Summary

An individual shares their experience and insights on successfully transitioning from a night owl to a morning person to dedicate time to writing 1000 words each day before their day job.

Abstract

The author, previously a self-described night owl, details their journey of waking up at 5 a.m. to work on their side hustle of writing. Over three months, they have managed to establish this as a habit, despite initial difficulties. They emphasize the importance of not cheating on sleep, the necessity of making sacrifices, and the gradual nature of habit formation. The author acknowledges the challenges, including the need to sleep early, the sacrifices made in social life, and the occasional failures. However, they also highlight the transformative power of a morning routine and the profound productivity gains achieved through dedicated morning hours, asserting that the effort is ultimately worthwhile.

Opinions

Waking up early becomes easier over time as the body adjusts to the new routine.
Adequate sleep is crucial; attempting to wake up early without enough sleep is a recipe for failure.
Sacrifices, such as foregoing late-night activities, are inevitable when committing to an early morning schedule.
Trying to change too much at once can lead to failure; patience and gradual adaptation are key.
It's important to accept that occasional failure is part of the process and not to be too hard on oneself.
A morning routine is essential in making the transition to early rising manageable and setting the tone for the day.
The productivity gains and sense of accomplishment from using the early morning hours effectively can be significant.

What I Wish I Knew Before Waking Up at 5 A.M.

What you should know if you want to wake up early to work on your side hustle

I’ve been a night owl my entire life; like other night owls, I’ve tried to become an early bird many times without success. 3 months ago, I decided I wanted to commit to writing. I needed time to write, and the only time without distractions would be the morning. I decided to wake up early and write 1000 words every day.

In the past 3 months, I’ve successfully woken up at 5 a.m. and written 1000 words; I can safely say that it’s a habit now. If you want to wake up early to work (on your startup, side hustle, or anything else), here’s what you should know.

It gets easier

When you first start waking up early, it’s hard. You wake up into darkness with nobody else to talk to: it’s lonely. But it gets easier; it really does. Every time you wake up at 5 a.m., your body gets used to it just a little more.

If you’re struggling, give it at least a month. You’ll reach a point where you realize you don’t want to give up: that’s when you know you’re about to have a habit.

You can’t cheat sleep

You can’t cheat sleep. Don’t even try. I can’t emphasize this enough. Cheating sleep is how you fail. Waking up at 5 a.m. without enough sleep makes you think you can’t do it (because without enough sleep, you can’t). It’s already going to be a battle to wake up in darkness; don’t make it harder by being tired too.

There are sacrifices

If you can’t cheat sleep, you have to sleep early. My bedtime is 9 p.m. and I need an hour to wind-down or I won’t be able to sleep. That means I can’t do the night activities my friends do. It means I can’t spend time hanging out after work. I’ve had to accept that.

Your life is different from mine, but there are sure to be your own sacrifices. Make sure you know what you’re getting into. Ask yourself: “What am I going to lose by sleeping at 9 p.m.?”

You can’t change too much at once

When I failed, I got too excited and tried to do too many things at once. I learned that waking up at 5 a.m. and being productive is something people do and I immediately tried to copy them. It ended with me not being to do anything at all. This time, I tried to be patient; I woke up to watch Netflix or YouTube videos for 2 weeks. After I got used to waking up early (and bored of Netflix), I started writing.

If you’re not conscientious already, don’t expect waking up at 5 a.m. to change that. Either wake up at 5 a.m. or become conscientious: don’t do both at the same time. Be patient, you’ll eventually use the time productively. There’s no way you can wake up at 5 a.m. to mess around for the rest of your life.

It’s okay to fail

I said I’ve woken up at 5 a.m. for 90 days. I lied, I haven’t done it every day. If I had to give an estimate, I’ve failed around 10 of those days. That might seem like a high failure rate, but it also means I woke up at 5 A.M. every other day.

I used to hate and punish myself for failure, but I realized there’s no way I can wake up at 5 a.m. every day for the rest of my life; life gets in the way. I let myself fail once a week. I don’t always use that fail day, but I have it there as insurance.

A morning routine changes everything

I don’t think I can wake up without my morning routine. Every morning, I’m intimidated by the 1000 words I need to write (especially because there isn’t much time before work). But before I do anything, I journal for 4 pages, which is simple and easy: I just have to put my pen to paper and keep going. Every morning, I wake up wanting to go back to sleep, but after journaling, I’m ready to write.

I always remind myself that all I have to do is get out of bed and do my morning routine. If I want to go back to sleep after, I can. That hasn’t happened yet; I never want to sleep after journaling.

I’m not sure the morning routine you choose matters. It could be meditating, yoga, making tea, or anything else. Choose something that isn’t intimidating and tell yourself that’s all you have to do.

It’s worth it

I’ve had the most productive writing months of my life. I’ve never been able to commit to writing before, but now I have. I wrote more in the past month than I have in the past year; I didn’t miss a single day of writing 1000 words (even when I failed waking up early).

It’s harder to procrastinate in the morning. Not only is there no one to distract you, but it’ll feel a waste of time if you did nothing. After all, a lot of effort went into waking up.

Waking up at 5 a.m. isn’t for everybody. If you don’t want to do it, don’t do it, but there really are benefits. I’m going to keep doing it until I can’t.

If you’re finding it hard to find time to work, it could be what you need. Those moments of solitude before you get to your real job are valuable.