- An argument for ‘The 5 a.m. Club’
This isn’t the entire generation. Yes, you’ve got those who would gladly murder you for approaching them before 11 a.m., but you’ve also got those on the other side of the spectrum – the early to rise and workout/meditate kind of people. Both kinds are more than happy to embrace their respective tags of being “totally a morning person” or being “so not a morning person”.
However we tag ourselves, how we approach our mornings comes with its own baggage, advantages, and disadvantages. Comedian Steve Harvey once shared something interesting on his show, an old but slightly evergreen statement: “Rich people don’t sleep eight hours a day!” the comedian said emphatically to his audience, in a clip that went viral. “That’s a third of your life. It ain’t but 24 hours in a day. You cannot be sleeping eight hours a day. You can’t live in LA and wake up at eight o’clock in the morning. It’s 11 o‘clock on the east coast. The stock market (has) been open two hours. They are already making decisions about your life and you are asleep.”
Writer and leadership expert Robin Sharma also emphasises the benefits of getting up early, saying that human beings are more creative, productive, and have the best access to their wisdom early in the morning. It may be a big challenge for the night owls among us, but he also notes that we all have the capability to install new habits.
Sharma also coined the term “The 5 a.m. Club”, which is also the title of his book, where he talks about how waking up early and taking advantage of that tranquillity before the sun rises leads to maximising your productivity. The Brunch decided to do a little investigating of our own.
Less likely to suffer from mental health issues like depression: Madhavi Hettiarachchi
Psychologist Madhavi Hettiarachchi spoke to us about the impact waking up early has on our physical and mental health.
“You’ve heard the saying before: The early bird catches the worm,” Hettrariachchi said: “While waking up early certainly offers you the advantage of doing things before anyone else, it also sets the tone for your day, allowing you a stress-free morning in which nothing is left to the last minute. But, there is some evidence that early risers also experience higher productivity and a slew of other health benefits.”
Explaining further, Hettiarachchi said: “Surveys also indicate that morning people procrastinate less than night owls. Not too surprisingly, early risers are more proactive and have more time in the morning to get ready and prepare for the day in a non-stressful environment. Even college students with earlier bedtimes have better academic performance than the students who go to bed later.”
Hettiarachchi also shared more merits to waking up early, such as giving your body time to wake up before starting your day. “For example, if you’re rolling out of bed at 8:30 a.m. to get to work at 9, chances are, you’re not going to arrive ready to do your best work. Getting up early gives your body a chance to reach peak wakefulness naturally,” she said.
Moreover, Hettiarachchi shared that as a rule, early risers are less likely to suffer from mental health issues like depression. “It’s hard not to get frustrated or annoyed when we’re exhausted. How many of us have overreacted when we are extremely tired? Consider just how many of us tend to let our minds reel with stressful, anxiety-ridden thoughts when we can’t sleep at night. While it’s impossible to simply disregard or completely stop the negative thoughts or quite wish away insomnia, it is definitely worth working on trying to set good habits.”
One more thing Hettiarachchi added to her list of benefits to waking up early, is the ability to improve the overall quality of sleep. She said that research has repeatedly found that those who wake up early are blessed with better quality sleep when they go to sleep at night, as opposed to the late-sleepers. And also, other research suggests night owls are more likely to develop sleep disorders and tend to sleep less overall than the early birds.
“We hear all the time how important it is to get a solid eight hours of rest a night, and if you’re trying to cram in your beauty rest in the few hours between midnight and whenever your alarm goes off for work in the morning, that’s not likely to happen. If you get up early, chances are you’ll be ready for bed earlier, setting you up for a good night’s rest,” Hettiarachchi said.
She concluded by sharing some insightful information as to how many hours of sleep is needed by people of different ages of life. “Zero to three months – 14-17 hours; four to 11 months – 12-15 hours; one to two years – 11-14 hours; three to five years – 10-13 hours; six to 13 years – 9-11 hours; 14 to 17 years – 8-10 hours; 18 to 64 years – 7-9 hours; 65 years and over – 7-8 hours. It may take you between 30 to 60 days to get accustomed to the habit of waking up early. Once you get used to your new sleep schedule, you won’t even need an alarm to wake you up.”
I don’t believe that merely waking up early makes you a successful person: Shuaib Jabbar
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Kaizen Fitness Co-Founder and Strength and Conditioning Coach Shuaib Jabbar[/caption]
Kaizen Fitness Co-Founder and Strength and Conditioning Coach Shuaib Jabbar also shared with us why we should ditch the snooze button on our alarms and start waking up early in the morning.
“As a Muslim, I am blessed to have to wake up early for morning prayer. This gives me an opportunity to start my day when the rest of the world is asleep. This head start ensures that I begin my day doing what I believe is important to me, rather than having to respond and react to what the world wants me to do. It gives me a chance to think about who I am, what is important to me, and how I want to spend my days so that it takes me closer towards my own goals.”
Jabbar further added: “I don’t believe that merely waking up early makes you a successful person. What’s important is what you do once you are awake. A majority of the world’s most successful people do wake up early and often use those hours to build their spiritual, mental, physical, and emotional health because they understand that those components will be their strongest allies regardless of who you are or what your purpose in life is.”
Exploring the truth behind the “5 a.m. club” he mentioned that the concept is certainly worth it. However, as with any concept, it’s important for us to understand how it applies to our lives. In a world where the demands of our personal and work life are at an all-time-high, coupled with the ample distractions that surround us, it’s easy to say “I don’t have time to work on myself” and according to Jabbar, that exactly is why waking up before the hustle and bustle begins is important and also the best shot at prioritising your personal development.
“If you’re wondering, won’t waking up that early make you tired earlier on in the day and affect your performance? in the short run, maybe. But in the long run, it’s quite the opposite. As Robin Sharma said: ‘All change is hard at first, messy in the middle and so gorgeous in the end,’” added Jabbar.
Early mornings offer us an opportunity to get in our groove and reach peak performance in our own time as opposed to other people’s demands. This said, an early morning can still be for coffee and quiet contemplation. Creating a morning routine is not focused on who can accomplish the most or check off more boxes than everyone else. Instead, it is about allowing yourself to begin your day with confidence, peace, and a positive attitude. Starting the day this way can allow us to effectively complete tasks and to handle things that come our way without constantly feeling stressed or overwhelmed.