The 7am (ish) club

Photo credit @Erin Deborah Waks

By Erin Deborah Waks

Yesterday I read ‘The 5am Club,’ a book all about the joys and rewards of waking up at 5am every day. You know the drill: all the world's most successful people do it, it’s great for your health, it’s the best way to live your life, blah blah blah. Honestly, I was almost sold. As a morning person myself (although with the nonetheless smug 7am wakeup time, not 5am), I genuinely contemplated trialling it, even setting an alarm for 4.59am on my phone. I imagined myself, wide awake and superior about it, at 7am, having already worked out, done an hour of work, meditated, journaled, eaten a perfectly portioned meal, worked on a side hustle and saved the planet.

But I didn’t. Instead, I got up at my usual 7am (again, already smug enough), scrolled through Pinterest and Instagram, had a normal breakfast (avocado on toast because how millennial am I?), slowly enjoyed my coffee and had a leisurely shower. I started working at 8am, finishing my main tasks by lunchtime. It wasn’t optimal productivity, but it was good enough.

Desperate for some reassurance that my decision to shun the 5am club and eradicate its effects from my life, I sought solace in a different narrative. I needed to be reminded life can be full, and meaningful, and even productive, when it’s ordinary, imperfect, and normal.

I realised a lot of what The 5am Club preaches is what I used to strive for - being the best at everything, conquering each aspect of my life, accomplishing all my goals before I turn 25. Now, at the ripe old age of 22, I’m starting to see this for what it is - fearmongering us into working until we drop. And I’m just not about that any more.

The truth is, I’m much more interested in balance. I work incredibly hard, that hasn’t changed, and probably never will. I have no qualms staying late at the office, going above and beyond, and I’m all for routines and productivity, but there’s a limit.

I’m tired of the constant need to be better, fitter, smarter. I want to just be.

So for now I’ll keep waking up when my body wants to. I’ll carry on going to the gym when I feel like it, not because I ‘should.’ I’ll have an ‘optimal’ breakfast some days, and others I’ll eat cereal out of the box. I’ll write in my journal when the mood strikes, and I certainly won’t be demanding more things of myself before I’ve even had my morning coffee.

Because whatever ‘science’ says, I’m just not interested in conquering anything at all before 7am - least of all, before my morning coffee.