Join The “5am Club” To Supercharge Your Life

“The 5am Club” sure is catchy, isn’t it? Rest easy, cautious reader – I’m not trying to get you to join an actual club. Or a time share scheme. Or a cult. Instead, I want to talk about why being an early riser can transform your life. The 5am Club is welcoming applications, and you’ve got a VIP pass!

Okay, okay, so the sales pitch didn’t work. Let’s just talk about why waking up early will enrich your life.

Waking Up at 5am Makes You Better

Let’s talk about how waking up early can make you a better, happier, more productive person. First off, you can start your day by overcoming a challenge immediately when you wake up: you got out of bed at 5am. Congrats! Huge pat on the back for that – knocking out the first step is the hardest part.

What’s next, though? Well, let me just say that based on my own personal experience (and my wife’s as well): Whatever you do first thing in the morning will set you on a path for the entire day. A productive morning starts the day off positively and sets the mood and pace for the day. A sluggish morning starts the day off by dragging your feet (video games first thing are the worst!) and absolutely kills any drive for the rest of the day.

Let’s talk about some of the benefits you can take away from joining the 5am Club.

1. Starting the day off by overcoming a challenge feels fantastic and sets the pace for a productivity (cold showers, anyone?  Just me?)
2. Morning workouts, meditation, and reading add another layer of accomplishment for the day
3. You have time to enjoy your morning routine on weekdays! You know, the weekend routine where you leisurely make your perfect cup of pour over coffee, sit outside, and enjoy the fresh air without stressing over the time? How’s that sound every day?
4. Time to yourself if you have kids
5. Time to play video games – just don’t do it first thing! I recommend getting completely ready for the day, then taking what additional time you have to get some gaming in. Do the hard part first!
6.  The mornings actually feel long!

There have to be cons to waking up at 5am, right? Well, sure. Let’s review.

• You have to wake up earlier
• You’ll get tired a little earlier
• It’s more difficult to be lazy and unproductive
• …yeah, not much bad to say about it!

Anyone Can Be a Morning Person. Even You.

You might be saying, “Yeah, I’m not a morning person, Dave. I’ve tried and it just doesn’t work.” I hear you there, I used to say the same thing. In response, I’ve got a couple of questions for you.

• What time do you wake up each day? 9am? Noon? 30 minutes before work starts so you scramble, get a half-assed shower in, and rush to clock in?
• Do you feel productive when that’s your schedule?

My guess is that you probably get less done each day than you’d like because you’re “not a morning person.” But you know what’s fascinating? The fact that I became a morning person by identifying as a morning person. We have the power to be whatever we want to just by saying it. As you say it more, you start to believe it and live it – the power of affirmations is real.

So how can you make it easier for yourself? Glad you asked!

1. Set an alarm for 5:00am and put that thing across the room from where you sleep. Set it LOUD.
   • This will make you get up and out of bed to shut off the terrible alarm that jerked you out of hibernation
2. Set a tall glass of water next to your alarm and chug it as soon as you turn off the alarm.
   • Your body and brain will get up and going as you process the water, flipping your internal switch to “ON” for the day.
3. If you’re a REALLY hard sleeper, set a second alarm for 5:00am with an even more annoying alarm tone. Like the most annoying sound in the world from Dumb & Dumber. 
4. Put it on the other side of the room and laugh at future you struggling to turn those alarms off.
5. Once you’re up, make your bed before doing anything else. This is a basic military training trick that helped me appreciate the value of accomplishing something first thing each day.
   • This also hinders your ability to crawl back under the covers while doing something to help your living space stay clean and tidy to start the day
6. Use a sleep tracking app (many options on iPhone and Android, some even using data analytics from Apple Watch or Fitbit). Some of these, like Sleep Cycle, will track your sleep cycles and wake you up at your lightest sleep stage. You’ll wake up feeling refreshed instead of groggy.

Know that every day you keep at it, it gets easier. You’ll start to love how much longer your mornings (and days) feel. Waking up early will become second nature, and you’ll occasionally wake up before your alarm goes off – just a little more time for you to take back in the day.

Wrapping up, I’d like to answer a question you may be wondering: “Dave, why are you such an advocate for the 5am Club?” The answer is simple.

The Majority Of My Personal Productivity Comes In The Morning

It’s true – I get so much done before the workday starts. Waking up at 5am sets the pace for my day, and I can speak to the fact that straying from my routine to play the PS5 or Switch leaves me distracted all day and get nothing accomplished. It happens from time to time – I’m human. What I try to do, though, is stick to the routine that I’ll outline here. Feel free to use this as a template for what you can do with some extra time in the morning.

• 5am: Drink my favorite preworkout supplement, enjoying a book or reading some updates on my favorite subreddits while that sweet energy goodness kicks in
•  5:30am: Get my workout in in my home gym
•  6:15am: Enjoy making (and drinking) my perfect cup of pour over coffee, often sitting on the deck enjoying some fresh air with my current book
•  6:45am: Take a steaming hot epsom salt bath for muscle recovery followed by a cold shower (3 days a week)
•  6:45am: Take a cold shower (non-epsom salt bath days)
•  7:00am: Prepare my breakfast, lunch, mid-day meals while enjoying the morning with my daughter
•  7:30am: Take my daughter to daycare (2-3x/week)
•  8:00am: Start work

Yeah, all that before 8am. Every day. It’s glorious. Now, I understand that while 5am is the sweet spot for me, it may be different for you. You may want to get up even earlier – that’s great! The point is that you take back your ability to enjoy your mornings.

Do keep in mind that on the two days a week I have to get to the office for work, I have to head out at 7am. That means that I make my coffee with my breakfast instead and take it with me on my hourlong commute.

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5am Club, represent! What do you think? Completely ridiculous, or so easy you’re shocked you didn’t think of it earlier? Sound off in the comments!