Welcome to the 5am club

Carly Woodland Manager

When I tell people I get up this early virtually every day I often get asked ‘Why on earth would you choose to do that?’, ‘Are you mad?!’ or comments such as ‘I’d much rather be asleep then’ and ‘You must be so tired from getting up that early’.

But I absolutely love it, I don’t find it a chore at all. My life is very hectic – I’m a Mum of two young boys with a full-time job and a busy social life. Some days this early morning start is the only time I can truly get a moment to myself so I really enjoy and feel the benefits of this. I am not alone in this habit as there are many people that like to get up at this ungodly hour and do the same as I do, and there has been a book written about how transformative this habit can be for people.

I used to exercise in the evening after work, then once I had my first son, I realised this wasn’t an ideal time to exercise. When I’d been at work all day and not been able to spend any time with him I wanted to make sure I got some quality time before we went to bed. I then thought I could do my exercise once he was in bed, but soon realised with children a certain bedtime isn’t always guaranteed as they don’t always go to sleep when we want them to. This led to me feeling frustrated if I couldn’t consistently do the exercise I wanted to do.

I decided to start setting my alarm at 5am and getting up while my husband and son were asleep and exercising/life admin. I found this game-changing for me as I could get things done, I wanted to while everyone was asleep. I feel energised from exercising, and as I’d
already fit in the exercise I wanted to do I wasn’t wondering all day if I would get to do this. I also felt in a very positive frame of mind for having some time to myself to think and plan things. I have never looked back, and I have now been doing this for over three years. I find being up early with no distractions is productive and I really feel that it sets me up for the day ahead.

The overall benefits from getting up this early are:
 A better start to the day: I’m up with plenty of time before I need to get out of the house for work or for any plans I have made. My brain has had time to fully wake up.
 Reduced stress: I think having more time to prepare for the day reduces stress levels. If I have a challenging day at work or with my children, I feel because I’ve had a positive start to the day, I cope with this well.
 Improved sleep: As I’m up early I do tend to go to bed early the nights I am not out socialising. I think this improves sleep overall, so I feel more energised
 Positivity: I think my mood in general is much more positive from the early start and I notice that the days I don’t get up at 5am I don’t start the day feeling in quite such a happy mood.
 Improved performance: I think the 5am start has a knock-on effect with the rest of my day and it really does help enhance my performance in all areas of my life. The productive mood starts early and then once you feel like you have achieved things from the get go it really does make you want to keep achieving all day.

Most weeks I will get up at 5am every single day as I genuinely do really enjoy it, even if I have had a late night the night before. Occasionally I do have a lie in if I feel I need more rest or I’m unwell. My husband, family and friends all think I am a little bit crazy for getting up early every day. Most people would only voluntarily get up that early to catch a flight for a holiday or another one-off reason. But this is now a habit and most days I naturally wake up just before my 5am alarm goes off.

Don’t knock it until you have tried it, who knows the benefits you might feel from a nice early start! I think it is a great way to prioritise yourself each day and improve your physical, intellectual, and emotional wellbeing