Most people enjoy their time under the doona so much that the thought of waking up at 5am brings immediate pain, especially in the cold winter months! When I was in University and after getting into the regular practice of yoga, I developed a fairly natural 5am wake up routine. It meant that I went to bed earlier than most of my friends and family, but in actual fact, it created an extra 2 hours of productive time in the day for me.

If you think of what you do normally in the last 2 hours of your waking time, it is probably spent relaxing, watching TV, or reading. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that at all, however, if you wish to create an extra 2 hours of very useful and productive time, I recommend the 5 am wake up routine.

You can use these 2 extra hours for absolutely anything you want. I’m not fixed on a routine, however for me, it maybe yoga, meditation, writing, sipping a quiet coffee, journal writing, goal setting, running, cycling or swimming. It is a time of the day when nothing else disturbs you. You are free to explore your own creativity and express it. In fact many people asked me where i found the time to write and publish my book, Meditation and Martini whilst working as a surgeon. Well, most of the manuscript happened in the wee hours of the day.

As a bit of fun this year, I started a 5am Whats app group for some of my friends. There were 3 rules:

1. check in after rising at 5am
2. engage in some activity that was reasonably healthy
3. check out on completion with whatever activity had been completed

The benefit of the online group is that we were all accountable to each other and additionally we all supported each other in the same way that a gym fitness buddy might do.

If you feel like you have got into a rut and you need a change, or if you are feeling restless and don’t know what to do, try doing a month of 5am rises. Naturally it may be a bit hard in the beginning and there will be some days when you simply can’t get out of bed, but once a routine gets established, you will do it naturally and experience many benefits. Never again will you complain that there is not enough time.

Worth considering?!

In Health and Wellness