so far, so good: the 5 AM club

Let me give you an honest update on my entry into the 5AM club so far. :)

Monday through Thursday last week, I awoke at 5 AM and really, it was okay. (I know. I was also shocked.)  I expected the actual getting out of bed to be traumatic, but it wasn't.

I just went to the coffee pot right away. We have been setting it up at night to start brewing at 4:50, so it's done when I trudge over to it. Ha. 

Friday, I slept until 6. The key is getting to bed by 10, which didn't happen Thursday night. 

Saturday, which is our family day to sleep in, I was the last one up, and slept until 8:30. It was awesome. :D

On Sunday I got up at 6:30.  I wanted to get up at 6, but the pillow beckoned.

This morning, Monday, I was back to 5.

So I think 5 will be my new default wakeup time, unless I have to be up past 10 for some reason. I would guess that I need to legitimately be up past ten on a Sunday through Thursday night maybe one night a month? Really, not that often.

For weekends, I plan to sleep in on Saturday morning with the rest of the family, and then shoot for 6 or 6:30 on Sundays.

That hour to read my Bible before anybody else gets up has been awesome, seriously.  

And the morning routine has been much calmer.  Something I didn't anticipate is that Claire has been ready for school sooner, so we're not having the "Get in the car! Hurry!" scramble that is always so stressful.

I thought I'd really miss my alone-at-night time, but honestly, I haven't.  And I'm truly shocked at how quickly I am no longer a "night owl". Staying up late does not sound fun anymore because I am TIRED when it is bedtime. 

I should note that historically, I am a strong starter of projects/plans, but a weak continuer/finisher, so while I am optimistic about this right now, I'll be able to tell you more for sure when I've done it for a few more weeks. :)  But so far, so good.

One other thing I should mention is that I'm rethinking my relationship to caffeine. I am sensitive to it (which just means my body metabolizes it very slowly) and have always tried not to have any after ten in the morning unless I can stay up late at night, because it will keep me awake for a long time. I've noticed this week that even when I was EXHAUSTED and ready to wipe out at ten, I was being affected by my morning caffeine. So I think I'll have to cut it out after my nine a.m. I'm going to experiment a bit this coming week and see. (No way am I giving up my morning coffee, so don't worry about that.)

If you have been thinking about it and have joined or would like to join the 5 AM club, and want to tell people you are doing it to give yourself some more accountability, sign up here on this post right here. :) I will pray for you, and I am cheering for you.

(Note: If you want to go for even more accountability, the girls over at Girltalk who authored Shopping for Time, which we've been discussing, started signups today for the 5 AM Club, too! Which they invented . . . I mean the name, not the idea . . . I'm sure people have been getting up at 5 to worship God for many, many years.  But I wouldn't be, if not for their 5 AM Club!)