5 Days of 5 AM Wake Ups: My Attempt to Carve Out Time to Read

I hardly got a chance to read last semester, so I had this crazy idea: waking up at 5 am to read for 5 days. Okay, this might not sound as drastic as what you would have thought, but in my defense, I typically wake up at 6:45-7:00 and get 9 hours of sleep. The second I get off my bed, I can’t wait to get back on at the end of the day and when I wasn’t in bed, I was doing schoolwork, extracurriculars, and everything in between. 

Going in, I was extremely excited because my TBR had extended to more than 3 pages. Here is my 5-day journal of my experiences of this challenge.

Day 1

Waking up was the worst today. I read for an hour and read around 50 pages of The Night Circus because I read the same sentence over and over again. Generally, I was not happy with the amount I read, and I felt groggy throughout the rest of the day.

Day 2

I got through around 70 pages today, and felt much more productive in the morning, though I fell asleep way earlier than I normally do, and I wasn’t able to finish all of my homework…

Day 3

I only got through 45 pages of the Night Circus. I kept falling asleep throughout the day and couldn’t focus in school, so I felt waking up at 5 am was making me less productive. 

Day 4

I decided to wake up at 6 pm today because I kept feeling like I had no energy throughout the day. While I only got 45 minutes of reading time, I pushed through 35 pages. This is a lot less than what I had expected and I still felt groggy, but I definitely felt more refreshed compared to the past couple of days.  

Day 5

I finished Night Circus (and loved it!). I still didn’t have my normal energy, but I am glad I was able to finish a book this week. 

With adjustments and because I was able to read a good amount, I think that this experiment was generally a success. However, I have ultimately discovered that I am definitely not a morning person, and I won’t ever be waking up this early ever again.