I previously spent a month changing my wake-up time from 7:30 AM to 5:00 AM, and since then, I've been able to maintain it almost every day. Honestly, I'm a bit surprised myself. I used to be the kind of person who would decide to "wake up early" only to quietly fail multiple times. I feel like I succeeded this time because I stopped trying to do it with pure willpower and instead researched the "structure of early rising" and rearranged the parts of my life according to that structure.
Why Wake Up Early Now?
- I did have a period in the past where I could wake up at 5 AM. During my consulting days, I had to be at the office by 7:50 AM, and the commute was 1 hour and 20 minutes one way. Calculating backward, 5 AM was the only option. But that was entirely duty-driven; as soon as the client's start time became later, my wake-up time reverted to 8 AM. A habit that disappears the moment external factors vanish isn't really a habit.
- For the last 1.5 to 2 years, my pattern was starting work around 10 AM and waking up at 7:30 AM after a run. I wasn't particularly struggling. However, I thought if I could wake up at 5 AM, I could do many things I "wanted to do but didn't have time for." Finishing work in the morning to spend the evening on input, increasing time to meet people, or writing more on note. Time is finite, but waking up early is one of the few ways to "create" time.
- Also, I had an experimental interest in whether I could systematize a 5 AM wake-up without any obligation. If I could habituate it without external pressure, it would feel like the real deal.
The "Structure of Early Rising" I Researched
When I tackle something, I take the approach of "creating the structure first." I draw a map of causality—what combinations lead to what results. This makes it easier to look back later and see "what is missing" when things don't go well. Here are the seven elements I organized while looking through sleep-related papers:
- 1. Advance and Fix the Wake-Up Time: This is the foundation. The US National Sleep Foundation's 2023 consensus statement recommends regular sleep and wake times, and a review of 92,340 adults showed that greater variability in sleep timing correlates with worse health outcomes. Interestingly, the "wake-up time" seems to be a stronger anchor for the internal clock than the "bedtime." Bedtime is a passive variable determined by when you get sleepy, which is downstream of the wake-up time. So, I decided that no matter how late I stayed out drinking the night before, I would not move my wake-up time.
- 2. Get Light in the Morning: Exposure to sunlight immediately after waking resets the internal clock and advances the timing of melatonin secretion that night. Research by Crowley & Eastman confirmed that bright light of about 5000 lux right after waking advances the internal clock. It was fascinating that just 30 minutes of morning light can provide 75% of the phase-advancing effect of 2 hours of light. Sunlight is highly cost-effective.
- 3. Exercise During the Day: A 2024 meta-analysis of 81 randomized trials (6,193 people) reported that exercise significantly improves the PSQI (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index) and increases sleep efficiency. The fact that the effect increases with longer intervention periods was reassuring. Since I run daily, this element was already covered.
- 4. No Caffeine After 2 PM: This was the most eye-opening part for me. A study showed that even 400mg of caffeine (2-3 cups of coffee) taken 6 hours before bedtime reduced objectively measured total sleep time by more than an hour. If you sleep at 10 PM, a 4 PM coffee is out. So, my rule became no caffeine after 2 PM, finishing my last cup around 7 AM.
- 5. Fix Meal Times: The timing of meals affects the internal clocks of peripheral organs like the liver and adipose tissue. The American Heart Association's 2025 scientific statement lists light, food, exercise, and sleep timing as synchronizers of the internal clock. I decided to fix the times for breakfast, lunch, and dinner as much as possible.
- 6. Reduce Evening Light: Subjects who read e-books on an iPad for 4 hours before bed took longer to fall asleep, had suppressed melatonin secretion, and had their internal clocks delayed by over an hour compared to those reading paper books, according to research. Human circadian rhythm receptors react most strongly to blue light around 450-480nm, and the peak wavelength of LED screens (about 460nm) overlaps perfectly. I was strangely convinced that screens are almost the optimal "attack wavelength."
- 7. Advance Gradually: Shifting the internal clock toward early rising is realistically done at a rate of about 1 hour per day, which is the standard design in phase advancement research. The body can't keep up with a sudden 2.5-hour advance. So, I moved in two stages: waking up at 6 AM for two weeks, then moving to 5 AM.
What I Actually Did
- I used the vibration alarm on my Apple Watch to wake up. When I was waking up at 7:30 AM, I lived without an alarm, so it had been a while since I set one.
- I moved my morning run from an 8:30 AM start to 6:10 AM during the 6 AM period, and 5:10 AM during the 5 AM period. This was unexpectedly great; Ohori Park in the early morning is almost empty. During the day in tourist season, it's too crowded to run straight, but in the early morning, it's like a private park. Plus, I get to bathe in the sunrise right at the perfect timing.
- At night, I switched to dim, warm-colored lights after 8 PM. I put my PC in blue light reduction mode and set my smartphone to low brightness with a grayscale display. Switching to grayscale significantly reduced the "urge to keep watching" SNS and YouTube, which was a huge secondary benefit.
https://x.com/ysk_motoyama/status/2015270550135071065
The Biggest Change: The Feeling of "Not Being Able to Fall Asleep" Vanished
- My actual bedtime varies by day; sometimes it's in the 9 PM range, and other times it's past midnight when I have a lecture at business school until 10 PM.
- However, no matter what time I get into bed, I can fall asleep instantly. It feels like all the preparations to flip the sleep switch have been completed during the day.
Byproduct: Even at 7:30 AM, the Starting Position is Entirely Different
- I gained time for running from 5 to 6 AM and simulation golf from 6 to 7:30 AM. Previously, I "woke up at 7:30." Now, "by 7:30, I've finished both running and golf."
- Since I can start work after finishing everything I want to do, I can focus and finish work in a short time, and then use the remaining time for writing notes or input. I don't think the total amount of time I'm awake has changed much, but the density of the feeling that "I'm doing what I want to do" has clearly increased.
Areas for Further Improvement
- The issue of varying bedtimes. When I have business school lectures from 7 PM to 10 PM, I inevitably go to bed after midnight. Given the structure of my work, some of this is unavoidable, but there might be room for improvement, like moving up dinner meeting times.
- Drinking alcohol right before bed. So far, I haven't consciously felt an impact on sleep quality, but I suspect it would improve further if I didn't drink. (But I don't feel like I can change this!)
So, that was the story of how I became able to wake up early by structuring it.
By the way, I've also summarized the steps for structuring below, so please check that out as well.
https://x.com/ysk_motoyama/status/2016129312433606678
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