It’s Day 5 of the Get Up Early Challenge and I woke up on my own at 4:35 a.m. — feeling quite rested!!! I stayed in bed until my alarm went off at 5 a.m. just to make sure it wasn’t a fluke… Well, and also because it gave me more time to snuggle with my husband. 😉
I cannot believe that my body is beginning to adjust so well, so quickly! Every day gets better, every day feels a little smoother, and every day I keep wondering if I’m missing something because my to do list feels so short!!
But I guess that’s one of the big perks to getting up and knocking out so many things before 9 a.m.!!
I’ll be hopping on Periscope at 7:30 a.m. to share some Morning Motivation encouragement and to some thoughts and insights from The 5AM Miracle book. I’d love for you to join me or watch the replay (just download the app and search for @MoneySavingMom).
Are you joining me for the Get Up Early Challenge? If so, leave a comment on this post to let me know how you did with your wake-up goal this morning.
We’re in this together… And if you didn’t hit your goal, that’s okay! Give yourself grace, don’t beat yourself up, and know that you can try again tomorrow!
P.S. Read more about the Get Up Early Challenge here. Need some help and inspiration to use your mornings well? Download Day 1 of Make Over Your Mornings for free (scroll to the bottom of this page to sign up for it!)
Melissa says
I wanted so badly to enjoy doing this. I don’t know if it’s just me, but I’ve tried SO. MANY. TIMES in the past to wake in the 5:00 hour. I’ll last a day or two (where I have good energy and get a lot of stuff done) then by the third day I’m exhausted and can’t get out of bed or miss my alarm or what have you. I still go to bed at a reasonable hour so that I’m getting 7-8 hours of sleep waking at 5…maybe my body isn’t the kind to do that?? But I sooooo love the mornings!!!! ??. Anyone else feel like this?
Kristen S. says
I too woke up about 20 minutes early today!! I love when this happens, because it’s a sign to me that my body is rested and I’m getting good sleep! I’m so happy because every day this week I’ve gotten up at my target time of 6 am! Thanks so much for doing this challenge, Crystal! Thanks to you, I have a wonderful morning routine that I just love and that I eagerly look forward to every morning!
Jessica says
I’m curious about how you manage this early wakeup with evening commitments. Do you and your family have any Bible studies in the evening with others? Here we have our small group gatherings from 8-10pm (IF we get out on time!), so I can’t imagine a 5am wakeup (and 6:30 was even pushing it)!
How do you balance those aspects?
Crystal Paine says
We actually don’t have any regular late night commitments at this season of our life. Pretty much all of our friends have kids in traditional school, so they have to be home by 8:30-9 p.m. on weeknights to get their kids in bed/get to bed themselves. So our regular evening commitments start early and end early.
However, in the past, I’ve found that if I am consistently getting good sleep and going to bed early at least 5 nights per week, I can have 1-2 nights per week that I stay up later and still get up early because my sleep tank is full enough to allow for a few short nights here and there. So if there’s an occasional thing that comes up that would be a late night thing (this past week, we had a friend over and we hung out until 10:30 p.m. which made for a late night!), I think I’ll be able to swing it.
So if you only have late night commitments 1-2 nights per week, that might be an option. That might not work for you at all, though!
Dacha says
5:30 – and yes it does get easier, or at least I think that your body adjusts to the new rythm. I noticed that I wake up on my own after about 7:15- 7:20 hours of sleep and I feel rested ! That means in bed by 10 pm….It’s true though that in the evening our will power supply is basically empty. So it’s hard to resist surfing the web (for me)- we don’t own a TV, but it could be difficult to escape as well ! Screens ! I’m looking at an app called Freedom that blocks access to social media and other sites on your electronic devices. Could be a solution?!! It’s true that getting up early brings so much breathing room into your day !!!
Candis Lynn says
I started 3 days ago (wake up goal is 5:30am), but can’t seem to get out of bed before 6 or so! That’s coming from 7:30 before, so it’s still progress, but I really want to get to that 5:30 mark.
Hearing that your body is adjusting to the early wake up time is encouraging! Knowing that it won’t always be hard actually motivates me even more.
Thanks for this 🙂
Crystal Paine says
You are doing SO great! Keep it up!
Candis Lynn says
Thanks Crystal! You may have mentioned this already, but are you waking up early on weekends too?
Crystal Paine says
I wasn’t planning to, but I just may… we’ll see how tonight and tomorrow go! 🙂
Candis Lynn says
That’s what I was thinking too 🙂 I usually go to bed later on Fridays/Saturdays because of movie nights or just staying up later with the kids. So for now I’ll probably stick to weekdays – thanks!
Sophie Piper says
I’m waking up that early but because of littles. Haha. What time do you GO to bed? I’m pretty sure that’s my problem! I’m exhausted all the time.
Crystal Paine says
I’m aiming to go to bed at 9 p.m. — still working on it, though!
Linda says
Good Morning, I caught your periscope this morning and it was awesome. I wanted to let you know that the troll who said show me your shoes might be from Texas. LOL here in San Antonio during parades etc, lots of people yell out show me your shoes to the Queens and princesses in the parade. Apparently many years ago they used to say that to the Queens etc so they could see if they were really wealthy or not. If their shoes were good quality they were rich if not, then they were poor. Now, its just fun and the Queens and princesses wear all kinds of fun shoes so they can show them off when people say “show me your shoes.” That could be a reason. 😛
Julie says
Up at 5:00 today – did NOT hit the snooze! Progress!
Crystal Paine says
Woohoo!!
Crystal Paine says
That’s so interesting! Thanks for sharing.
The trolls usually ask for me to show them other things, ahem, but most of those words are now banned on scope. So they are starting to get creative. 😉
Sara says
Crystal,
I gotta tell you, I admire how you handle all the comments that keep popping up on the screen. I would be so distracted trying to read everything that I would forget what I was saying. And if someone was rude, I’d probably get mad! I guess Periscope is not for folks with ADHD and a thin skin… 🙂
Crystal Paine says
You’re kind! Periscope is definitely a learned art… I love it! But it took me a few weeks to get used to it! It’s certainly not for everyone, but it has surprised me how much I’ve fallen in love with it!
Sarah@TheOrthodoxMama says
Very impressive! I managed to get up at 5:40 (5:30 is the goal time). We had a sick child last night, so that definitely made it harder to get out of bed! Our kids also all woke up when we did, but my husband was amazing. He called a quick family meeting in our bedroom for a pep talk. He got everyone into a great mood and we ended up having a fun morning together before the little ones and I left at 6:35. The attitude makes all the difference!
Crystal Paine says
I love this! Thanks for sharing!
Laurie @PassionatePennyPincher.com says
It’s amazing how fast your body adjusts Crystal! I’ve been waking faithfully at 5 this week (that’s always been my goal but had been bad during the holidays to not get up and moving) and was up this morning around 4:45 ~ I still didn’t get out of bed until 5, but I love that it really does get easier. 🙂
Crystal Paine says
Yay!!
Nancy says
WooHoo, I made it at 4:35, mainly because my teenager needed me to drive him to the gym!! Anyway, it all counts, right? Thanks
Crystal Paine says
Woohoo!!
Renee says
Way to go!! Glad your body is adjusting so quickly. It’s funny, because I get up early as well, and I feel like it makes me a grown up. LOL. I just always remember as a child, that “grown ups” got up early. Now, here I am at 39….getting up early. I am up every morning by 5:30am, and the 1st thing I do, is 30 minute devotions with my hubby. Then, I start the rest of my day….packing hubby’s lunch, load of laundry, exercise, etc. I try to get those things done before our kids get up. That way, I have the rest of the day to homeschool, and spend time with them. Thank you for posting your updates, it is very encouraging. I love your blog!!!
Crystal Paine says
I love this! Thanks so much for sharing — and for the inspiration!