months before I switch the pattern again.
Waking up a few hours before work and exercising has a tremendous positive impact on the body and productivity at work especially the first four hours. I come home for lunch and have a quick 20min power nap but doesn't really have any impact on afternoon productivity.
The problem lays in the work done post 8pm, it's important to have the discipline to go to bed around 9:30pm but some days I am in a situation where I have to be awake till midnight and my next day morning routine gets disrupted.
Question: Have you had such experiences and how do you deal with it?
Hey @Nakkeeran the key for me has definitely been consistency in when I go to bed. If I stay up past 10 I would probably sleep in a little longer to make up for it. So far it hasn't had much negative impact at all, no but if I start feeling any negative effects, I will try and get more sleep. For now ~7 hours is enough.
Big fan of getting up early too.
I get to sleep around 9pm and I'm up at 6am every day... even on the weekends.
I feel like I can get so much done when I'm up early, I hate waking up any later, I always feel like I've wasted the day.
Different strokes for different folks when it comes to sleep.
I just wan to throw this out there; but the latest studies in sleep science shows that people are genetically wired to be either morning or afternoon/evening people.
So if you're struggling heavily with an early morning routine, you would be best off by simply waking up at the time that feels optimal, rather then forcing yourself into a habit which goes against the way you're wired.
Anybody interested in learning more about sleep and latest in the world of sleep science, I highly recommend Matthew Walker's Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams
15 minutes to walk the dog and feed him :(?
Haha @mkarnicki! Yeah I should note that my wife is a nurse and she recently started grad school as well so she is home more during the day. However, we do take our dog to the park or daycare almost daily. Sometimes I drive him to daycare around 615 before work. He's way too high energy for only 15 minutes :)
Glad to hear it :D
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