I got up at 4am for 40 days... It was amazing.

I studied Spanish at 4:00 in the morning for 40 days in a row.
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TIMESTAMPS:
00:00 Studying Spanish at 4am
01:00 The worst sleeping pattern
02:22 The privilege of comprehensible input
06:38 The Rules
09:24 How to get up early
14:28 Did it work?
17:41 Doing it again
OK if you've reached the end of the description...

[@daysandwords]

Thanks for watching. Check out the very cool features of LingoPie with a 7-day free trial that will tell them that I sent you! shorturl.at/vBILO

[@IowaLanguages]

Wish they had Turkish.

[@paulus_primus]

Ha. Siesta. So when did you generally went to sleep those days? Was is about the same time or not?

[@johannkroeber392]

I am having problems with sleeping i also wake up at 4 am and then immerse in chinese for two hours and then go to bed for one more hour.

[@kylemek0]

A trick which works well for me is to set two alarms. The first one is a silent one on my watch and the second one is a normal alarm five minutes after the first. The idea is that I am super motivated to get up during the first one, so I can turn off the second. Because I know if I dont it will wake the rest of the family.

[@natashacallis2736]

I used to also have two alarms, one on my wrist that vibrated, and one that beeps and is loud, and I hated the second one, so I would get up to turn it off before it went off, and once I was up, I wasn’t getting back in bed

[@marleyundangie]

It’s so interesting to hear how different people are. I never had problems going to bed early (the latest I can manage is around 10pm), so my whole life I was up early around 5-6am. So school, university or work weren’t problematic. It’s kinda hard for me to stay awake longer for example at parties or weddings or any celebration (but doable for some occasions) because even if I could and want to sleep in the next day, I’ll be up the usual time. To be fair, I never considered that as a problem and after watching your video, I think I should consider myself lucky. P.S. I really like your content and your editing. Found you on KZbin cause I also study Swedish.

[@daysandwords]

Thank you!

[@charliee7112]

You're my favourite language learning KZbinr. It's a combination of the quality of the videos, your humour and your commitment to these projects that I just love. Just wanted to let you know it's noticed and appreciated, keep up the good work!

[@daysandwords]

Thanks Charliee!

[@DaninaPetroskova]

It’s my favourite too!

[@IosefDzhugashvili]

I never considered staying up late as a form of procrastination. Much food for thought, thank you.

[@kyrylo_perederii]

Lemont, you are just great! I really enjoy your videos, they truly motivate me to keep pushing!

[@lorenzo6777]

This video really aligned with the different sources that I've come across regarding changing your sleep schedule, increasing your productivity (being alone either late at night or early in the morning) and also the way to get your brain to stay awake so early - my intuition told me just to stay up after those restroom uses but the tired body wanted to have more sleep for the day which makes sense but is a short-term goal.

[@coolbrotherf127]

I definitely am a night owl, have been ever since I was a little kid. Waking up before about 8am leaves me feeling physically sick. I worked a job a few years ago that had me waking up at 6:30am every morning and even with good sleep I was irritable and felt physically sick for months. As soon as I was able to quit that job I felt much more peaceful and healthy getting up later. My advice is listen to your body, don't just blindly follow trends just because they work for other people. For me, I found a good balance was going to bed at midnight and getting up at 7:30-8AM weekdays and allowing myself till 10AM on the weekend.

[@daysandwords]

I don't know if you're implying that I DO think everyone should be up early or that night owls don't exist... But I'm not and I wasn't. I also think you should listen to your body, but I do warn people that bodies tend to be quiet about the signal to go to bed and loud about the signal to eat. If I listened to my body about eating, I'd be 200kg.

[@aell.e]

Your no-BS approach is my favourite, and this is why I keep recommending your videos. Thanks Lamont!

[@anna7276]

Your Blinky Bill! Lol!!! You crack me up Lamont, always love your videos - for the serious aspect and the odd chuckle

[@tiaan7183]

You have become one of my comfort channels to watch, your videos have a relaxing atmosphere and I enjoy even when I quit learning Japanese a few times😂, btw I decided to step back from Japanese and am now learning German, this will hopefully break my quitting streak as my native language is a Germanic language and I’d learn it quicker than most other languages which will hopefully boost my confidence in language learning.

[@sharonoddlyenough]

Your shirt made me smile. I was obsessed with car mod and repair videos briefly a while back, and MCM are fun to watch.

[@daysandwords]

Yeah... I used to work at an auto parts retailer way back when they were just starting (and they were called Mighty Mods) but then I forgot about them for about 10 years, and I started following them again recently. I used to live about 2 minute's drive from where one of them lives now.

[@sharonoddlyenough]

@@daysandwords I remember that now! Good times

[@brendalu4665]

😂I love listening to you. Your brilliance and practicality so closely match my own…makes me laugh!

[@daysandwords]

Haha thanks!

[@HeffeFrank]

5:54 very wise words, It is often so much easier to give to others before giving to ourselves.

[@icegoddess1308]

“Second sleep” is well documented in antiquity. It’s when you wake up in the middle of the night for an hour or so, and then you go back to bed for the rest of the night. This is particularly noted in Roman times.

[@daysandwords]

Yeah I don't agree with the ratios though. For me it's like 5 hours asleep, 3-4 hours being awake, and then I sleep like a log for about 2 hours.

[@Consum98]

Totally agree with this, and this is basically what I've figured out over the past year by working full time alongside learning languages quite intensely. Like I just feel "better" when i'm up earlier? and I'll wake up at 6:30 ish anyway regardless of when I went to sleep. Why push it? Don't get me wrong, the odd late night is great, and sometimes it feels like you're extending that day (really nice if you're for example seeing friends or family) but I always feel like i've "given up" the following day so to speak, waking up incredibly sluggish. Maybe 4am is a tad extreme though.. nicely done!

[@xuhongxue]

I can relate on using my pettiness to my advantage 🤣🙈

[@mariefrenchtutor3180]

So, I was listening to your video while fixing dinner. Suddenly, my teenage daughter ran to the kitchen laughing. She said: "And if you get up at 5 am to study Spanish, you'll be able to drive me to my swimming training!" I usually leave the fun of driving early to my husband. To be honest, I happen to be the one who wakes up the earliest in the house, often around 5 or earlier, but I usually stay in bed and try to fall back asleep. It never works... so It is dumb to keep trying. Now guess who stayed in bed this morning while the other got to play the unpaid taxidriver? My husband sends a big Thank You!

[@daysandwords]

Haha oh dear I'm sorry. But it does sound like a better routine.

[@j5679]

At 9:46 you gave some suggestions for how to make sure you get up early etc. but a thing that's missing (which is incidentally also my preferred method whenever a new uni semester beginns) is to just not sleep for a night and then go to bed super early (6pm) the next evening. This way, the second day is unfortunately mostly wasted but it is the most surefire way for me to fix my schedule.

[@lorenzo6777]

How do you get yourself to stay up for the entire time needed without accidentally crashing early or using caffeine?

[@daysandwords]

That worked when I was 20 but now I just get to about 1pm and pass out.

[@Komatik_]

Yeah, I have to agree with Lamont. Worked when I was younger, now, not so much. I'd just crash early and wake up at 1am or something and then slip back to the old bad habits.

[@jimmyxflare7347]

excellent video man

[@daysandwords]

Appreciate it!

[@kastanie7445]

I was getting up at 5 am to study Polish, because, like you, I hated the fact that my employer got to take advantage of all of my quality brain time. After work I'm just pooped and more often than I would like to admit I just scroll through the internet instead of doing something productive. So might as well go to bed and start the day early with something worthwhile instead! Currently I get up around 6 am, that still leaves plenty of time to do my vocab reviews, water my garden and cuddle my dog before I have to sell my brain power to put food on the table. In the evening I do immersion, which is not as draining as doing grammar exercises

[@Number77712]

When I wake up, especially if that is early, the first thing I focus on has all my attention for the best part of an hour. Sadly that thing is often a game on my phone, but back when I used to have a bedside table with a book on it life was good!

[@wrightjustin23]

Welcome to Texas! (I assume you are in the Houston area?) I really appreciate you going into some detail about the nature of managing your sleep schedule while seriously pursuing a foreign language. In my experience with Mandarin before, and very recently Spanish, the primary obstacles I faced on a regular basis were managing fatigue and determing WHEN I slotted time for study. As you said, I made great progres when I was able to get up 4 hours before work and get my exericse and Mandarin done before the start of my shift. When I tried to split the routine or reverse it (studying some after work), my plans usually failed and I could not be consistent. You should consider making a video about fatige management in language learning, as a general topic. I've yet to find any serious discussion of how one should arrange various language learning tasks in the context of fatighue management. For instance, people always mention active listening but fail to ever mention that it is extremely cognitively demanding and far less effective when one is fatigued, versus something like flashcards or light reading. In my experience, the most effective way to manage my routine was to reserve intensive listening sessions for the beginning of the day, after my first coffee and a good night of rest. Reading and speaking would come next, and vocabulary and grammar were the lowest priority, if I did them at all. That's enough of an essay, great content man

[@daysandwords]

I was in Houston, yes, but I've been home for over two months now.

[@berkanathurisa]

This is the truest statement I've heard in a while: "Going to bed later than you intend to is really just a form of procrastination". I'm a pro procrastinator, and this is exactly my problem with going to bed "early". I CAN do it…but I don't WANT to do it. I have too much OTHER stuff that I want/need to do, aside from sleep. And honestly, right now after the children are in bed and asleep is really the only time I truly get for myself. That makes it very difficult to go to bed early, because it feels like I’m sacrificing my "me" time. However, I had a recent experience that follows what you've described in this video. A few weeks ago I had to get up and be out the door by 6:00 am for an entire week for work. I had no problem getting up out the door by 6:00, although I did need some outside help (Yay melatonin!) to fall asleep earlier the first night. The first day was hell, but the second night and every morning and evening after that were a LOT easier, and amazingly I actually felt more alert and got more done, even in the afternoons and evenings the rest of the week. It felt great! But as soon as I didn't HAVE to be up and out the door, I fell right back into my old habits and lost that boost. I do like the idea of getting up and doing some language learning first thing in the morning, although I’m not sure about sitting down and watching a video (or sitting and doing anything for that matter). I find that I have to keep moving first thing in the morning, or the siren song of my warm and cozy bed starts to drown out rational thought. Maybe I need to find someone in a different time zone who wants to chat every day at 5:30 am MST. I may have to set up some trials, and see if I can figure out something that would work for me. And I'll definitely have to do some thinking to find something that would motivate me to get up earlier in order to do that language learning, since just the idea of working on my Swedish is NOT more motivating than the idea of snuggling back into bed and sleeping another 3/4 of an hour. I'll add it to the list of "Lamont-triggered" ponderings and see what I come up with.

[@daysandwords]

Yeah, like everything, there are definitely two "sides". Sometimes, if we have friends over and they seem to feel comfortable with staying until 11:30, then I really wish the night would never end. There's no point being an adult if you still have to go to bed when someone tells you to! But I also find I am much better at having one late night without much sleep if I've been in the habit of going to bed really early and getting up early. I think it might have even been my old boss who gave me the idea of doing this, because I remembered him saying that he normally wakes up at 3:30 or 4, and this guy was NOT at all proactive about his life. He was pretty lazy overall... but having a job for 12 years that saw him leaving the house at 5 had meant that it wasn't "in" him to wake up later than 4. It made me realise how much of this is just habit and not about discipline or anything else. Certainly, finding what works for you is 80% of the battle.

[@Komatik_]

Put a target language video/podcast on the phone, put in headphones and make tea/coffee.

[@berkanathurisa]

@@Komatik_ That's a good suggestion. I do have a few podcasts I listen to infrequently, and I'm sure I could find more. Could even kill two birds with one stone, and get up early enough to fit in a work out while listening. This is feeling like more and more work! But I think I'll create a challenge for myself and see if I can stick to it. Just need to find a good carrot to use as motivation. I have a coworker who I found out is also learning Swedish; maybe I'll ask if she's willing to be my accountability buddy. Wish me luck!

[@berkanathurisa]

@@daysandwords I only agreed to become an adult so I could eat dessert first and go to bed whenever I wanted.

[@Komatik_]

@@berkanathurisa That's why I suggested making tasty psychoactive substances rather than lifting weights :D

[@SvengelskaBlondie]

12:31 "Just go and buy a house" 🤣

[@kevinmorris9913]

Hey Lamont! You got a clip of my hometown KC Royals baseball!

[@daysandwords]

Cool! Vs Toronto right? Having not watched the clip carefully, I thought it was the Dodgers.

[@jonande]

How did doing that affect the time you spend with your family? I personally am someone who has always naturally woken up pretty early. And I have tried once to do the "get up way before you have to go to work and get stuff done"-thing a few years ago. But the thing is that I spend most of my "quality-time" with my wife in the evenings, and going to bed at 9pm to get up at 4am consistently for a few weeks meant that, while I was getting my personal stuff done, we really stopped spending enjoyable evenings together, so I stopped doing it. Do/did you experience something similar? How do you get around that problem?

[@franzneubauer6877]

Very cool video

[@daysandwords]

Long time no hear min freund.

[@franzneubauer6877]

@@daysandwordsway too long!

[@franzneubauer6877]

Way too long!

[@BenjaminHare]

"Eating healthily." Grammar humor. Nice.

[@daysandwords]

If it's a joke then I don't get it.

[@BenjaminHare]

@@daysandwords I didn't think "healthily" was a real word. I'm wrong. Just looked it up. Great video, by the way.

[@daysandwords]

Haha, yeah. If it wasn't a real word then one would be forced to say "in a healthy manner" since "Eating healthy" is equivalent to saying "I read good."

[@tatsutani4877]

Ett tips om man delar säng och inte vill störa sin partner är en aktivitetsklocka med vibrerande alarm. Nu slipper jag störa min man som jobbar natt/sover morgon! Tip: activity watchea may have vibrating alarm so partners can keep sleeping. :)

[@toralundin5869]

I am swedish so swedish is my mother tongue, I know english because everybody here does, I know spanish as a language I studied and now am fluent in, and I am learning french as my fourth language. So we are a really good language match! :)

[@georginatoland]

Like you, I had several signs from the universe that it was finally time to learn a language that I’d been thinking about learning for a very long time: Italian. Between you & Olly offering sales, the bump I’ve seen in my YT Italian-speaking viewership, and my need for translating Italian books for my work…the time is NOW! I’m all in! 🇮🇹

[@georginatoland]

I’ve also noticed a spike in Spanish-speaking viewership on YT. But I’m not quite ready to manage two Romance languages at once. Not when I’m also learning Ukrainian. 🇺🇦

[@canchero724]

​@@georginatolandyou're treading the path that Lamont abandoned by trying two languages at once. Good luck! You're going to end up with a heck of an experience no matter how it turns out.

[@daysandwords]

Well actually the problem was two languages that I was BAD at, at once. I am back to two languages at once now.

[@awrightmate5826]

My wife is currently learning Spanish. I know your thoughts on Duolingo but she is progressing really fast. She did do it in School over 12 years ago. I started with Ukrainian out of respect and interest. I still am but I have taken an interest in an old local language, Scottish Gaelic. I feel selfish but this has overtaken Ukrainian. Probably because I have recently sourced a local club . The fact is at some point my Family probably spoke that is cool. I tend to take an interest in a language due to respect rather than oh I fancy that because of the way it sounds. I use Duolingo but have also bought books. I struggled with language in School. French was a nightmare but in my 20’s I learned BSL rather quick. This was classed based with a deaf lecturer. It forced me to learn it or not communicate, worked a treat. I am more mature now and apply myself more. Although being dyslexic and suspected of ADHD it is hard. Thats when the Duolingo child like approach and reward system helps stop my brain going on holiday over black and white (boring) way of learning. Seen a few of ur vids now. Find them helpful:)

[@amerikanskdansker8771]

I have a very unusual rotating shift schedule that doesn’t allow me to have any sort of regularity to my Danish study time. These are all good suggestions for people with static lives though. At the end of the day you just have to find something that works for you and stick with it.

[@daysandwords]

Yeah that's certainly a tough one. Well done for sticking with it anyway!

[@amerikanskdansker8771]

@@daysandwords Well, I can’t complain too much…it does pay the bills. Plus, I get a decent amount of time off when other people do not. I need to be better about making the time I do have work, and that’s on me. Everyone has a unique situation, and everyone can learn a language if they put in the time!

[@-whackd]

Yes, those shifts can be done if you are able to adapt quickly and rest with your time off. Shift work is also a known carcinogen by the WHO and it reduces lifespan as much as smoking. Which is why many shift workers like firefighters get a long retirement period after 20 years. I would try to watch the morning rising sun barefoot in the grass each day to reset my circadian rhythms. Do not bother watching the sun through a window.

[@Bison1938]

You mentioned in your other video that using the RefoldES1K deck that you swiched the cards so that you were presented with dthe back of the card first. I can't seem to figure out how to set that up. The video Anki sent me showed a "flip" button at the bottom of the Anki deck but I'm not seeing that. How were you able to flip the pack? Thanks, JB

[@mustbecome]

I love your videos. Been applying everything you have said to my Japanese pursuit. It’s funny, I actually just made a video about how anyone who thinks they’re “not a morning person” definitely is - they just need to understand how. “Drink a glass of water” lmfao

[@philipdavis7521]

Its probably not great for most people, but one early morning habit I developed was to immediately click on a language tape (usually Pimsleur, sometimes a short story) when my alarm would go off. I'd then just wake slowly listening (and trying to respond to) the session. By the time the 30 minute session was finished I was usually ready to get up. This, of course, is terrible advice if you sleep with someone grumpy.

[@thomascrownbuerger]

ayyyyyee Mighty Car Mods ✌

[@eaurius7638]

Rule number 1 sounds like the Duolingo bird meme: Up and Spanish (or vanish). LOL

[@user-vw5ho9cx8z]

Hola amigo

[@mybestideas1]

You are such a sweet guy and your advice is very realistic. I'm not sure why, but for some reason I always see you as a tragic figure, where you are pursuing this solitary sport while carrying on the family life. Maybe you are just an introvert. In any case, all the best!

[@daysandwords]

Haha, I definitely did a few things early in my life that are making my 30s harder than "optimal". But that's OK.

[@KonstantinosSakellaropoulos]

The only thing that has worked for me is brute forcing. I have quite possibly the worst sleep schedule of my entire town, and the only think that has fixed it was just not sleeping one day and being like a zombie so that I had no choice BUT to go to bed and sleep earlier. Even then it only lasted for weeks and then I was back to my bullshit...

[@jonasvloggar5880]

good video, Erin the cat.

[@ponta1162]

Great video👍May i ask what level of your Spanish is currently ? :)

[@daysandwords]

Hmm, difficult to say. Comprehension is quite good... maybe high B1... Reading maybe even low B2... But spoken is bad, A2 somewhere.

[@ponta1162]

@@daysandwords Thank you for your answer :)

[@Mirsab]

Literally woke up today at 4:15am or so 😂

[@20quid]

You can get alarm apps that only turn off after scanning a barcode with your phone. I set the barcode to be the one on my shampoo bottle because it's literally the other side of the house so the chance I'm going to walk all the way back to bed is a small as possible, and if I'm not going back to bed then I'm already in the bathroom so I may as well shower and start the day.

[@daysandwords]

The idea that I've heard that I most like is one of those alarm clocks that is a large light and slowly increases the amount of light in the room until it's very bright like 30 minutes before. Apparently we sense the light even when we're sleeping, and in a few studies it's been shown that people feel 30% more awake upon waking if they've been exposed to light first.

[@tigrafale4610]

I have an alarm app that makes me solve maths problems. I'm usually awake enough to stop myself going back to bed after doing them.

[@IowaLanguages]

The Alarmy app makes it impossible to go back to sleep. I’ve set up missions like taking a photo of the barcode on my coffee, taking 20 steps, and doing 3 math problems. I make it so all 3 are required or the alarm goes off again.

[@daysandwords]

Yeah but my wife doesn't want to hear an alarm at all.

[@johnlawrence3781]

My compliments Days of French and Swedish, I've rarely (if ever) seen someone with your diligence in learning a language.

[@nooyhooy1965]

Talk about dedication…..

[@daysandwords]

Ha, I need to do this stuff because I'm NOT disciplined...

[@nooyhooy1965]

Fair enough 😂

[@JJStarr]

I know someone who keeps a spray bottle of water on her nightstand and sprays herself in the face. I've used the water trick, too, and now I know I'm not the only crazy person. Are you still using this schedule?

[@poleag]

You're the David Goggins of language learning

[@daysandwords]

Oh man I have nowhere NEAR the grit that that guy has. If I did, I wouldn't still be eating packets of chocolate cookies all the time.

[@user-zd2jl1ys9i]

Thanks for giving advice like a real person and making fun of dumb useless advises :)))

[@ChristopherBonis]

Lamont literally wakes up before I fall asleep. 😳

[@daysandwords]

Haha, well we all have our reasons.

[@s3ym0ur3660]

Nsdr may help more than siestas to refocus

[@reeb3687]

whats the overlap between this video and the miles morales one

[@daysandwords]

I only started on Spider-verse like two weeks before take off (so, on day 82 or something). I watched it about 8 or 9 times in those 12 days.

[@sevret313]

I usually don't click on sponsored content but this was a pretty good sales pitch. So I've signed up and hope I'm not regretting it as I'll definitely forget to cancel my trial subscription.

[@sevret313]

Oh, I kind of misunderstood what they were providing. Netflix kind of seems like a requirement to use the site rather than being a supplement to it.

[@daysandwords]

Hmm... Not for me at least. Perhaps in other languages, but I don't have Netflix and I've managed to enjoy their Spanish stuff.

[@jeffreybarker357]

Still wanting answers on the Spider-Man video, Lamont! Please tell us!

[@daysandwords]

Videos take time. The extended Q and A is out for channel members, will be in a few days to general public.

[@thankyouand3260]

Going to bed late is almost guaranteed if i drink coffee. It just "makes no sense" feeling

[@joebonds3072]

LOL, thought this video was a new way to learn a language, not how to sleep, based on the title

[@nf4866]

I bet you can't paypal me $10.

[@daysandwords]

Haha but you didn't listen to the Ts and Cs. "...for the reason that they genuinely don't believe I can do it." You don't genuinely believe I can't do that. You just think I won't, that's not the same thing.

[@tomtocz7284]

Language learning is a marathon not a sprint. Get ur Z’s everybody. Don’t jip yourself from getting quality sleep. A well rested mind is a mind ready to learn.

[@daysandwords]

This video isn't about denying yourself sleep. I literally said "The goal is not to deny yourself sleep". It does help if you watch the video before commenting.

[@nsevv]

Bet you can't do polyphasic sleep and learn languages.