5AM Productive Morning Routine

Why has waking up at 5 a.m. become very popular these days?

Many successful people such as David Goggins swear by it and place a lot of emphasis on waking up before the rest of the population.

And when you think about it, it does make sense that waking up before others would give you a competitive advantage.

So I’ll be covering the ideal morning routine to get you up feeling good and ready to take on the day.

Your Average Joe

Most people hear their alarm ring at 7a.m. and keep on snoozing until 1 hour has passed — 1 hour of their day, wasted.

You’ve probably experienced this or maybe this is your usual situation. If so, you know that you wake up feeling groggy and want to stay in bed for even longer even though you slept an extra hour.

You then have less time to get ready before work and rush through your morning.

This feeling of being rushed creates anxiety which subconsciously remains throughout the rest of the day.

The result — you end up overthinking and procrastinating, wasting another day which could have been productive.

The problem is not that you didn’t get enough sleep, you’re just lazy — let’s fix that.

The New You — Becoming Above Average

I’m going to give you a step by step guide of how your day should start in order to set you up for success.

This will give you an advantage over those around you.

5 AM

First things first, you’re going to start waking up at 5 a.m.

This will enhance the experience of you being ahead of others and will motivate you to do it even more.

Start slowly by going back 30 minutes everyday from your current wake up time until you get to 5 a.m. — this will allow your body to adapt and will make it easier for you to wake up.

Some tips for making this habit easier:

• Keep your alarm out of your room — for example in the kitchen (this will force you to walk to turn it off)

• Remove the option for snooze

• Put a glass of water right next to your phone — you cannot turn off your alarm until you drink the whole glass

Drink a Large Cup of Water

Ideally this water is cold in order to have the effect of waking you up faster due to the sudden change in temperature — a similar effect to cold showers.

This also helps with the fluid loss which occurs during sleep since you are constantly breathing out water vapour.

Make Your Bed

A cliche for those of you who have been into self development for quite a while, but it’s a cliche for a reason.

This will help you build discipline — one of the main reasons why soldiers are forced to do this when they wake up.

When you get back home and find your bed made, your brain will subconsciously start to realise the power of preparing from before and this will make your more disciplined over time.

This discipline will radiate into other areas in your life.

Jog

Jogging — or any other form of exercise — will get your blood pumping and increase blood flow to your brain which helps you wake up.

Ideally you do this for 30 minutes every morning, but if you don’t have enough time for that even 5 minutes is enough because doing something is better than doing nothing.

Try and jog at the time when the sun rises in your area. Sun exposure in the morning is very beneficial for setting up your circadian rhythm as Andrew Huberman has stated multiple times.

Cold Shower

This habit not only helps with building discipline but it also helps to set your circadian rhythm in order to make your body more adapted to wake up early in the morning.

Cold showers also have a lot of health benefits:

• Improved circulation

• Increased metabolism

• Boost in immune system

• Reduction in inflammation

Grooming Routine

Sometimes we get too caught up with work that we forget to take care of ourselves.

A daily grooming routine is essential and should include taking care of your facial hair, skin and teeth.

For your facial hair:

• Remove your monobrow

• Line up your beard if you can grow one

• Shave any extra hair if you can’t grow a beard

Skincare basics:

• Face wash

• Exfoliate 1-2x a week

• Daily moisturiser with a high SPF

Meditation / Breathwork

I like to do a mix of these to keep things exciting.

I alternate everyday between a 15 minute meditation where I focus on being present and Wim Hof breathing where I focus on the way I breathe.

This habit re-calibrates your brain making you more focused and think more logically to take on the day more efficiently.

I suggest you try both and see what works for you.

In Summary

The main principles of an ideal morning routine include:

• Sunlight

• Exercise

• Mindfulness

• Cold Exposure

These ensure that you cover your mental, physical and spiritual health.

It is also important to make sure to get at least 7-8 hours of sleep — meaning you should be in bed at 21:30 to then wake up at 5:00.

In summary here’s the whole routine:

1. No Snoozing

2. Large Cup of Water

3. Make Your Bed

4. Jog / Exercise

5. Cold Shower

6. Grooming Routine

7. Meditation

Get ahead of the competition.

Be different.