Nicola Alpe: Why, like Michelle Obama, I joined the 4am club

I was so smug about being up early I posted a picture of the sunrise to my stories. People overseas sent messages asking if everything was okay. Photo / Getty Images

What do Mark Wahlberg, Tim Cook, Michelle Obama and The Apprentice Australia's Mark Boris have in common? They're all awake at 4am.

Waking up at 4am is nothing new, but there is a difference between getting up at 4am because you need to and getting up at 4am to be more productive.

Given I don't have a pressing need to be up before the sun, I considered why I wanted a part of that action. I decided what could be an easier way to solve the conundrum of a lack of time and personal space, than waking up three hours earlier than I would usually?

After two false starts, come Wednesday I successfully slipped out of bed like Elastigirl.

My God it was early. I started to work; admin, writing, more admin. At 5.30am my husband, a useless sleeper and early riser, decided he'd join me. In whispers laced with profanity I asked him what he was doing up. It was my time and my space. He did not join me again during the experiment.

Day two started in a similarly successful vein. I was so smug I posted a picture of the sunrise to my stories. People overseas sent messages asking if everything was okay.

Day three was tough. I turned my alarm off and slumbered peacefully, if not guiltily, a while longer. That afternoon I was catatonic. I cut a friend off by saying she was sending me to sleep. I wished I could do that more often, lamenting that most weeks I don't have a solid excuse.

The weekend came, and I wondered WTF I would do with myself getting up at 4am, but I found things to do. Quiet things, obviously, but things including my new 6am cardio, something I haven't done since a US$30 cancellation fee at Barry's gym loomed for no-shows.

By the end of my week of non-consecutive 4am starts I was dead tired, but I wanted more. I relished the physical, mental and emotional space. Long term, for me the 4am club is infeasible and is rather extreme, but I see why people do it. My goal is to work towards regular 5.30am starts. We shall see.

What did I learn? You need enough sleep. If you are up at 4am you need to be asleep early. Super early nights are great if you live alone but difficult if you are going to bed before your child. Operating on less than six hours doesn't work for most, and definitely not for me. Ask why you are doing this? If you want peaceful alone time, then express this to your household so they don't see this as bonus quality time together. If you want to get a head start, then be organised the night before with what you want to tick off, otherwise you will squander your early hours.

Don't expect these hours to be when you do your best work. From all accounts, by people more important and successful than me, 4am club members use this time to clear the way for later brilliance by mostly completing admin tasks, planning and exercising, thus creating space for productive work after breakfast. Also, this optional gig would be tough to continue through a New Zealand winter.

Given I retired from the 4am club before my membership would have even been processed, I am hardly an expert, but I recommend giving it, or a version of it, a try if you think it would work for you, or if you're hungry for more productivity, creativity or alone time in 2022.