I Am Sick and Tired of the “5 am, Productive Morning Routine” Advice
You don’t have to be part of the club to be successful.
Are you like me?
Are you still not part of the 5 am club?
Do you also get distracted while you work?
Unlike successful people who without fail, stick to their routines.
You know, those people who tell you they get up to exercise, journal, meditate AND get all their work done before 9 am. And then they enjoy the rest of the day. But here you are, battling to get through your normal workday.
Does listening to them make you feel like you are failing?
It makes me feel like a failure. Every morning I do not get up at 5 am, I am riddled with guilt and I think: tomorrow I will do it.
But let me tell you, there is nothing wrong with you.
Today, for the last time, I got up at 5 am, ready to do the things they say I must do.
Here is how it went…
And Darkness Fell Upon Us
Shit, I forgot.
I live in South Africa. We have load-shedding, AKA regular power outages throughout the day. Depending on the schedule and where you live, you don’t have electricity for 2–4 hours at a time. Sometimes this can happen 3 times a day.
I do prepare and ensure all electronic devices are always charged. But it doesn’t help much as I also don’t have internet when the power is down. Oh did I mention, I live on a farm and don’t have any cell phone signal in my house either? I am completely cut off from the world.
So it is 5 am, I have no power and I am weighing my options. I decide to exercise. There is no gym nearby, so I grab a few dumbbells throw a yoga mat down, and find my trusted downloaded YouTube videos.
Excited that I got my 5 am morning routine done, I am ready to take a shower…
The Taps are Dry
Yes, farm life has a few extra challenges.
Our water gets pumped from big tanks and without electricity, the pumps can’t work.
No power, no water, no shower.
Let me remind you, African summers are hot. Plus, I live in an area with a sub-tropical climate, so add 60% humidity to the early morning heat.
Here I am, drenched in sweat, desperate for a shower.
I have 45 minutes before the power (hopefully) comes back on. Yes hopefully… Due to poor maintenance of the infrastructure, there is no guarantee that the power will be back.
I look at my gas stove and wonder what delicious healthy breakfast I can cook. I suspect I’ll have to skip the green smoothie.
Wait. Scrap that!
I Forgot I Am a Single Mom
Halfway through my idealistic morning routine, my 10-year-old daughter woke up.
I got sweaty enough to be desperate for a shower but never got to the journaling and meditation part. I am not in a Zen mood at all.
Back to breakfast. My child acts like she has been starved for years. If she doesn’t eat right now, it will be the end of her. As usual, there is NOTHING in this house to eat. And for the next half an hour we debate on what breakfast I should cook.
Have you ever tried to debate with a “starving” child? No reasoning, force, or bribing will work. This is a grind-it-out and get creative without losing your wits situation.
The power is finally on, and since I am now exhausted, I break my morning rule. I let her eat in front of the TV so I can get a peaceful shower.
So far, 5 am — 9 am didn’t exactly work out as a productive morning routine so let me get going.
The dishes can wait, the laundry is in the washing machine, my child ate, and I can now work.
Damn, I am also a Homeschool Mom
It is time for schoolwork.
Yes, I know, I can send her to school. But with autism, ADHD, and dyslexia, (and no school nearby that supports this anyway), I pass on that option. Ok, there are many more reasons, but you get the idea.
So, I put my laptop aside and regret breaking the “no TV in the morning” rule. How the hell am I getting her away from that now?
My laptop is screaming at me, and I wonder… what if we skip schoolwork today and I focus on my work?
Here is the conundrum. If I skip schoolwork, I will feel guilty about her education. If I ignore my laptop, I will feel guilty about not working. You can’t win.
My eye catches the electricity app and I see the power goes off again at 1 pm.
Let me get working, we can always do schoolwork when the power is off.
The Forces are Against Me
I am sitting behind my desk, with my cup of coffee ready to assist with inspiration.
I’m feeling a bit overwhelmed with what to start with. I had so many ideas, but I am pressed for time. I am trying very hard to ignore the voices of My Little Pony coming from the TV and focus on my work.
A few breathing exercises later, I am calm and start working like a machine.
The next minute, a bird flies into the house. It has happened before and usually they fly out again. But this one went straight into the closed window.
I jump up to help it out but as I open the window, it plummets down onto the grass. Realizing it is injured, my daughter and I run out. Operation “save the bird” started.
Finally, as I sit down at my desk, I hear the washing machine beeping. I need to hang up the laundry (in Africa, the sun is our dryer). So I get up again.
The morning is almost gone and I hardly started with my work.
Am I failing at being part of the productive 5 am club?
Make Your Own Rules
I appreciate the reasoning behind the 5 am club and blocking off time for focused work. In principle, it is great.
But for many people, this is impossible to do. And it is time we stop letting people feel like they fail if they can’t do it.
I know some of my challenges are unique to my situation. I am sure you have unique challenges too.
But being successful is not about following the rules of people who don’t have the same challenges as you.
Being successful is about your mindset on overcoming your unique challenges.
So make your own rules.
Change what you need to change to make it work for you.
And that’s why you will find me in front of my computer at 11 pm tonight and fast asleep at 5 am tomorrow morning.
Or wait…
I better check, do I have power at 11 pm?
