Many people tout waking up early as a good way to increase productivity. [^5am] "Early" is usually relative, but 5AM has emerged as a popular definition because it's well before the time most people would normally wake up to get ready for work, and conveniently 4 hours before the traditional working day starts at 9 AM. ## What it involves Proponents of waking up early have morning rituals that include: - Starting the day with something small that brings you joy, such as having coffee. - [[Yoga]] or other forms of [[Meditation]] or mindfulness - Exercise - [[Reading]] or personal development - Reflection or [[Gratitude]] journalling - [[Writing]] or another task requiring creativity ## Main arguments - Ritualizing tasks is an effective way to [[Creating habits|create habits]]. - Doing personal work, before traditional jobs starts makes sure that the most important tasks are done when the mind is the most fresh. - Willpower is a finite resource, so work we subconsciously resist is best done in the morning. - Waking up early gives you the impression of getting back more time, because time spent at night, after the work day, is usually not as productive due to exhaustion from the day's work. - There are fewer distractions in the morning. ## Counterarguments - A lot of the benefits of waking up early can be attributed to the reduction of distractions necessary to do deep work.[^deepwork] [[The ability to do deep work is the strongest predictor of success.]] - [^5am]: Sharma, R. (2018). _The 5 AM club_. HarperCollins Publishers. [[Shortform-The 5 AM Club]] [^deepwork]: Newport, C. (2016). _Deep work: Rules for focused success in a distracted world_. Grand Central Publishing.