The Calm before the Dawn

The Calm before the Dawn

For many of us, whatever time the alarm clock goes off in the morning, it feels like a very rude awakening.
How many times do you hit that snooze button? The thought of breaking out of your cosy, warm haven,
also known as your bed, is something that many of us put off until the very last moment.

Why then, would someone choose to get up over an hour earlier than they need to and not because
they’ve got a flight to catch or have to be at an early meeting. Welcome to the 5 am club.
This life-changing morning routine, detailed in the book of the same name by Rob Sharma,
encourages us to get up at 5am, to really get the most out of the day. The idea is simple,
you use this time for you. To achieve the things that you don’t normally have time for.
You might choose to exercise, get on top of some household jobs or learn something new.

Our Brand Director, Mark Tweed has been following the principles of the 5 am club for over
a year. We asked him a few questions about his very early morning routine.

(CJ’s) So, Mark, what made you decide to start getting up at 5 o’clock every day?

(MT) I was getting frustrated with not being able to achieve all the things I wanted to during 
the day. My days and evenings were filled with my busy job at Cyberjammies and family life.
Both my kids have a hectic schedule of activities at the weekend too, so once you throw in
a few jobs around the house and a little time to relax, there really wasn’t much room left.

(CJ’s) Was it tough starting to get up at 5 o’clock every day?

(MT) To begin with no. In the first couple of weeks my motivation and commitment to do
this was high and I was keen to start seeing the benefits. The toughest part was weeks
three, four and five when the early motivation had started to wear off. I also found that it
was particularly hard to get myself out of bed at 5 am if I’d been out the night before or had
given in to the temptation to watch just one more episode of a box set. Evenings were
particularly hard, and I found myself going to bed earlier than usual because I was really
tired. They say that any new routine takes three months before it becomes a habit, and this
kept me going. I was sure that if I could get to the three-month mark, I’d have my routine
ingrained into my daily life. One year on and I’m still doing it, so I think that tells you something.

(CJ’s) What benefits did you notice?

(MT) The obvious benefits were what I was achieving between getting up at 5 am and the rest of
the house waking up. I used the time to exercise and knew I was becoming fitter and my
energy levels were remaining high for the rest of the day. I also started to meditate using
the Headspace app and found this really beneficial. I also used some mornings to try and
brush up on my French (using the Babbel app), which is something I’ve wanted to do but
have struggled to find the time. Without fail, every morning, I’ve also spent twenty minutes
reading books about business improvement. From a wider point of view, I am definitely
more alert and raring to go when my workday starts. I’ve always been more of a morning
person anyway but now that I’m getting up earlier, I think this has become the time when
I’m most fired up. At the opposite end of the day, I now drift off into a great night’s sleep.

(CJ’s) What about the weekends, do you still get up at 5?

(MT) That’s been a tricky one. I don’t want to get out of the habit of getting up early but at the
same time, the weekend always feels like a chance to relax and not have to jump out of bed.
I’ve tried to still get up relatively early but this is more like 6.30 am rather than 5 am. It still
means that I get some time to do the things I want to before the rest of the house wakes up.

(CJ’s) What’s the impact on your work been?

(MT) The most noticeable difference from a work perspective has been that I’ve had time to think clearly
about what we want to achieve for our brand. Taking learnings from some of the books I've been reading, 
I’ve put into place strategic improvements for the future. I’m planning, emailing and following up on new 
initiatives and all of this is happening before the rest of the team have walked in and the day job starts.

(CJ’s) What would your advice be to anyone who’s thinking of trying this?

(MT)  Just give it a go and try and stick to it for three months, you’ll be amazed at the difference
you can make it a short space of time.

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If you’re interested in learning more about the 5 am club, you can find out more at
https://www.robinsharma.com/book/the-5am-club Mark also recommends The Miracle
Morning by Hal Elrod https://www.miraclemorning.com/books/

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