The 3AM Rule: My Reset Button

I’ve been away from the 3AM Rule for a while. I haven’t written about it since September, and truthfully, I haven’t been waking up at 3AM like I used to. But when I get excited about my goals again, something wakes me up before the alarm — and I find myself right back at that kitchen table.

When I’m locked in, I can barely sleep. I grab my notebook, write out what I’m working on, sketch out the “what ifs,” and plan my whole day on paper. Writing is my therapy. The stillness of the early morning has always been where I think the clearest.

In radio, I lived by the 3AM Rule. Sometimes I’d be at the station at 3AM, other days at 4. I would spread everything out in the conference room before the 6AM show, meditate, pray, and hunt for ideas. I loved being prepared.

One of my students, Shay Moore in Kansas City, lives by it too. She’s in the studio at 3AM — dressed, ready, locked in. She understands what that early edge does for performance.

Now let me be clear — you don’t have to wake up at 3AM to be successful. But for me, it’s the engine that drives everything. From 3AM to 6AM, you can knock out your heavy lifting before most people hit snooze. And sometimes I’m so full of ideas I can’t even sleep. That’s why I’m always taking notes. Thought moves fast — 24 billion miles per second — and if you don’t catch it, it’s gone.

My wife is tired of the tubs and boxes of notes around the house, but I love going back and picking through them. Seeds planted long ago, blooming today.

Most of my day is thinking and writing — that’s my work. That’s how I stay sharp. That’s how I stay articulate on the air.

So build a schedule that gives you an unfair advantage.
And if you need a reset button in your life… try waking up at 3AM.

It always brings me back home.