The Momentum Club

One day a few months ago, I was scrolling through Spotify looking for something to listen to when I stumbled across the audiobook section. The first book was called the 5AM club by Robin Sharma. The title itself intrigued me and soon I was launched into a whole new world. It carries a lot of non fiction themes but ultimately it is a self help book. The main idea of the book is to promote this concept of the 5AM club. Essentially, the idea is if you wake up at 5am you are more likely to be more productive in the morning, no distractions around, just you and the tasks you are looking to complete. Now, as I am currently writing this piece at 0553 you can tell that I am giving it a go, but it is worth it?

This is my second try of become a long standing member of the 5AM club. First time round it was really tough, it was winter, it was cold, it was still pitch dark outside. Yes, I was being productive in the 1 hour I get of peace and quiet before my son wakes up at 6AM but the reality was I didn’t have the will power to get up at that time during the dark mornings. However, my first day back in the saddle, it’s May, it’s light outside and suddenly the thought of getting up at 5AM doesn’t seem bad at all.

It’s true that productivity increases (as long as you don’t start scrolling), I usually have a to do list for the morning that I come up with the night prior so I don’t procrastinate the next morning. The key, as per Robin Sharma’s book, is exercise early on within the first 20 minutes of the morning. This helps increase focus and productivity and shifts you from tired to on fire by 0520. Ticking off tasks that I may not have had the chance to complete if I was to wake up later is really satisfying.

What are the drawbacks?

Now I’m not saying everyone should do this, it simply won’t work for certain people. Waking up at 5AM is tough, when you hear the alarm go off it can be such a struggle. The first 10/15 minutes of the morning are always tough regardless of wake up time, however especially hard when it is so early on. There are a number of factors why the 5AM club wouldn’t work:

• Don’t work well in the morning’s and are more productive later in the day
• Work Schedules etc

How joining the 5am club can be a huge benefit?

From my experiences, not only am I more productive in the morning but I am also more focussed when I get to work as a result of already being 3 hours into my day. As the blood is already pumping I feel that has such a benefit to me for starting work. Being a morning person previously has helped severely benefited this transition however, if I had been up early previously I would end up in an endless scroll on social media platforms and would get nothing done.

Now, you would think by the time it comes to the evening I would hit a slump as a result of being up so early however, what I have found is that I’m actually less tired than I would have been previously.

So, Is the 5AM club worth it?

The 5AM club does take some serious dedication to execute but from the short time I have been getting up earlier I have seen some habit changes, increased productivity and overall happier mood as a result of getting more done. Yes, it’s not going to be for everyone and that’s totally fine, that is what makes humans so unique but I would certainly recommend to give it a shot, you never know it may up changing your life.