I’ve found that the best thing I can do to consistently be ‘on’ right at 4 is to set my bedtime, not my awake time. I’m always in bed at 8 whether I think I’ll need 8 hours of sleep or not - this has allowed me to more consistently get something done right away outside of whenever the baby’s got me busy.
For everyone else, train your body to sleep and wake at the same times. I'm a bit out of whack right now, but my best routine was when I could barely keep my eyes open at XPM at night and wake up on my own at XAM in the morning. It was like clockwork. I could tell you what time it was by my internal clock. Also helpful was going to sleep AND waking up in the dark. Sunlight streaming into your sleeping area is also like an alarm clock.
Don't do things which will mess with your sleep. If you're going to drink alcohol, don't do it during the week. I stopped eating after 6. Disconnected from screens an hour before sleep time. I was also on a sort of keto diet (loads of veggies, small portions of organ meat and fish, fat from coconut oil.
I have never experienced such mental clarity than I did during this time. It seemed like a switch got flipped one day about 3 weeks into this routine. I had this persistent feeling like I had drank 2 cups of coffee, but without the weird jittery feeling.
Plus, since I'm not eating after 8 and I still eat breakfast (with other kid) at 8, I'm in this sort of accidental intermittent fasting mode. I wonder how much that is contributing.
I find my body gets into a natural rythm. And 8 hours of solid sleep makes my mornings so much more productive.
Love how customisable the notification settings are now, that's an Apple win
I had my day split for 8 hours sleep, 8 hours work, 8 hours with the baby. This allowed both my wife and I to get 8 hours of sleep every day once my son was on formula.
I was sleeping better and my work was more focused, and the boy (and my marriage) is still alive and happy. It worked so well, that it took me months for my body to shift away from that schedule when we moved on to more "normal" hours.