A US Navy seal has revealed why he has kept the routine of waking up at 4:30am every day since leaving the service.
You may have thought waking up at 6:00am was rough, but according to an ex-Navy seal you should prepare to ditch those extra couple of hours of beauty sleep if you truly want to make the most of your day.
While I can think of many reasons to Jocko Willink's question, 'Why would you not wake up at 4:30am?,' to give the man his dues, it does always feel like there are never enough hours in the day to get everything done.
The former Navy Seal explained to Business Insider's Rich Feloni how waking up early helps him get 'a jump on the day'.
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He said: 'The reason I wake up at 4:30am in the morning is because no one else is awake yet so that gives me the opportunity to do things that I need to get done kinda selfishly for myself, and the big one in that category is working out.
'And it doesn't feel good at 4:30am when you get up, but by the time 7:00am rolls around, and you've already worked out, and you've already got some work done, and you've got some time to say goodbye to your kids before they go to school? It's infinitely better than sleeping in until 6:45am and you get out of bed and now you've missed your kids going to school, or whatever. You're not prepared for the day, it's awful.'
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When questioned about what people with very differing schedules and job roles should do, Willink reflected that people should 'find out a time, pick it, set it, stick to it and maintain that schedule,' based on their own personal timetables.
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However, an overall rule the former Seal emphasised is making the time one goes to bed as early as possible. 'Cause what are you doing at night, most of the time? Most of the time at night, you're not working on anything super productive, you're just winding down and watching stupid YouTube videos, or surfing the internet, reading clickbait stories, right?
'Don't do that, instead, go to sleep, and then wake up early,' he said.
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The video has amassed over 12 million views, and 200,000 likes, with users having flooded to the comments mostly to express their lack of enthusiasm over the suggestion. One said: 'The earlier the better. That's why I wake up at 10 a.m. on Tuesdays, because I'm waking up for Wednesday 14 hours before it even starts.'
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Another wrote: 'I took his advice and lost my job. My shift started at 3am.'
'My father wakes at 4:30am - 5:00am in the morning and brags about it to everyone, but most people don't know he's asleep most of the afternoon,' a third commented.
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Willink concluded by addressing the level of discipline he has maintained since leaving the Seals. 'If you want more freedom in your life, you have to have more discipline. If you don't have any discipline, you'll end up with absolutely no freedom, you'll end up being a slave to other people that boss you around,' he said.
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While I see the logic in waking up earlier to be able to squeeze more things into my schedule, I do not yet have children, and so simply don't feel the need to wake any earlier to perform my quick brush of the hair, slurp of coffee and dash through a door.
The former Seals' comments on discipline also echo eerily close to those of Love Islander Molly-Mae Hague who came under fire for claiming that everyone has 'the same 24 hours in a day'.
While I can, I think I'll stick to my eight hours thanks.
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Poppy Bilderbeck