What I Learned from Waking up at 4am Every Day for a Month
After our book club read this book about morning routines, we all got talking about the 4am club – waking up at 4am each morning and the benefits of doing so. So I decided to try waking up at 4am every day for a month and what I learned was surprising.
I do like to wake up early in the morning, but I wouldn’t say that I am an early bird by nature. The reason being is that I also love to stay up late and so I’ve found that unless I’m prepared to power nap through the day, which I don’t like to do, I tend to wake up a little later if I spend my evenings working. Typically I wake up around 7am – not too late, but waking up at 4am is a different ball game altogether. To most, 4am is the middle of the night!
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About 10 years ago I switched my working from home routine to working nights instead of days, as I am more productive in the evenings. Although my intentions were good, this turned out to be completely chaotic! Since then I’ve been able to fully appreciate what it’s like to work nights and how it messes up your body clock and any hopes of structure in your life.
The problem I found with working nights is that the world still functions when you’re supposed to be sleeping (during the day) and apart from staying home and working, most errands and other activities can only be done during daylight hours. So consequently I was working through the night until 4-5am, I would sleep until 1pm and then by the time I’d completed all my domestic tasks, I finally got down to settling into work at around 3-4pm. I was only ever truly productive during those last couple of hours after midnight, not to mention how badly my eating habits were disrupted throughout this time. In the end I switched back to working through the day and sleeping at night. A transition which again, took time to adapt to but worked out better for me.
Why I Decided to Try Waking up at 4am Every Day
I’d always wanted to try waking up at 4am each morning because I’d read so much about how the most successful people in the world start their day at 4am. The main benefit of waking up at 4am is that it puts you ahead of everyone else and allows you to prioritize this distraction-free time in order to be your most productive. Then not so long ago, we read this book in our book club group and it sparked a conversation in our community. Inspired by our book club pick, other members of our book club shared how they’d recently tried waking up at 4am each morning too and how they’d really noticed the benefits of doing so. I was intrigued and excited to start.
I Tried Waking up at 4am Each Morning and This is What Happened
Surprisingly, waking up so early was easier than I had initially thought and the extra time afforded me time to read, drink coffee and plan out my day in an unstressed way. I had plenty of time to enjoy a leisurely coffee and managed to fit in an incredible amount of work, writing, emails, or reading all before 8am! I felt so productive and that feeling became addictive. Although the idea of waking up so early sounded tough initially, I actually found that I was far less overwhelmed waking up at 4am each morning because I started my day off with more time and calm, rather than waking up and rushing around.
The biggest issue for me though was making sure that I went to sleep earlier the night before. Quality sleep is important and I always try to aim for 8 hours of good sleep each and every night. It was difficult to go to sleep earlier than usual in order to wake up at 4am, having had enough sleep. Maybe it gets easier over time but this was the worse part for me and left me feeling tired the next day and managing on 5 hours sleep a night, which wasn’t ideal.
As time went on, I felt that 4am was a little too early for me, mainly because of not being about to fall asleep early enough the night before to fit in a full 8-hours sleep. So I switched to waking up at 5am or 6am instead. It’s amazing what you can achieve in a day when you aim to get up at a certain time and have a few extra hours to yourself without waking up straight into an influx of emails and tasks to plough through. I also enjoyed being tired and ready to go to bed before midnight, which is a rare occurrence for me as someone who is naturally more of a night owl.
Having read a lot of case studies beforehand from those who wake up at 4am, the main thing I learned was that waking up so early gives you time to start your day successfully by completing urgent tasks or leisure activities that will put you in a positive mood for the rest of the day. I started my day off with coffee, a book, and unspoiled time to write and create. I’ve now mastered the ideal morning routine too!
I don’t think I will be continuing to wake up at 4am every morning, but I have certainly kept to the habit of waking up at a planned, earlier time – usually no later than 6am. Plus, if you wake up early and things don’t go to plan, you’re already in front so you have time to get your day in order before things begin to get stressful. This challenge has been yet another learning curve and I can definitely see why so many people do wake up at 4am because it’s a great way to gain control of your day.
