Waking up has ALWAYS been an issue for me for as long as I could remember. Until one day I decided to change that.
About a month-ish ago (and staying at the office WAY too late), I decided to start going to bed at 10PM and waking up at 5AM. I’ve always wondered what it would be like to be a morning person, but felt like I really just needed sleep. One day I switched up my routine, and realized I was, indeed, wrong.
WHY I WANTED TO DO THIS
I was coming home from work absolutely exhausted and immediately hopping on my computer to get blog work done. I’d go to bed at 11PM-12AM and wake up at 6:50AM to do it all over again. I wasn’t getting ANY down time. I knew something had to change, but didn’t think I’d be able to sacrifice my sleep.
Quite frankly, I was feeling burnt out when it came to my blog and creating content. I just didn’t want to do anything anymore — so I half-assed my posts. That’s kind of the moment I decided to take my site offline, and finally brand my business/blog. It not only allowed myself a break from writing and pushing out content, but I also accomplished a goal I had for 2018 (branding).
WHO INSPIRED ME
I read this post from Ashlee, and I kind of just decided to go for it, honestly. How’s that for a short, sweet, and to the point response?
WHY 5AM?
Quite frankly, I have a lot of blog work to get done. Getting up at 5AM means I have almost 2 hours to get things done for the blog with no interruptions. It sounds scary, but it’s actually really nice!
WHAT I DO DIFFERENTLY NOW
I get home about 7-8PM depending if I go to SoulCycle after work or not, then I shower, eat dinner, and catch up on some mindless TV. I use my iPhone’s Bedtime setting, so my reminder goes off at 10:05PM. That’s my bedtime goal. Sometimes it’s 10:30, but for me to get 7 full hours of sleep, 10:05PM is the magic number.
The soothing alarm goes off at 5:00AM on the dot, and I either snooze for a few minutes or wake up immediately. I try really hard not to snooze at all, but sometimes I can’t help it. Once I’m up, I head to my desk. If I’m feeling really tired, I’ll grab my laptop and work from bed. I put the news on, and have been loving catching up on what’s going on in the world. Typically, I read TheSkimm and The Newsette every day.
IS IT WORKING?
So far YES! Mornings are actually really peaceful for me, and I feel like I’ve been more productive with my blog. I feel more creative and more motivated to get shit done before work. When I come home, I’m able to fully unwind, focus on engaging and posting on Instagram (and not doing 31239812093 side tasks), and still getting a good night’s rest.
While I still think my body is getting used to waking up earlier, I definitely see a difference in my overall mood and productivity.
Are you a morning person or night owl? Do you think you could ever change?
