Reclaiming My Mornings: A Week of Waking up at 5am

How I went from night owl to early bird by prioritizing rest, flexibility, and meaningful rituals

At 38, I’m intentionally waking up early for the first time in my life. I’ve always been a night owl—my 20s were spent spiraling down late-night rabbit holes of Pinteresting, collaging, and blog reading and writing. In my 30s, as I became a mother, I clung to my evenings as the only “guaranteed” time for myself. No matter how exhausted I was, 10pm always felt like flipping an internal switch—cue the disco ball drop!

For years, I vowed to wake up earlier, especially after becoming a mom. I knew having quiet time before the day began would be valuable, but I couldn’t make it happen. I set alarms, begged my early-riser husband to help (to no avail), and continued the cycle.

I don’t believe you need to wake up early to be productive. I got by just fine as a night owl for a very long time. And while I’m not advocating for sleep deprivation or arriving late for commitments, I do think the whole “wake up early to be successful” narrative often leads to unnecessary guilt. That said, I also recognize that the world isn’t particularly accommodating to night owls, and having the freedom to live by your own rhythms is a privilege.

And then at the start of this year, two things changed everything:

I prioritized sleep.
I finally(!!) took sleep seriously, knowing it affected my quality of life. Committing to 5am wake-ups forced me to respect bedtime.

I committed to a big project on a short timeline.
As a stay-at-home mom already squeezing in work during the fringes of my day, I had to become even more intentional with my time. External motivation works well for me (hence, my gym buddy!), so having a deadline pushed me to go to bed early, wake up early, and use those fresh-eyed morning hours for work—rather than trying to engage in deep work at 10pm, exhausted and depleted.

In January, I committed: in bed by 8:30pm, asleep by 9-9:30pm, up at 5am for focused work and me-time. It was working! My husband could hardly believe it—who was this warm-bodied person suddenly shuffling around in the wee hours of the morning with him?!

Then, daylight saving hit. We got sick. My routine unraveled.

So this week, I’m getting back on track—and taking you along (see: “external motivation works well for me” above). My mornings aren’t the hyper-aesthetic or rigid “that girl” vibes, but they are meaningful and set a peaceful tone for the day. They make me feel good.

Here’s a look at a week of waking up at 5(ish)am—how it shifts day to day and how I spend those cherished morning hours, from journaling and meditating to reading and exercising, to watching the sunrise and making pancakes.