I swear I’ve tried everything alarms across the room, sleeping early, hyping myself up the night before. But the second 5 AM hits, I’m questioning every decision that got me here.Meanwhile, some people are out here going on runs, reading books, making smoothies — like how?? I can barely find the will to open one eye.
Is it something you just force yourself into until it stops feeling like a punishment? Or are morning people just genetically built different?
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You said it yourself: force yourself into it until it stops feeling like a punishment. Have a reason why you want to get up at 5am and then just do it. Over and over again until it becomes your identity.
I automatically wake up at 5am every day and it sucks. I can’t help it and I get jealous when everyone else sleeps in.
Worked mostly night shift my first career and loved it. Next career had this reverse and up early. Retired and I still go to bed early and up usually NLT than 0300. I enjoy the peace and solitude with my dog before the wife gets up and goes to work as I start my day.
I used to do this, wake up at 4:30 AM because my parents moved and I still wanted to go to the same school. Afterwards it was college because of the commute time via bus as class started at like 8 AM.
Some people are morning people and some people are night owls.
A lot of people do drink coffee though.
Well it starts with been in bed at 9pm with good sleep hygiene, isn’t going to work if you’re on tiktok until midnight
I don’t hesitate when I get up. Alarm goes off, I shoot out of bed and leave the house within the next 10 minutes, no dawdling
I used to train for cycling events at 1:30 am because I worked at 4 am and it was too hot during the day to train. Now, I feel like I am sleeping in when I get up at 5 with no alarm
The start of your day is actually the night before – when are you going to bed, what’re you doing in the hours leading up to it? A lot of those 4am carpe diem types are in bed early, maintain strict sleep routines which includes no screens in the leadup. Once you’ve shifted somewhat, it does get easier, but the way to shift is to do your well-practiced routine slightly earlier until you get to where you want to be.
I don’t wake up at 5 like every single day, but as long as I can do whatever I want, I like it. I love the feeling when the world is asleep and nobody bothers me with anything. Watching the sunrise is cool. I can work on my writing or do whatever the hell I want without being interrupted. But it’s also true that this is largely genetically coded and if you don’t feel well waking up this early, don’t do it.
Get out of bed immediately, stare at a bright light for a minute, splash of cold water and caffeine
In part it’s genetic. My parents were both early risers. My sister and I both are early risers.
Wait a minute – there’s another 5:00? How? Why?
My alarm goes off at 4:30 AM. I have been getting up at (or before) 5:00 AM for about 10 years and it just become habit. My body has gotten used to keeping these hours so much that even on the weekend when I have NO need to be awake that early…I just naturally wake up on my own (no alarm) around 5:00 AM or just before.
I’ve always been a morning person. It helps that I have also rarely had any trouble getting to sleep and staying asleep all night.
Short answer: I got bills to pay.
I hate getting up so early for work, but I have to provide for my family (sole provider here). That means being responsible and dragging my butt out of bed that early. Eventually, it just becomes habit, but I can assure you I don’t enjoy it.
Get up right away and turn on the lights.
I wake up at 5 so I can get my silent coffee and journaling time, it’s sometimes the best part of my day and it gets me out of bed.
Sounds like a nightmare.
I try to be in bed by 9 sometimes as late as 10. But up at 5 take care of my dog make lunch take a shower an coffee for the road and in good to go.
I used to wake up at 8:00 every day, usually going to bed at midnight. But since I found my new job I’ve been waking up at 6:00 without an alarm, going to bed at around 22:30 on a good day.
Is nice to have 2 hours for you in the morning, I can read a book drink coffee without stressing about the time.
Do not try it if it doesn’t feel natural for you, people have different circadian cycles, not all of us are awake and sharp in the morning, some of us are night owls that are more active at night. Being a morning person doesn’t make you better than the rest.
5 am for me is easy now a days. I basically tell myself that I’m doing it for the right reasons(gym from 5:30-6:30). Once your up just get to the next step. Brush teeth, put cloths on, get dressed. The days are so short if you have a family. If you want to be healthy u have to make the time. Time won’t wait for you
I’m the same. I can go to bed at 8pm but I still can’t wake up comfortably that early, which I had to do for years working while in college. People are just different. My wife feels great when she wakes up no matter how early. She swore I had sleep apnea because of how I act when I wake and made me go to 2 different doctors and take 3 different sleep apnea tests before she’d believe I didn’t have it
It’s a discipline thing mostly. you probably wake up and think “Man I’m so tired” and subconsciously struggle to do things or even get out of bed. you need to learn to tell yourself “Too bad”
Work an early schedule for 20+ years, waking up at 4:30am comes naturally. My brain just shuts down at 8:30pm now.
Just do it every day and make habit out of it. Its gonna get better. Also go sleep early. And coffee and tea obviously.
Years and years of waking up at 5:00 AM in boarding school, or was it earlier conditions you for the rest of your life. I am my most active early in the morning. Preferably when everyone else is asleep.
I am a night person who gets up at 5am for work 4 days a week, I do 10 hour shifts. I set my clothes out in the bathroom so when my alarm goes off I can hit the snooze about 3 times then stumble into the bathroom to pee and get dressed. My products are on the counter so deodorant, powder, face cream.
I sit and veg while checking my email and waking up. Make sure the cats have fresh water and stuff.
I prepare my lunch into baggies on one of my days off so I grab what I need in the AM and not have to think about it. I make coffee at work and eat breakfast at my desk, normally an orange or a kind breakfast bar.
I take melatonin on the nights I need to get up early because I do have trouble settling down to sleep, even if I am exhausted.
I just have to be at work to unlock the gates, it is pretty slow in the early morning and I can listen to podcasts or the radio at work while keeping an eye on things.
Before 8 am my brain does not find a gear and I am close to a zombie. Not really punishment, just something I have to do to pay the bills and keep the cats fed.
I have worked graveyard and swing shifts, I am much more alive and perky during those times.
A full 8 hours of sleep. In bed at 7, asleep by 8 and then up at 4am
i go to bed at 12 am or 01 and i wake up at 05.
My sleep apnea is my alarm clock.
I like money more than sleep right now so it’s all hustle
You get used to it like anything else. I start work at 6 so I’m up at 4:45-5:00 AM because I have to. Others have already mentioned it but it’s just required discipline/conditioning.
Before, I used to wake up between 4-4:30am naturally because I was usually the opener for my Barista shift and the early morning habit just stuck with me. While there was the prospect of unlimited coffee, I personally looked forward to having that time for myself to sit or move or prep for the day without feeling rushed.
Nowadays, I have a breastpumping session to look forward to at 5am (baby is 5 months now!) and the main motivator for getting up is “If I don’t do it, it doesn’t get done”. There’s something about knowing you have to do something for someone else that gives me an extra surge of urgency to get the day going and stay on track.
Some people have morning-oriented circadian rhythms and some don’t. I’m one of the latter and luckily I work in and industry where straight evenings (usually 2-10:30pm or 3-11:30pm) is an option available to me. Since I switched, I’m able to get so much more rest than when I had to work mornings.
I get up at 330 am for work. I keep a very strict bedtime
They don’t. They end up passing out by 7:30pm, or look absolutely drained by 8.
I wake up at 3:30 AM for work.
I have an alarm aross the room, but the thing that helps me a lot is that the very first thing i do after shutting off the alarm, is preparing food for my cat. It forces me to activate my brain and keeps me from just throwing myself back to bed =)
You guys sleep in until 5:00 AM?
I used to think I was just a night person, and I could never be a morning person. The reality was I would be going to bed at at 12am, to wake up at 7am, and telling myself “that’s 7 hours sleep, that more than enough”. I was only fooling myself. I was lying awake tossing and turning, maybe getting 5 hours sleep.
Starting this year I’ve had a hard rule of turning all electronics at 10pm, no exceptions. No scrolling, no gaming. I started to get more sleep, which meant I didn’t need to have those 3 coffees a day. No coffees meant I wasn’t anxious and I wasn’t crashing throughout the day. Now I get tired at night, like we are supposed to. I try to read at 10pm but I’m usually ready for bed already. Now I wake up naturally before my alarm even goes off, which means I’m not jolted awake unexpectedly leaving me with a frantic start to my day.
5 am is still early though, and this is where you have to be strict with yourself. Otherwise the knock on effect of not getting enough sleep means you wake up groggy, you stay groggy, you probably load up on caffeine, this makes you anxious. You finish work and you’re amped up and then spend too long with electronics and whatever else and you go to bed late. The cycle repeats.
I get up at 5:15 every morning and it’s not hard for me to get up anymore. When I first starting getting up at that time it was, but really prioritizing getting a solid 7-8 hours of sleep each night has made it soooo much easier.
That’s the neet part
Easy, just like this falls over after getting up
I get up at 5am and don’t leave for work till 6:30. I like to have my time is the morning.
It’s not that I’m perfectly awake the moment I wake up but I like to give myself enough time to do my morning routine. If you keep hitting the snooze button you will end up rushing and stressing.
I wake up at 3:30am for work and its miserable lol but oh well.
4am runs and stretches and the feeling I get after a run… there’s no better way to start the day even if it’s a lite jog it starts the day off right.. now granted I’m a father of 2 and a house and cars sports hobbies etc some days I feel exactly like you but ya gotta get up the next day and get back at it
Get up immediately and make the bed. It helps if you have a programmed coffee maker or other beverage you enjoy at the ready.
Go to bed at a realistic time an hour before you need to be asleep. Don’t eat right before bed. Eliminate as much sound and light as you can. Alternately, put an audiobook on a timer so it goes off after about an hour.
Also, don’t underestimate having everything set up for the next day including your work lunch, list in your notes app, etc. This helps turn off your thinker.
They go to sleep early, so they get enough sleep.
By not functioning after 7 pm. I’m a morning person. Feel amazing at 5am but effectively useless in the evening.
I haven’t woken up to an alarm since high school (over a decade ago), that also helps.
I go to bed at 9 and to sleep by 10/10:30. That helps.
My doctor recommended me melatonin 1mg drops. Let me tell you, since I’ve gotten those I drop 2 at 8:30 and by 9 I’m OUT. I do not feel groggy and at 5 I just get up and go NO COFFEE. It all comes down to rest and if your hobby or job are something you enjoy. Like when you genuinely enjoy life you want to maximize the hours per day
I am currently up at 5:00 AM… Not by choice. I’ve been in Australia for about 5 days & my sleep pattern is so messed up. The jet lag ruined me… Someone help.
This is great lol I wake up at 430 mon thru Fri
.. nauseous and anxiety ridden about the day I’m so tired of it if I come to before my alarm I lay in bed with practically an anxiety attack I hate mornings the comes the trips to the toilet till I have to leave for work at 530 yay me 15 more year till I can may be retire let’s hope
If i get 7+ hours of sleep then waking up at 5 am is no problem. Just gotta go to bed early.
It took a long time of forcing myself to get up early, but once it becomes routine, it’s a super power. I get up at 4am every day, go straight to the gym. By the time I’ve done my workout, I can get back home and prep breakfast for the wife, start the day right.
Here’s the trick- go to bed early and try to get quality sleep. When you wake up, DONT LOOK AT YOUR PHONE. That’s a trap. Instead, get up and either wash your face with cold water and/or have a shower (warm, naturally). The face wash will shock you awake, and the shower will warm your body up.
Then get moving. Have a coffee. Put your clothes on. DONT SLOW DOWN.
My wife and I wake up at 4 am and we function just fine.
My natural tendency is to be a night owl, but it doesn’t take long to get myself back on track after a vacation or something.
A tip that works for me and maybe will for you: as soon as your alarm goes off, slam some caffeine. That way you can lay back down for a few minutes as it takes effect.
As someone who is not naturally a morning person, routine is key. I used to have a job where I had to be on site at 6am. Started going to bed at 9. No phone after 8 so my brain can calm down. If I wake in the middle of the night, don’t look at the phone just lay there till you fall back asleep. When the 5am alarm goes off no spending 5 min in bed scrolling to “wake up”. Out of bed immediately so I can start getting ready.
Eventually I started waking up at 6-7 naturally on the weekends. Downside is I fight for my life to stay awake past like 10:30pm. If I get out of my routine for a few days I have to start over which sucks.
Not a morning person but I work from 6 and have to wake up at 5. I don’t function normally until the weekend. Yes it’s kinda miserable but I gotta do it. Some current and previous co-workers told me they wake up even sooner to drink coffee. Which I find baffling, but others also shower in the morning which I can understand better.
I’m a night owl who basically can’t function before 8 AM. However, while I was job-hunting during the pandemic, I took a part-time job in a hospital kitchen and usually had to show up at 6 to prepare breakfast.
My secret? Working with people who blasted loud-ass Spanish music during the morning rush 😂. Of course, being on my feet and rushing around a kitchen helped, too. I basically didn’t get a chance to feel tired.
Nowadays, I work from home, and getting up early just to plop my ass in front of a computer sucks.
In my opinion, you need an emotional reason to be up so early – if not, it will be a struggle. For me – I’m a practicing hindu, and I do my daily morning prayers religiously (get it? sorry lol). It’s genuinely a source of joy for me, and is a huge motivator for me to get up.
Not saying you have to be religious in order to be able to get up early, but you have to have something that you genuinely look forward to – not something you need to do (although, desperation is a wonderful, if unsustainable motivator). Another equally important thing having a strict night routine – my drop dead time is around 10 PM. Doesn’t matter if I have a final exam / presentation the next day – if I am up till midnight, that’s a time management issue that I should have figured out earlier – I drop everything and go to sleep around 10.
Our toddler had a bout of 5am wakeups for a month or so. We survived on coffee and willpower.
Consistency, not using electronics that put out light before bed, getting good sleep, waking up to light (they have alarms that do that), not eating too close to bedtime, and more. There are a ton of things to help improve sleep but for waking up the light alarm and forcing myself up quickly is all that makes getting up early not miserable.
It’s the way our brains work
You just get used to it.
And here I am with my stupid circadian rhythm problem going to sleep at 5 am lol
Get on any schedule long enough and it becomes second nature. Now we may all default to something different given no stimulus, but when I had to be up at 4am every day to get to work I started waking up at 6am on my day off.
So yeah…
My kids wake up, and have always woken up between 4.45am-5.30am. even if they have late nights. Honestly the answer for me is just early bed times. I miss out on evenings and time to myself but damn, my body and mind is just exhausted come 8pm and I can’t stay awake. Trying to be kind to myself and just going with it for the time being.
About 600mg of Caffeine ingested in 200mg increments over a period of 4 hours with the first 200mg dose being taken no more than 10 minutes after awakening.
Should be noted right now I’m waking up at 4am and usually going to bed at 11pm.
Everyone has a sleep rhythm that is usually 1.5 hours long that cycles between light, rem and deep sleep. Your target bed time should be based on this cycle. If you need to get up at 5am you should be falling sleep at 9:30pm for 7.5 hours of sleep. That way you wake up during a light sleep part of the cycle which is easier to wake up during and with less grogginess.
I use to start work at 5 am. I’m totally a night owl, completely wrecked my physical and mental health. Got furloughed during covid for 2 years and reverted back to natural sleep cycle. After feeling %1000 better and having loads of free time applied for a very flexible job. Now WFH and start whenever I like (9/10am usually) improved my life massively!
I’m 25 and average about 4-6 hours of sleep throughout the work week. On weekends I’ll sleep in and catch up. I did a research paper on sleep deprivation in high school so I know that I don’t have a very good sleep routine at the moment.
That being said… coffee. I’m tired for like the first hour after getting up but once I’m like 1/3 done with my large coffee I’m cruisin.
Because I work at 6 and set my alarm for 4;30 to do my hair and makeup 🩷 I just love having more daylight to experience. I don’t get enough sleep, so I’m usually up from 4;30am-10pm
By going to bed earlier…
I wake up at 4 a.m. for 12 hours shifts.
For awhile, it really was that typical dread before bed, and the agony of trying to get out of the comfort of your sheets when the alarm goes off. I actually started naturally waking up before my alarm just because it was the act of having it jolt you awake to the thought of “you have to get up now or else!!” that gave me huge anxiety.
Here’s my personal advantage at the moment: I am a single man with no kids. So how these people at the same job as I with children do it, I have NO idea how. Can’t imagine, and seriously good on anyone that does.
My answer to help is typical, but it is true for me: Excercise was a huge improvement to it. It’s not even making yourself exhausted to make sure you sleep, just that movement to the body really helped me wake up feeling more refreshed and ready.
I’m in my room ready for bed by 8, and getting comfortable for actual sleep by 9 and I absolutely melatonin on work days to get in that state of mind. I know it doesn’t work for all. Also not eating before an hour before bed helps me. Sometimes a light snack if I didn’t eat enough. It’s weird because the big meals into that bloated/full feeling, I can absolutely take a nap on the days on days off. It’s too much on work days.
So yeah, exercise and melatonin (and a muscle relaxer too I will admit, prescribed that for anxiety, that also makes me tired) was the answer. Still rough to do.
I have to get up at 4am when I work my 6am shifts and you get kind of used to it. I still need a nap most days after work (if I have time) but other than that it’s not so bad.
Getting to go home at 1:30pm and having the whole day for myself makes up for it.
My kids sleep trained me. For context, I was a bartender for many many years and considered 5am a normal bedtime.
> are morning people just genetically built different?
I think so. I have never had an issue getting up early, assuming I got enough sleep and am not sick. The one thing I do that is better than most, I imagine, is that I get in bed at 9PM, don’t look at my phone or anything (I actually leave it across the room), and go to sleep before 9:30PM. I see my wife try to do the same thing, but she just has a much harder time both getting to sleep and waking up. There isn’t much of a difference in our routines, so I think it must just be innate. I also notice that I am pretty much incapable of napping, and have a very hard time staying up past 10PM or sleeping late. Pretty sure that my circadian rhythm is just stronger than most.
If you want to wake up with energy at 5AM you need to be asleep by 10PM, minimum. Many go to sleep before that.
I get up at 3 or 4 am everyday. Don’t want to don’t need to either.
Maybe they are forced to wake up at 5 am because a wh*** got them fired from Their job and they now live in their car
genes play a factor, a lot of people are simply early birds and others are owls who prefer to be and are more productive in the evening/nighttime – the most important thing i would say if you’re trying to wake up earlier is get a solid sleep/wake routine in place and stick to it each day as much as you can (+1 hour if need be) – eg. wake up 7am, sleep 10pm (+1 hour on weekend)
I have a cold brew coffee pot on my nightstand. Also I go to bed insanely early.
I go to bed at 9 and get up at 4:30 every day for the last 5 years and now I’m sad I didn’t do it sooner. Seeing morning twilight on my morning commute with a coffee buzz and nobody on the road is like having breakfast with God
The first few times suck, later it becomes natural
I been telling myself it’s ok to wake up late and still be successful lol. I tried waking up early for a 6am work out class or run, Ending up coming back taking a nap anyway ( even after drinking coffee) that life really not meant for me
2 weeks a month for my shift its 5:15 wake up fueled by caffeine and hate.
I’m up at 3:30 am( in bed by 10 pm), at work by 5 am. I’ve been doing it for 15+ years. It’s just a matter of getting used to it. I love it personally, I’m out of work by 1 pm, home by 1:30, and have the rest of the day to enjoy.
Been getting up at 2:30am every day for a decade or so for work at 4am. Sucks but I’m done at 10am. Go to bed at 7-8pm or later nightly sucks. My days off; my bladder wakes me up at 2-3am to tell me I’m full.
Being a forklift driver at Costco is tense but I like it.
I’m dead tired by 9pm.
It’s called being an adult.
For me, usually just panic. Knowing I have to be somewhere or meet a deadline lights the fire. To do it calmly I need to go to bed ridiculously early and shower as soon as I wake up.
I’m being paid to be awake at that time and I like money.
I wake up at 3am just about every morning. You get used to it
Only thing that helps me out is knowing my day is done at 3 and I’m able to get the kids from school. You get used to it after years of doing it
Try having to be at work at 6:30 am.
I go to bed at 9pm so…..
I lack that ability and made it up with the ability to function from midnight-3am instead.
Learn to go to bed earlier, then it becomes hard to sleep past 8hr, so you don’t feel so wrecked waking up early. If you want to be up at 5AM, learn to make yourself go to sleep at 9PM… this means getting into bed at 8:30, and turning off your phone at 8:45.
Also, an automatic light timer can help jumpstart your circadian rhythm if you need some more motivation.
I think they’re built different. It’s a good day if I manage only hit snooze once and either take a shower or eat breakfast (both breakfast and shower on the same morning has yet to happen)
I can go to bed at like 11 and be up at 4am on the dot with no alarm 5 days a week. Whether I want to or not. Yes I wake up totally able to function, but that doesn’t mean my body doesn’t eventually notice the fact that it only gets like 4-5 hours a night.
Hot Coffee really helps.
Change your diet and start going to bed around 9-10pm. The more you do it, the easier it gets. I consistently get 5 hours of sleep every night, never any more because of my work schedule.
I think a lot of us are just naturally morning people. I set my phone alarm for 4am on weekdays so I can work out but I often wake up before the alarm goes off.
I don’t know how people do it who aren’t morning people though. My husband isn’t a morning person and the 4am alarm doesn’t even stir him.
Wake up at 4 AM, come 5 AM I’ve been awake an hour and can function like a normal person
I wake up every day and I’m good with it. I get stuff done. I get chores done. I get work done, kids lunches, breakfast. And even a little Me time with a cuppa. Then it’s off to the races!
Go to bed at 8 PM
When I got into playing BDO a lot, I would go to bed at 9 and wake up around 5. Problem was that I’d get tired before 10 and wake up at christ in the morning on weekends as well…
This is gonna sound dumb but what time do you go to bed? I get up at 4:30am to go for a run before work but I’m in bed at 8pm every night.
I’ve been waking up between 330 and 530 every work day since I was 18. It never gets easier, it never sucks less. Don’t get involved with those rise and grind types, you don’t need that negativity in your life
After a while, people get used to it.
I wake up every day at 5 and function very normally until my nap.
They’re alien robots.
We go to bed at 8pm lol
Not starving and not being homeless is a huge motivator
I’ve had a small noisy demanding alarm clock for about a year now (baby) It’s just routine now! Sometimes I’m able to lie in until about half 6 which is a nice treat.
Here’s a trick. Go to bed at midnight. Force your self awake at 5 am every morning for a week. Your body should start to get tired earlier in the night. Then you go to bed at 11 wake up at 5 for a week.
Then 10.
As long as you’re consistent with forcing yourself awake at the same time. Your body will adjust by getting tired earlier.
Go to bed between 830-930 and its not that extreme at all
By going to bed at 9:15pm
Have a kid
Every person has a different circadian rhythm — which dictates that those people can wake up at 4 or 5 like it was nothing and be in bed at 8 like it’s normal. Your cycle is later. Unsure if there is a way to change it. My MIL is a 8-4 sleeper. Me, I prefer something like 1 am to 9 am. I can’t stay up much past 1 and can’t sleep in much past 9.
I am competitive. If I get up earlier than the rest of my peers, I won the day already.
I get up at 2:30 am to take care of my mom and get ready for work. On my day off I sleep in until 5 because my body won’t let me sleep in later. Just got used to it.
You go to bed at 8:00 p.m. and are asleep by 9:00
We are asleep by 10pm. I wake up religiously at 5.15am every morning, no alarm. Weekends, holidays, vacations, doesn’t matter what time zone (I do need alarm when I change time zone). I run 5 miles every morning and I just love early mornings..that time before sunrise
I have to get up at 5 for my job so I get to bed by 9. I have no choice. I have to eat. it was very tough the first few weeks.
John Wick got up 6AM on the dot every day. Be like John Wick. Maybe less murder 🤷♀️
Go to bed at nine. Eight if you need more than seven hours sleep. I allot myself eight hours in bed every day. Whether I’m working, or not. A schedule makes a helluva difference. Go to bed, and get up, the same time every day. Obviously there will be occasions where you have to make an exception, but otherwise stay on schedule
Once you get past the denial and wash up and get dressed and make it to your destination, it’s not so bad. The hardest part is getting there.