MSS #112: Breaking the 4:30 AM Wake-Up Cycle – A Proven Plan

MSS #112: Breaking the 4:30 AM Wake-Up Cycle – A Proven Plan

1 Mar, 2025

🕒Read time: 3.5 minutes

🚀In a hurry? Cut straight to the heading “If You Wake Up at 4:30am” - reduced read time 1.2 minutes

Do you often wake up at 4:30 AM, thoughts racing, unable to get back to sleep?

You’re not alone—early morning wake-ups caused by work-related stress are a common challenge.

The good news?

You can train your brain to stop this pattern.

Today, I’ll share a simple but effective routine designed to retrain your mind, reduce stress and help you sleep through until morning.

Your Brain is Taking Instructions – Whether You Mean It or Not

A key insight from coaching sessions: Your brain takes what you feed it as an instruction.

That means if you regularly wake up thinking about work, your brain assumes:

🔹 Work issues need solving at 4:30 AM.
🔹 No matter how much you’ve achieved, it’s not enough.

The solution? Retrain your brain.

It needs to learn:

✅ “I have made enough progress today.”
✅ “Problem-solving happens during daylight, not at 4:30 AM.”

Let’s break this down into two crucial habits:

• End-of-Workday Routine

• End-of-Day Routine

This will train your brain.

I will also share what to do if you do wake up unexpectedly.

End-of-Workday Routine

This is about building habits, not just for your conscious mind but more importantly for your unconscious mind, the mind that has been waking you up at 4:30am.

Ready?

📌 Why Do This? This signals to your brain that the workday is complete, and no more problems need solving tonight.

🔹 Define a finish time. Stick to it. No exceptions.
🔹 Write down your progress. Use a handwritten journal (not digital—this matters). Record what you have achieved that day, giving a clear signal to your mind you are making progress vs still too much to do.
🔹 Cross off completed tasks—horizontally, there is a reason for this.
🔹 List top three tasks for tomorrow. Write them down and visualise starting them at a specific time (e.g. 08:00 AM). This also signals to your mind you are in control.

🧠 Why does this work?
Your unconscious mind gets clear instructions that work will resume at 08:00, not 4:30 AM.

These are good practices in any case, but also, we want to give a clear subliminal instruction to your unconscious mind you are in control of your work.

Now let’s consider your end of day, pre sleep routine.

End-of-Day Routine – Prepping Your Brain for Sleep

Having a routine in itself is important. It teaches your mind sleep is coming next.

Preparing well for sleep gets your mind into the best possible state before sleep, so you are more likely to stay asleep.

📌 Why? A solid bedtime routine programs your brain into sleep mode and reduces night-time mental clutter.

Do this every night:

🔹 No screens two hours before bed. Phone on silent—or better, out of the room.
🔹 Gratitude journal. Write down three things you’re grateful for. There are many benefits to this, but primarily for the issue of waking at early hours, this ensures your last thoughts before sleep are positive ones, primes the mind.
🔹 Plant a final thought:

Use a simple sentence said in your mind, to ‘instruct’ your subconscious that there is no need for “extra work” during your sleep time, say something like…

• "I have made good progress today.”

• "I am pleased with what I have achieved.”

🧠 Why does this work?
This rewires your brain to associate bedtime with positive thoughts, rather than unfinished work problems. After about 25 days, you’ll notice a shift—less stress, fewer wake-ups.

In the meantime, if you wake in the early hours, here’s how to handle it.

If You Do Wake Up at 4:30 AM

These approaches will help you get back to sleep again.

📌 Why? Instead of fighting wakefulness, use these techniques to signal to your brain: “Not now—back to sleep.”

Reschedule the Thought

Say to yourself:
"Hey brain, thanks for trying to help! Let’s reschedule this for 08:00 AM instead.”

🧠 Why does this work?
Your mind responds to internal dialogue, just like scheduling a meeting. Tip, imagine visually a clock face showing 8am (or the time you choose) and feel the emotion of relief. The unconscious mind communicates with images and emotions.

The Blackboard Technique

Imagine a blackboard in your mind. Now:

🔹 Option 1: Write the issue keeping you awake up thinking about on the blackboard. Then erase it horizontally, left to right.
🔹 Option 2: Write the numbers 10 to 1 in sequence. Slowly erase each one—again, left to right.

Use the count down to suggest to your mind sleep will follow. You can start at a higher number like 20.

🧠 Why does this work?
Horizontal eye movement mimics REM sleep eye movements, signaling to your brain: "Go back to deep sleep mode."

🔄 Repeat as needed until sleep returns.

Summary

You can break the 4:30 AM wake-up habit by training your brain to see daytime as the time for problem-solving—not the middle of the night.

Key takeaways:

✔ End your workday properly:

• Write down progress.

• Plan tomorrow’s tasks.

• Set a clear work cut-off time.

✔ Create a bedtime routine:

• No screens before sleep.

• Gratitude journaling.

• Reinforce: "I have made progress today."

✔ If you wake up at 4:30 AM:

• Tell your brain, “We’ll handle this at 08:00.”

• Use the blackboard technique to erase intrusive thoughts.

By consistently applying these steps, your brain will adjust. Soon, you’ll find yourself sleeping through the night—without the 4:30 AM interruptions.

See you next week. One more thought 👇

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That's it for this week. Thanks for reading, really hope this helped. Contact me if you think I can help you further at [email protected].

Happy thinking.