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Blink 3 of 8 - The 5 AM Club
by Robin Sharma
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The Science of Living summary
Stuart Farrimond
219 Reasons to Rethink Your Daily Routine
20 mins
Table of Contents
The Science of Living
Summary of 7 key ideas
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Key idea 1 of 7
Mornings can be tough, but there are some tricks that can help.
Beep-beep-beep-beep! It’s morning, and that sound you hear? It’s the dreaded and familiar racket of your alarm clock going off. You reach out and hit snooze before it can drill any further into your sleepy head.
It’s a familiar scenario to many. After all, it’s hard to wake up in the morning. When you do finally pull yourself out of bed, you likely feel as if you’ve gone a few rounds with a heavyweight boxer. Why is it so difficult to feel fresh and sprightly first thing? And what can you do differently?
The key message here is: Mornings can be tough, but there are some tricks that can help.
Feeling a bit groggy in the morning is natural. That’s because many of your bodily systems, like the digestive tract and parts of your brain, fall into deep sleep at night. Getting them all going again can be like starting a car on a frosty morning; it takes a bit of time.
Also, the precise timing of when you wake determines how you feel. At night, your body passes through different stages of sleep. The lighter ones are REM phases – that’s when you dream – while the rest are deep and dreamless. If you wake during REM sleep, you’ll often feel refreshed. But waking from deep, dreamless sleep can leave you in a fog, as the frontal, thinking parts of your brain aren’t ready yet.
So what can you do when this happens? Well, getting out into daylight can help, as it increases levels of special “wake-up” hormones. You could also try stretching, gentle exercise, or yoga, as this will increase your heart rate and get blood flow to the regions of your brain that are still “asleep.”
But while these techniques can help shake off some morning inertia, part of it’s simply biological. Everyone has a different body clock, or chronotype. Your chronotype determines whether or not you’re a morning person, a night owl, or something in between.
For instance, if you always feel sluggish in the morning and alert at night, you’re a night owl. Your natural rhythm is set and there’s little you can do to change it. If that’s the case, your best career choice is one that allows flexible working – a workday tailored to your own personal body clock.
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What is The Science of Living about?
The Science of Living (2020) explores the science behind things you do every day and debunks some of the common myths that shape your habits. By doing this, it seeks to help you plan your days better, so that you can live a healthier, happier, and more productive life.
Best quote from The Science of Living
The significance of breakfast is down to an individuals preference, lifestyle, and body clock.
—Stuart Farrimond
Who should read The Science of Living?
- Anyone interested in living a healthier, happier life
- Those looking to squeeze as much out their days as possible
- Workaholics, insomniacs, and oversleepers
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