Ever wonder what supermodels, CEOs, and elite athletes all have in common?
They wake up at 5 a.m.
Content creator and former night owl Kelty decided to test this theory herself, committing to waking at 5 a.m. every single day for an entire year.
What she discovered might surprise anyone considering joining the early morning club—it’s not quite the productivity miracle it’s cracked up to be.
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The Catalyst: Finding Wasted Hours
Kelty’s journey began when she decided to return to school for music production while already juggling work, fitness, and adult responsibilities. Feeling strapped for time and burned out, she performed what she calls a “time audit”—writing out every hour of her typical day.
The revelation was eye-opening. Between 10 p.m. and midnight, she wasn’t relaxing or recovering—she was mindlessly scrolling through Instagram, Pinterest, TikTok, and binge-watching Netflix.
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- Full-body training with one weight using swings, squats, and presses
- Solid cast iron build that feels stable and lasts for years
- Comfortable grip that makes high-rep workouts easier to handle
I realized if I went to bed about 2 hours earlier or wake up 2 hours earlier maybe I would be more productive between 5:00 a.m. to 7:00 a.m. cuz I clearly wasn’t 10 p.m. till midnight.
That wasted time became her opportunity.
Five Steps to Actually Wake Up at 5 A.M.
Step One: Start With Small Intervals
Kelty didn’t go from 9 a.m. to 5 a.m. overnight. She started waking up just 10-15 minutes earlier, gradually shifting from 7 a.m. to 6:45, then 6:30.
It took her several months before she consistently hit 5 a.m. around January 2024. This gradual approach prevented the jet-lag feeling that derails most people who try to make drastic schedule changes.
Step Two: Simplify Your Night Routine
After months of trial and error, Kelty realized she’d been sabotaging herself with overly elaborate wellness routines influenced by productivity influencers and podcasts.
The whole point of a night routine is to get to bed—not to perform 100 different optimization hacks.
Her streamlined evening routine became simple:
If you want something simple that actually works, this is one of the most effective tools I’ve used to build strength, conditioning, and endurance without needing a full gym setup.
- Full-body training with one weight using swings, squats, and presses
- Solid cast iron build that feels stable and lasts for years
- Comfortable grip that makes high-rep workouts easier to handle
- Shower and basic skincare
- Lights down, soft music
- Tea and a small treat on the couch
- 30-60 minutes of TV to unwind
- Phone blocked with Opal app to prevent scrolling
Step Three: Romanticize Your Bedroom
Making bed more appealing than the couch proved critical. Kelty set her room temperature cooler, installed blackout blinds, and invested in an Eight Sleep mattress that kept her bed warm while the room stayed cold.
She also created a clever psychological trick: choosing something “trash” she loved—in her case, reading complaints on her apartment building’s app—that she only allowed herself to view once in bed. No scrolling potential, just entertainment.
Step Four: Make Mornings Irresistible
Forget waiting 90 minutes for caffeine to “optimize” cortisol levels. Kelty embraced the power of bribing herself.
Nothing gets me out of bed than knowing I have a cappuccino within you know I’m going to get out of bed do my skincare and that cappuccino is waiting for me.
She simplified her morning routine into five essential categories:
- Wake up: Alarm and splash of water
- Moment to herself: Coffee time
- Get organized: Simplified to-do list
- Feel confident: Cute outfit and makeup
- Get energized: Workout or walk
Step Five: Get Jet-Lagged (Sort Of)
In April, after traveling to Europe, Kelty returned jet-lagged and naturally waking between 4-5 a.m. Instead of fighting it, she leaned in.
By June—about six months into consistent 5 a.m. wake-ups—something remarkable happened: her body started waking naturally at 5 a.m., alarm-free, even on weekends.
If you want something simple that actually works, this is one of the most effective tools I’ve used to build strength, conditioning, and endurance without needing a full gym setup.
- Full-body training with one weight using swings, squats, and presses
- Solid cast iron build that feels stable and lasts for years
- Comfortable grip that makes high-rep workouts easier to handle
The Unexpected Benefits
Waking early delivered several genuine advantages for Kelty throughout her year-long experiment.
She graduated from music production school while maintaining her full-time job and YouTube channel. Her screen time on social media plummeted as she redirected energy toward creative work instead of mindless scrolling.
Morning hours became prime time for deep work—when willpower and creativity were fresh, rather than depleted by decision fatigue later in the day.
Perhaps most valuable: she discovered she was actually a morning person, contradicting years of believing herself a natural night owl from her bartending days.
The Dark Side Nobody Talks About
By summer, cracks began appearing in the 5 a.m. facade.
Social life took the biggest hit. Eating dinner and doing a full night routine while three hours of sunlight remained felt unnatural after battling seasonal depression for months.
If you want something simple that actually works, this is one of the most effective tools I’ve used to build strength, conditioning, and endurance without needing a full gym setup.
- Full-body training with one weight using swings, squats, and presses
- Solid cast iron build that feels stable and lasts for years
- Comfortable grip that makes high-rep workouts easier to handle
Spontaneous after-work plans with friends—coffee dates, dinners, evening walks—triggered guilt and resentment because they threatened her 9 p.m. bedtime.
I said no to a lot of social events this summer CU I didn’t want it to get in the way of my sleep and I started to realize I was getting a lot of guilt for not getting enough hours to sleep like my whole life revolved around.
Working past 5 p.m. meant zero time for routines—just rushing home, shoving down food, and collapsing into bed. The rigid schedule that enabled productivity simultaneously created isolation.
Kelty noticed a troubling pattern: the constant optimization and boundary-setting promoted in wellness culture can paradoxically increase loneliness.
Practical Hacks That Actually Worked
Replace Scrolling With Magazines
Kelty’s Pinterest and Instagram habit led to hours-long rabbit holes finding specific fashion pieces. Switching to print magazines delivered similar visual satisfaction without endless consumption loops.
Use Red Light Mode
Turning phones to red light mode when in bed reduces blue light exposure that mimics sunlight, making it easier to wind down naturally.
Block Apps Strategically
The Opal app blocked social media platforms during evening hours, making phones boring enough that getting bored—and therefore sleepy—became easier.
If you want something simple that actually works, this is one of the most effective tools I’ve used to build strength, conditioning, and endurance without needing a full gym setup.
- Full-body training with one weight using swings, squats, and presses
- Solid cast iron build that feels stable and lasts for years
- Comfortable grip that makes high-rep workouts easier to handle
Change Your Perspective
One Vogue article shifted Kelty’s entire relationship with nighttime scrolling with a single quote: “I can tell someone’s screen time by their outfit.”
Realizing she was “a walking billboard for 8 hours of screen time” motivated her to pick up vintage magazines instead.
Should You Actually Do This?
After twelve months, Kelty’s verdict is nuanced.
Waking at 5 a.m. works if it genuinely allows time for deep work, maintains friendships, supports health routines, includes self-care, and still delivers 7-9 hours of quality sleep.
It fails spectacularly when it creates exhaustion throughout the day, decimates social connections, or becomes another productivity obsession that isolates rather than elevates.
Kelty plans to continue waking at 5 a.m. during fall and winter but will shift to 6-7 a.m. during summer when extended daylight makes early bedtimes feel restrictive.
If you want something simple that actually works, this is one of the most effective tools I’ve used to build strength, conditioning, and endurance without needing a full gym setup.
- Full-body training with one weight using swings, squats, and presses
- Solid cast iron build that feels stable and lasts for years
- Comfortable grip that makes high-rep workouts easier to handle
You just got to try it cuz at least once you try for 30 days you can sit there and be like that was awful or it completely changes your life and you only know.
The real lesson? Healthy habits are tools, not permanent fixtures. What serves productivity during one season might create isolation in another.
Sometimes you need the hammer. Sometimes you need to put it down and grab something else entirely.
