My 5 AM Challenge
As I mentioned in my WRD from last week, I really wanted to challenge myself to get out of bed at 5 o’clock and do something -ANYTHING – to get myself in the habit of rising early. I’d like to teach myself and my body that 5am is a great moment to get up and get busy. The podcast I listened to basically said to just start, get up and do something. Later you can add the exercise or other things you want to do.
5 Things I did at 5 AM
- Fold Laundry – that’s right; on the first morning, I was very tired but had no idea what to actually do, then I realised I had several mountains of laundry that needed to be folded. This is one of the side effects of being able to workout again – lots of towels and sports clothes. (FYI: it took two mornings to get it all done)
- Food prep – What a nice feeling to prep food in the morning without my husband and on being on top of each other in the kitchen! Wait. That didn’t come out right! Well, you know what I mean. The space is small we do tend to crash into each other at times.
- Ok this one is going to sound weird but, I spent time putting our savings stamps in the booklets. We buy stamps because the supermarket actually gives a better savings interests than the bank. But… for some reason no one likes to put them in the booklets. Kind of like laundry, we are both waiting for the stamps to sort themselves out.
- Catch up on Social Media – One thing I’m doing is putting my phone away in the evening , out of the bedroom, so I go to sleep without checking my phone at the last minute. Also, a tip from the podcast I mentioned on my WRD was to put your alarm (my phone) in room close by so you literally have to get out of bed to turn it off. Then you stay out of bed and you don’t hit the snooze button 10 times! I’m busy at work these days and either go to the gym/pilates in the evening and sometimes have other appointments, so I don’t always have time to reciprocate on the weekly link-ups. I don’t want to be the person who doesn’t comment (not judging because I KNOW people get busy) on blogs or various social media. I feel like I had more time this week because I got up early.
- Go back to bed – ok so I really tried, but I’m tired y’all! This morning I got up, turned the alarm off and then went back to bed. 4/5 weekdays isn’t so bad for the first go-round, am I right?
The 5am Club
Are you a member of the 5am Club? Do you do things besides exercise? Catch up on social media, television shows, read, fold laundry?
I’m linking up with Meranda and Lacey over at Fairytales and Fitness for the Friday link-up! Why not join in the fun?
Love this! My list: walk Scooby, run with Scooby, go to Orangetheory, CycleBar or CorePower yoga, although only Orangetheory starts at 5 am! I honestly didn’t used to be a morning person, but yo will get used to it and crave that time to yourself!
I don’t think our grocery stores do that. Once in a while you can collect stamps to shop from a catalog, but not for $$.
I’m looking forward to enjoying the mornings more :)
we actually earn 3 euros on each book of 49 euros worth of stamps. that’s WAY more than what the bank gives :(
I’m an early riser. Always have been. The flip side is you’ll find me in bed by 9 pm.
I think morning routines are important, and mine do not include social media. I get up, make myself some warm lemon water, than either read for a bit or do some yoga — at the moment I committed to 40 days of morning yoga (which isn’t always what I do, LOL).
After yoga I usually meditate & then journal for a bit. After that I check email.
OTOH, of course, I don’t have a 9-5 job. But I’ve done some variation on this for many years, even when I did work a more regular job.
since I’ve been shutting down in the evening and then don’t have a lot of time during the day I do like to see what happened while I was sleeping. but also, today (Monday) for example, I knew I wouldn’t have a lot of time for the link-ups and wanted to be sure to reciprocate. but I don’t think social media will be a mainstay at 5am once I’m more used to it.
I’m an early-riser (also a night owl LOL), but I do respect that not everyone LOVES that routine. Most mornings, I wake up before the alarm (even on the #5at5 mornings). Once my eyes open, I have a tough time relaxing and snoozing back into dreamland…so I just get up and get moving. For my schedule, early morning workouts fit best so it’s a good thing my body (and mind) are willing.
I would love to have more time in the evening, so I’m really going to try to make the 5am thing, well, a thing!
This is great! We have a large group of MRTT ladies that run at 5:15 am. I have so much respect that they are able to do this and then go to work all day. I cannot do it! I would be back in bed by 9. Soldier on!
I so wish I had a morning group to run with! maybe I’m going to start one! haha!
Getting up to fold laundry would not get me out of bed, but getting up to write, read, have a quiet cup of coffee would work. I have set my alarm for 5 AM every day this week and I only make it out of bed once. Because I had to go into work early for a meeting. But I have great intentions!
yeah believe me, folding laundry won’t be a regular thing for my 5 am starts! but good to get it done. it is early, 5am!!
I always start with coffee, then I make my daughter’s school lunch and then I’m off on my run. Which usually puts me in a great mood to deal with dressing, feeding and chasing a kindergartner and a preschooler and get them to school/ preschool and me to work on time.
are you also getting up at 5am? Ii love that we had almost the same look the other day via IG stories!! and I got to run vicariously through you :D
I wake up early anyway but I couldn’t bear to force myself to stay up longer at night so kudos to anyone who can make themselves do what doesn’t come naturally! If I need to work on a bad deadline I will set the alarm for 5 rather than working through the night.. The medication I’m on at the moment gives me 8 hours’ sleep so I don’t wake as early as I used to.
my meds had me sleeping more in the beginning. that’s worn off ages ago though. Are you still finding you have enough time to get all your things done?
Oh, that’s interesting! And yes, if I make sure I take the med early enough the previous night!
I actually get up at 4:00 am mon-friday to go to work. I just get my Devotion in and get ready for work to be out the door by 5:30. If I had more time these would be great to add.
Oh my goodness De!! 4am!!
I love getting up early – my alarm clock goes off around 5:15am and I follow a morning routine of meditation, bible reading, journal and prayer. If I have more time, I’ll do a 5-10min stretch. This is all before I prep my kids breakfast/lunch.
It does take time for your body to adjust to an earlier wake up time. I always make sure I’m in bed early enough so I have the energy to go all day.
it’s so nice to have a real routine I bet! I’m working towards that.
I’m really bad at getting up super early in the morning, but there’s Brazilian jiu-jitsu classes at the gym I joined and they’re at 6, so it’d be great to get in a workout before going to work! You’re doing way better than me! I’ve only done it twice in 2 weeks. :[
just set that alarm, girl and DO IT! hahaha! here’s me all 5 AM Club Member for a whole… 5 days hahaha!
Wow, yay for you! I like to get up early and clean and get things done but I have NEVER been a part of the 5 am club! Kudos to you!
thanks! it’s still not easy but they say it takes 21 days to make a habit right?
I find I’m most productive in those wee hours of the morning when the house is quiet. Of course, I pay for it with my lack of getting enough sleep each night, but I don’t seem to need quite as much sleep as many people.
I’m not sure I’ll be super productive but man was I glad to get the laundry mountain sorted out! and made my lunch in a more relaxed way.
Usually if I’m up that early (and I usually am), I use that time to exercise and work out. That being said, I’ll still done wtih that fiarly early, so I do things like empty the dishwasher, fold laundry, pack lunch and set up my schedule for the day.
I found it much easier and calmer to do a few household tasks when I was the only one up.