I joined the 5am writer’s club.
I failed.
Knowing that, you may be thinking I am the most unqualified person in the world to write a blog about morning writing routines. But here’s the thing: in failing to wake up at 4:30am each day I discovered my own groove—and I’m here to help you do that, too.
Just like the debate around what “new adult” means with books, “early morning” can mean something a little different to everyone. If you work a 9-5 with an hour+ commute, this might entail getting up at 6am. Or maybe you have classes 7-3 so you’d have to rise well before the sun.
When it comes to carving out a morning writing routine, the most important thing is finding that threshold between plain old tired and unable to function. This’ll take practice. We all have natural rhythms when creativity peaks and inspiration flows—mine just personally didn’t stir at 4:30am. But in trying to get myself up and out of bed at the crack of dawn, I discovered that sweet spot where I could push past the grogginess, where—even though it took effort—I could cancel my snooze and not feel like a zombie at my computer.
For me, that was 5:45am.
My creativity tends to shut down after 3pm. If I ever thought I could write after the circus of school pick-up and shuffling to extracurricular activities and dinner and bath and bedtime while juggling my freelance work, joke’s on me. But… I had to live it to learn it.
Since I’m for sure not a night writer, I’ve forced myself to be a morning one, and honestly: I love it.
When I sit down at my desk at 6am, I feel accomplished, no matter how many words I get on the page. Because it means I prioritized my passion and I can go about all my other responsibilities feeling inspired and energized and not guilty that I didn’t get any writing done.
If you’re nodding your head right now saying yes, this what I want my writing routine to look like, here are some ways to help make that happen:
Prep the night before
Take time to prep for your writing session the night before. This could look like:
- Blocking the time in your calendar
- Setting your alarm
- Laying out your clothes
- Prepping your coffee beans
- Tidying your work space
It only takes 5-10 minutes to do these tasks but every minute is precious in the morning.
Gradually start your day earlier and earlier
Don’t be me—the person that felt shocked and defeated they couldn’t one day get up and thrive before the sun rose. You have to coach your body and mind to wake earlier, otherwise you’re setting yourself up for failure. I mean, you wouldn’t run a marathon without training for it first, right?
This is the trial and error period where you’re finding that sweet spot between plain old tired and unable to function. Start gradually, work your way up, and you’ll start to recognize your body’s natural patterns and rhythms.
For me, I was disrupting some of my deepest sleep cycles trying to write at 5am. But just an hour later, even though I was tired, my body was naturally starting to stir. 6am was hard but I could do it. Here’s an example of how I set my alarm:
- Day 1: Alarm 6am, wake 6:23am
- Day 2: Alarm 6am, wake 6:20am
- Day 3: Alarm 5:55am, wake 6:15am
- Day 4: Alarm 5:50am, wake 6am
- Day 5: Alarm 5:45am, wake 5:55am
- Day 6: Alarm 5:40am, wake 5:50am
- Day 7: Alarm 5:35am, wake 5:45am
- Etc etc etc etc
As you can see, I hit snooze quite often, but the goal is to slowly eliminate that need.
Bonus tip: use the 5 Second Rule
A great tool I’ve been using to get my ass out of bed is The 5 Second Rule by Mel Robbins. It goes like this: when facing doubt, fear, or hesitation, simply count backwards from 5 to 1 then act. Per Mel herself, “You have to move within 5 seconds of an idea or your brain will kill your motivation.” Because after that, the overthinking and the excuses and the impulse to hit snooze just *one* more time start to creep in. If you want to learn more, this Facebook post breaks it down perfectly.
Have a morning routine
Save the mental work for your writing—those first 15 minutes after you wake up need to be streamlined so you spend less time thinking, more time doing. A morning routine could look like:
- Make AM bevvy
- Take vitamins
- Brush hair
- Brush teeth
- Wash face
- Change
This should be bare minimum effort just to get you going. You’ve already done yourself a huge favor by prepping a lot the night before. Your clothes should already be laid out, your tea pot should already be filled with water, and your computer should already be in place ready to go.
Stay focused
If you put your phone on DND while you’re sleeping, keep it that way! When you open your laptop, don’t allow yourself to open any apps or tabs or documents that aren’t going to further your word count. Treat this as your sacred hour (or however long you’re able to dedicate). It’s about you and your writing. Nothing else.
Be kind to yourself
We’re human, we’re bound to oversleep or face a creative block or take care of kids who wake up abnormally early. It’s okay. No writing routine is going to be perfectly executed so give yourself some grace and don’t be too hard on yourself when you miss a day (or five).
I hope you enjoyed this post about creating a morning writing routine! Interested in putting this into practice? Why not try it with a short story—go here and check out some tips and ideas.
We write at dawn(ish).
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