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Why wake up at 4 am may not work for you?

Daniel Maurer on August 10, 2019

Why do you think getting up early might be good for you? Why do some executives wake up at 4 am? Some people cite the benefits below waking up befo...
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Jason C. McDonald • Edited

So if you believe that things are not happening don't think you need to wake up early but think about how to optimize your time.

Actually, it's both. Having a slower, more controlled start to the day lowers stress, which helps you make the most of the rest of your day.

I'm up at 5 a.m. every day, and I find it provides me three benefits:

  • Lower stress (as I mentioned). I can have my devotional time, enjoy a cup of coffee, watch the sunrise, read a few comics. As an introvert, having that "me time" is invaluable.

  • After the above, I usually wind up knocking out some task I needed to take care of, like reading up on a new technology, or taking care of my DEV tag moderation duties. That's one less thing to try and fit into my day.

  • Because I got up earlier, I'm sleepy earlier, so I get to bed more regularly. Being a "morning person" helps me keep a natural schedule rhythm with time for work, projects, family, chores, and hobbies.

Getting up earlier isn't a replacement for scheduling by any means, but it is a healthy life habit that certainly helps maximize what time you have.

Don't throw out one or the other.

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Daniel Maurer

Thank you very much for your comment, it was certainly very constructive for my opinion.

Having a slower, more controlled start to the day lowers stress, which helps you make the most of the rest of your day.

I agree with that but I don't believe that the big value is in the time we raise but in the attitude we have and what we do to create a great day.

But I agree that people who wake up before most do have more facility to organize the initial moment of their day and start in the best possible way.

I don't throw away early waking, but I also don't believe that this is the secret of productive days.

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Jason C. McDonald • Edited

I don't throw away early waking, but I also don't believe that this is the secret of productive days.

Maybe not the secret for everyone, but it's certainly a necessary component of productive days for people like me. :) Positive attitude is another component, but it doesn't replace it. They work together.

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Daniel Maurer

I fully agree that it makes a big difference to the people who have this practice.
Yes, positive attitude is also very important and transformative, we can see this in the movie The Lion King.
I believe that if we unite positive attitude, good practices and a lot of effort we can achieve many goals.

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Antonio Radovcic

I guess the bigger problem is how to manage going to sleep at 8. The waking-up-part seems trivial in comparison.

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Rafael Ahrons • Edited

Here in Brazil, an average student has class in the night that may end up at 11 PM and have to work more or less 9h/day to pay the class and finaly you have to wake up at 4:30 AM to be "productive" in the day. In the best scenario you will sleep at least 4h per day. It's impossible.

Doing this routine of waking up at 4:30 AM, you have to sleep at 8:30 PM, but if you work all day and have family, then you won't sleep at 8:30 PM you gonna go enjoy the rest of the day with your family, am I wrong??

I wonder what people do for living to keep this routine.

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Antonio Radovcic

I guess it's a feasible sleep-routine for a single person with more than average flexibility job-wise.

With family you need to match your sleep to the kids' schedule. For me that's 11-7 Sleep, 7-9 Kindergarden-Run and Commute, 9-6 Work & Commute, 6-11 family & personal-time.

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Daniel Maurer

Your comment is very important and really made me think about it.

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Jamie Richardson

This actually makes a lot of sense.

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yevgalis

I think most people who wake at 4am or 5am know WHY they do it. And that's the main point.

Today there is a cult of waking up at 5am, and you can see it all over the internet. People want to become successful, but just waking up early won't make it happen. If you just want to get up at 5am, but you don't know why - you will fail.

I believe today we need to question why we want to do certain things, and not just implement everything from the internet into our lives.

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Daniel Maurer

Yes, I believe that if we questioned why we do certain things and why we do things in this way we could actually improve many aspects of our lives.

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Rachel Soderberg

I get up at 430 every morning, even on weekends. I love the early mornings and tend to spring out of bed and straight out the door. I hit the gym, then head to work.

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Daniel Maurer

Cool, get up early for you allows you to have a special moment right at the start of your day and that's really good. I really can't do this but I find this attitude from people like you amazing.