If you follow me on Instagram (@sheshe830) or follow me on Facebook, you know that I post pictures of the sunrise almost every morning.
I have been asked two questions repeatedly. "Why do you get up so early?" and "How do you get up so early?"
Today, I'm going to answer both questions.
First, Why do I get up so early.
It started because of my dog, Decoy. Decoy is what is known as a "reactive dog". Meaning, he doesn't do well when he sees dogs that he doesn't know. We've spent thousands of dollars on training. It's helped, but not fixed the situation.
Mr. Shimmer works for a global company. Up until last summer, he went in around noon and worked until 10:00 pm. He'd walk the dogs mid morning when the rest of the world was at work. It was great, Decoy didn't encounter any other dogs and everyone got their walk.
After me
When he first started this new scheduled, I figured I would walk the dogs when I got home from work. That lasted all of one disastrous afternoon. I knew I had to come up with something different. The only solution was to walk the dogs very early, before everyone else was up. The very next day, I joined the 5AM club and have never looked back.
Getting up at 5:00 (Now, I get up at 4:30) makes me more productive then I ever have been in my life.
I used to think "It makes no difference if I get up early, or stay up late. Its the same amount of awake hours each day. It doesn't matter if I have them in the morning or evening".
I've learned just how wrong I was.
The thing is, if you are getting up at 5:00, you have 3-4 hours of being completely uninterrupted while the rest of the world sleeps. At 7:00 pm, my phone is alerting me to texts and emails. At 5:00 am my phone is silent. Nobody else is awake to be calling/texting/emailing me.
Just think of what you could accomplish with 4 hours that were completely uninterrupted. During this time, I walk my dogs, get a workout in and write on this blog.
I get it, if you have little people in your care, you likely cannot buy yourself an extra 4 hours of free time through this (or any) method. However, even if you can get yourself one hour just for you, wouldn't that be glorious?
If I want to get a coffee, I never wait in a line. If I need to grab a few groceries, the market is dead at 7:00 am, unlike at 7:00 pm when its packed.
I get to enjoy time in the morning with my hubby now, which I cherish.
Also, let me just tell you, its good for your soul to watch the sunrise. I watch it every day. Literally every morning , as soon as I see that big orange ball start to scrape the horizon, I'm filled with joy, wonder, excitement and most of all, gratitude.
Even after I do everything I need to, still have an hour or so of "me" time before leaving for work. Do you know how much better the whole day is if you are not rushed in the morning?
Now, for the trickier part... How do you make the transition to morning person?
I used to be a night owl. Often, I'd stay up until midnight.
For me, It was baptism by fire. I knew that if I wanted to give my dogs the walk that they love and deserve, 5:00 AM was my only chance. So, I just set the alarm for 4:50 am. The first few nights, I couldn't fall asleep before 10:30 or 11:00 pm. So, those first few days were REALLY tough. By the third night, I was so tired I crashed right after dinner.
You might not want to transition to becoming a morning person in such a harsh manner, and I don't blame you one bit. Here are a few tips to cushion yourself for this completely worth it transition.
- Set your alarm for 15 minutes earlier each day until you get to your desired wake up time.
- Start doing this now that its light in the morning. I started getting up at 5:00 in June of last year. If I had started this in November when its pitch dark at 5:00 am I'd of never been able to do it.
- Set your phone to "Do not disturb" at 8:00-8:30 pm
- Set your DVR to record your favorite shows that are on at night. Often, I'll watch them the next morning when I'm having my coffee
- Do the morning thing for a full 3 months before deciding its not for you. When I first started, the first few weeks were rough. I'm SO glad I stuck with it though
- Don't be surprised at how much more energy you'll find you have after a few weeks
Now that I'm a morning person, I'll never go back to staying up late/ I'm kicking myself over all the years of beautiful sun rises that I missed. You can't undo the past, but you can rectify your behavior.
Each and every day is a gift. From now on, I want to watch every single sun rise that God has me here for.
If you want to be a morning person, reach out to me. I'll help in anyway I can.
XO,
SheShe
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