The 5 to 9 trend on TikTok has been gaining a lot of attention lately. But what is this trend, and what makes it controversial? Here’s a rundown of everything you need to know.
The 5 to 9 TikTok Trend
The premise of the trend is fairly simple. Someone records what they do in their ‘5 to 9’ either before or after their 9 to 5 job or studies. In other words, it’s either a 5am to 9am morning routine or a 5pm to 9pm evening routine. Common activities included in these videos are cooking food, cleaning, exercising, and any other productive activities.
The 5 to 9 trend follows from a long history of productivity content on the Internet. Daily routines have been popular since long before TikTok existed. They often portray an idealised ‘perfect day’, where every minute is planned and used productively. They also give a glimpse into the person’s life.
Some believe that there is nothing inherently wrong with this type of inspiration and that these videos simply offer up tools that a person could incorporate into their own lives to improve their day if they so choose. If all you’re doing is documenting your own life, is there anything wrong with that?
Others believe that these videos promote an unrealistic standard of productivity. 9 to 5 jobs are tiring on their own, and being led to believe that every minute outside of these jobs needs to be productive too could be harmful. Everyone needs rest, and getting up at 5am every day might infringe on that. They argue that these routines are not sustainable and that even those who make these videos probably don’t follow these steps every single day.
These types of videos often elicit feelings of laziness and inferiority from viewers. They didn’t wake up to walk the dogs, water the plants and clean the kitchen all before breakfast, so are they doing something wrong?
And the answer is no, they aren’t doing anything wrong. If you want to make your day more productive, there’s nothing wrong with that — just make sure it’s on your own terms, and not just based on what you see online. If you don’t want to make your day more productive, that’s fine too. Leisure is a perfectly good use of your time.
5 to 9 trend examples:
Here are some of the top videos to come out of the 5 to 9 trend. Some share their ambitious routines, while others poke fun at the trend itself.
See also: The Anti-Hero TikTok Challenge Explained And Some Great Examples