Join the 5am club

Getting a head start to the day is key for many successful entrepreneurs but why?

By Thomas Mackie

To gain an advantage.

Studies suggest 50% of self-made millionaires wake up three hours before they start their working day.

Virgin Founder Richard Branson and Twitter Founder Jack Dorsey are renown for waking up at 5am to meditate and workout before their working day begins.

An astounding 90% of top executives in companies wake up before 6am from Monday-Friday, image courtesy of Wix

According to studies, morning people are more determined, proactive, and cooperative.

Morning people also tend to be more positive and are less likely to procrastinate.

And biologist Christoph Randler even discovered "people whose performance peaks in the morning are better positioned for career success.”

So I put this to the test. I woke up at 5am for a week to see if I was more productive and got more out of my day.

I'm not a late riser, quite the opposite, and I usually wake up at around 7am, but on the first day I felt grotty and demotivated.

However, when I got into the routine, I found there were fewer distractions early morning and felt good that I was up and working while others were fast asleep.

I felt like I had more time to do things I enjoy and could relax in the evenings without feeling guilty for not working.

My social life did suffer as I needed to be in bed asleep at 10pm or 11pm at the latest.

But if you want to be a successful entrepreneur something has to suffer and your social life is the obvious one.

In a recent poll featuring entrepreneurs, many said they had to work an average of 13-hours a day in their first year. Image courtesy of Wix

I definitely felt more efficient and I worked productively for a much longer period than I previously did, just by getting up a couple of hours earlier.

I definitely plan on rising at 5am moving forward. If you snooze, you lose.