Saturday, October 31, 2026: 8:57 AM: Over the past couple of days, a few things have come to light for me that require some changes in habit. It’s nothing earth-shaking, of course, but will no doubt help with my focus and motivation, which has been sucking wind for a while now. However, I do see a light at the end of the tunnel, especially if I implement the following:
- Rather than wearing gym shorts and a tank top around the house, dress with the expectation of company.
- Keep rising at 5:00 AM but don’t worry about a set morning routine:
- Reading is fine.
- Listening to music is fine.
- If it seems like showering early will help, then do so.
- It’s acceptable to use devices for checking the calendar, email, or journaling.
- Meditation is fine.
- Journaling, meditation, or any of the other activities chosen on a particular morning are acceptable so long as they don’t lead to stress before 8:00 AM.
- Don’t drink the Kool-Aid generated by productivity gurus.
- Nothing before 8:00 AM is a daily requirement.
In a nutshell, I’ve been putting way too much emphasis on finding a morning routine that works. However, there’s nothing wrong with planning what I want to do between the hours of 5:00 AM and 8:00 AM the night before with the understanding that things might not go according to plan given disability, mental state, physical energy levels, and other accessibility factors. Maybe some days I read while during other mornings I simply run a meditation. On other days, a long walk in the great outdoors will be in order.
The name of the game here is to keep things simple. Simple is relaxed. Simple is slow. Slow is smooth. Smooth is fast and productive in a very big way.
Finally, if it turns out that I really do want to write a book or take care of some stuff I’d normally do after 8:00 AM, then I should do just that. Bottom line? Keeping it simple means relatively quiet, too.
Copilot’s take on this is as follows:
What you’ve written sounds less like abandoning discipline and more like removing unnecessary rules from it. You’re keeping the anchor that seems useful, getting up at 5:00 AM, while giving yourself permission to respond to how you actually are on a particular morning.
A few things strike me as especially important:
- 5:00 AM is an opportunity, not an obligation. You’ve created three relatively quiet hours, but they don’t have to be filled according to somebody else’s formula.
- Planning the night before is different from imposing a routine. You can decide, “Tomorrow morning I think I’ll read and then take a walk,” without turning that into a contract with yourself.
- Accessibility, energy and mental state get a vote. If the plan doesn’t make sense when 5:00 AM actually arrives, changing it isn’t failure. It’s adapting intelligently.
- Getting properly dressed may be surprisingly useful. Not because a productivity guru says so, but because you’re deliberately creating a distinction between getting up and settling in for the day.
- Your 8:00 AM boundary is particularly sensible. Instead of asking, “Did I complete my morning routine?” the question becomes, “Did I spend those first three hours without unnecessarily winding myself up?”
- And importantly, productive work isn’t forbidden before 8:00. If you wake up wanting to write that book, work on a website, journal, or tackle something else meaningful, your new rule doesn’t prevent it.
I think your last few sentences capture the philosophy better than any elaborate morning routine could:
Keep it simple. Simple is relaxed. Simple is slow. Slow is smooth. Smooth is fast.
There’s also a rather nice paradox here. By stopping the attempt to optimize 5:00–8:00 AM, you may end up getting considerably more value out of those hours.
Some mornings might be reading and coffee. Another could be meditation. Another might be music followed by an early shower. Another might involve a long walk. And occasionally you might get up at five, start writing, look at the clock later and realize you’ve accomplished something substantial.
None of those mornings is the “correct” one.
Given how much you’ve been thinking about morning routines, The 5 AM Club, meditation, reading, exercise and everything else that supposedly belongs in those hours, I think the biggest change you’ve described is actually very simple:
You’re keeping 5:00 AM, but firing the morning routine.
And honestly, that distinction may be exactly what you were looking for.