The 5 AM Miracle with Jeff Sanders: Healthy Habits • Personal Development • Rockin' Productivity!

Do you know when the optimal time is to do your work? In this week's episode of The 5 AM Miracle Podcast I discuss how to organize when and where you accomplish your tasks. Context matters, and making the right choices about which projects you tackle at different points in time can make a big difference in your results. ← Previous Episode Next Episode → Photo Credit: Joel Olives via Compfight cc Download the Script Here you have access to the script that I use to record each episode. This is not a complete word-for-word transcript, though it does provide you with a detailed account of what I do to produce every episode of this podcast. Download the script. Resources Mentioned in the Show * 20 Seconds of Insane Courage [blog post] * Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity [book by David Allen] * My Interview with David Allen [episode #72] Next Week On the podcast next week I will be interviewing the amazingly talented Stephanie Gibson. Stephanie will be sharing how she stays healthy and productive with a crazy schedule as a successful musical theatre actress on Broadway. ← Previous Episode Next Episode →

There is an ideal order for everything. High School comes before college, we like someone before we grow to love them, and we order dessert even before looking at the menu. Well, maybe not the last one – unless your name is Robert D. Smith. ← Previous Episode Next Episode → Photo Credit: Compfight

Are you at your best right now? This week's episode of The 5 AM Miracle Podcast features an interview with Dave Kirby, host of the 1 Simple Thing Podcast. Dave and I talk about compassion and why he believes the world needs the best you. ← Previous Episode Next Episode → Photo Credit: NASA Goddard Photo and Video via Compfight cc Download the Script Here you have access to the script that I use to record each episode. This is not a complete word-for-word transcript, though it does provide you with a detailed account of what I do to produce every episode of this podcast. Download the script. Resources Mentioned in the Show * ManTalks Podcast [hosted by Connor Beaton] * Dave Kirby [host of the 1 Simple Thing show] * 1 Simple Thing Podcast [available on iTunes] * Compassion International [worldwide charity] * Nashville Rescue Mission [shelter addressing poverty and homelessness] * Charity Navigator [find a charity] * The Big Leap [book by Gay Hendrix] * Day One Journal [for Mac and iOS] Next Week On the podcast next week I will be discussing a sharper perspective on getting things done by organizing your tasks based on context. ← Previous Episode Next Episode →

It's true. You don't plan enough, and neither do I. Your most important goals need more detail to move forward, if they are ever to be completed. ← Previous Episode Next Episode → Photo Credit: Public Domain Six months ago I was in the beginning stages of creating the Table of Contents for my new book. As a super Type A, detail-focused guy, I always start every big project by doing anything and everything except the hard work itself. As it turns out, this tendency of mine is actually an asset, but only if I stretch it to its full capacity. Otherwise, I'm left with a series of procrastination techniques that never amount to anything. The Problem with Winging It Big projects are too complex to be left to chance. The tendency for most of us is to make a short list (or no list at all) and then just dive in head first. The problem with this strategy is that we are assuming that the answers will just fall into place. We assume that by winging it we can work on-the-fly, solve problems as they pop up, and make progress without a formal plan in place. This is a great strategy for small, familiar projects or for highly experienced people working in their strength zone who don't mind the inevitable headaches that are certainly coming their way. When you walk into a new project without a plan (or with only scraps of ideas thrown together on a napkin) you wind up with more problems than solutions and more stress than success. What Hyper-Planning Can Do For You It's time to embrace your inner Type A. Think of yourself as a “hyper-planner” and let's see where this takes us. * If the average person makes a list of 5 tasks for a project, the hyper-planner will have a list of 50. * If the average person begins writing the first chapter of their book on day 1, the hyper-planner won't write a single word for a week. * If the average person writes a new task as “Work on my book today,” the hyper-planner will instead use, “Outline paragraph 1 of the Introduction with three specific content ideas.” It Just Feels Wrong Hyper-planning is the simple act of spending what feels like too much time in the “pre-work” stage and not enough in the “doing” stage. It's counterintuitive for high-achievers who just want to get their hands dirty now. Instead, the better solution is to think through the process. Outline every step you can predetermine and brainstorm what obstacles are coming your way. What you will notice is that clarity comes rushing in and stress begins to dissipate. The more you plan the less you fear and the faster you will eventually begin to move. This is especially important on a daily task list that is flooded with vague generalities and tasks that should be labeled as projects because they are way too big for an individual to tackle in a single sitting. You Know Exactly Where You Are During my recent sabbatical I was working on as many as 4 projects at the same time. The only reason I was able to do this without losing my mind was that I had detailed action lists for each active project. At any given moment I knew exactly where I was in the process, what my next action would be,

How healthy do you feel at your job? In this week's episode of The 5 AM Miracle Podcast I discuss 7 strategies to stay healthy at work. It's so easy to let bad habits take over at the office. Fortunately, there's a lot you can do to during working hours to boost your energy, improve your health, and get more done. ← Previous Episode Next Episode → Photo Credit: FredCintra via Compfight cc Download the Script Here you have access to the script that I use to record each episode. This is not a complete word-for-word transcript, though it does provide you with a detailed account of what I do to produce every episode of this podcast. Download the script. Resources Mentioned in the Show * Focus at Will: Improve Your Productivity with Music for the Brain [blog post] * The 5 AM Miracle Podcast [now combined with the Audio Blog] * 5 AM Club 2.0 [the new logged-in experience] * The 5 A.M. Miracle Book [early notifications and book updates] * New JeffSanders.com Store [access to my products and services] * Reinvent Your Lunch Box: A New Habit That Works [blog post] * How to Custom-Build a Standing Desk [blog post] * Water Before Coffee: A Habit That Works [blog post] * The One-Minute Workout That Could Save You Hours Per Week [blog post] Next Week On the podcast next week I will be interviewing Dave Kirby, host of the 1 Simple Thing Podcast. Dave has spent many years behind the mic as a radio DJ promoting international charities that give to those who need it most. We will dive into his work centered around compassion and why the world needs the best you. ← Previous Episode Next Episode →  

In this week's episode of The 5 AM Miracle Podcast I discuss Nozbe, which, in my humble opinion, is the best task management system for personal productivity. If you like the GTD system – or you simply want to get more done every day – try this. ← Previous Episode Next Episode → Photo Credit: Nozbe I previously wrote an article about how I use Evernote for my notes and Apple's Reminders App for daily productivity. Well, I have been converted. Nozbe is now my system of choice in place of Reminders and I will explain why. Nozbe for Task Management Whether you use Nozbe, Reminders, Wunderlist, Asana, or any other system – you need a task manager. There is no doubt that my productivity has skyrocketed since I began experimenting with and implementing various task manager apps into my daily life. If you attempt to rely on your brain to remember your to-do items, or you are still sporting an old-school paper calendar, I believe you are missing out on a huge opportunity. Paperless is Key I wrote a post last year about my switch to a paperless lifestyle. However, when I ditched physical paper I did not make a full transition. I left task management to my calendar and random post-it notes strung all over my house, desk, car, wallet, bathroom, and anywhere else a post-it could go. A few months ago I finally brought my system full-circle by completely letting go of all paper, including post-it notes, and let the digital cloud do all my heavy lifting. Empty Your Brain In my world today I have endless ideas and energy due to my diet, exercise routine, and early morning wake-up calls. However, the real productivity transformation occurred when I decided to filter all of my thoughts through a digital system and then focus on my current, high-priority tasks. Your productivity is only as good as your ability to follow a system. When you empty your brain by recording all of your thoughts in the cloud, you have the comfort of knowing the informatio...

We are now less than 4 months away from the launch of my first published book, The 5 A.M. Miracle! It's a bit early for a countdown, but with only 118 days to go, I'm getting excited.

In this week's episode of The 5 AM Miracle Podcast I discuss inversion. I am always on the lookout for any strategy that has the potential to improve my health, and in turn, improve my productivity. When I stumbled upon inversion, I was immediately struck by its uniqueness and potentially amazing benefits for both my fitness and focus. ← Previous Episode Next Episode → Photo Credit: Compfight

Heads up! The current 5 AM Club is ending September 4, 2015. If you are currently in The 5 AM Club (and you want to stay there) you must sign up for The 5 AM Club 2.0 before the deadline. For the last four months I have been planning to revamp my website with a particular focus on the end user experience. After a few weeks of toiling through a maze of technological obstacles, today I am announcing the closure of 5 AM Club 1.0 and the launch of 5 AM Club 2.0! ← Previous Episode Next Episode → Photo Credit: Jeff Sanders I distinctly remember painting the master bedroom in my new house while listening to an episode of Brian Clark's podcast, New Rainmaker. In a series of episodes Brian outlined how the “logged-in experience” was a defining characteristic of great websites as it provided the highest level of value to the customer. I couldn't agree more. I decided that day to reinvent The 5 AM Club and provide every person who interacts with my site a phenomenal logged-in experience. 5 AM Club 2.0 There are many reasons why I am making this switch. Part of my reasons have to do with increased ease of use for me on the backend, but the great benefits for the end user really make this decision a no-brainer. ==> READ THIS If you are currently a member of The 5 AM Club, you will be automatically unsubscribed from that email list when you sign up for 5 AM Club 2.0. If you do not sign up for 5 AM Club 2.0, your current 5 AM Club membership will be deleted on Friday, September 4, 2015. This means you would no longer receive emails or have access to your free downloads, so sign up for free now! One Email, One Password, Access to Everything The #1 benefit of 5 AM Club 2.0 is the simplicity of the login. With just one email address and one password of your choosing, you can login to JeffSanders.com as a registered user and get access to all of your content, both free and paid. What this means is that when you sign up for a free service (like 5 AM Club 2.0 or my Affiliate Program), or you buy a product (like my 47 Strategies Self-Assessment or my book, Graduated and Clueless), you have access to ALL of your content in the same place. For years I was just waiting for the right technology to meet the needs of my business, and those two forces have now joined together to make this possible. In case you're curious, I am using Digital Access Pass (DAP) as my membership software and AWeber for my email management. You can see the full list of the technology I use on my Tools page.

In this week's episode of The 5 AM Miracle Podcast I discuss my weight loss journey. If losing a few pounds is on your bucket list, get ready to kick that goal into action today! ← Previous Episode Next Episode → Photo Credit: Compfight

This post is one of the best in my Equilibrium Zero Series. Read another great post, Desktop Zero and Home base Zero, to clear the physical clutter off your desk and out of your home. In this week's episode of The 5 AM Miracle Podcast I discuss Inbox Zero. I have been using this productivity strategy for years. Not only is it effective, it just may be one the smartest methods I have found to cut the clutter AND get more done. ← Previous Episode Next Episode → Photo Credit: Jeff Sanders Why Zero? The concept of Inbox Zero is simple: process every email by the end of every day. Why Zero? Because it guarantees 100% effectiveness. Think of it this way, if you wanted a surefire system that you could trust and believe in, you would likely expect the system to be leak proof. In other words, you would want your trusted system to address every issue, without forgetting even a single detail. That is what Inbox Zero promises. No leaks. Nothing forgotten. Nothing overlooked. Does it deliver? Yes. Zero means zero. Big Numbers are Scary I frequently run into people who have hundreds, even thousands of emails (if you can believe it) in their inbox! Why does this happen? Three reasons: * There is no system. * There is no strong reason to create a system. * There is no follow-though. When your inbox peaks at over 100 emails, it's really hard to care anymore. The number is too big. It's intimidating to try to reply to hundreds of messages. If you want to destroy your severely inflated inbox, you need an email overhaul. First, schedule a long weekend to process the backlog. Second, follow the steps below and maintain the system on a daily basis. Inbox Zero This is the Definitive Guide to Inbox Zero. Feel free to customize the rules and allow them to act as guidelines to progress you further on your journey to becoming a productivity zen master. * Delete every email you possibly can. This includes spam, junk mail, advertisements, messages that don't warrant a response, and any other irrelevant message. * Unsubscribe to every newsletter you don't actually read. Legitimate newsletters have “unsubscribe” options. Most spam emails do not. Make it your daily practice to unsubscribe every time. This will seriously reduce the number of emails you receive. The alternative to unsubscribing is to make a plan to read the newsletters, even if that happens somewhere outside of your email inbox. * Archive important messages that don't require a response, but that you need to keep. This could include financial statements, receipts, contracts, information about a project that isn't important for a few weeks, or other messages you just can't bear to part with. Over the years I have had as many as 100 folders that organized and stored messages I assumed I would need. It has become abundantly clear that I don't need 99.9% of the emails I keep.

This is the sixth and final installment in the Mornings 101 series that focuses on how to implement the most effective strategies for dominating your day before breakfast. On my podcast, The 5 AM Miracle, I talk a lot about early mornings, healthy habits, personal growth, and rockin' productivity. The glue that holds everything together is this simple and powerful concept: dominate your day before breakfast. ← Previous Episode Next Episode → Photo Credit: Compfight

What could you do right now, in this moment, about your fitness? This week's episode of The 5 AM Miracle Podcast features an interview with Elizabeth Lucas-Averett, better known as Ella from On Air with Ella, a podcast about healthy living without obsessing about it. ← Previous Episode Next Episode → Photo Credit: On Air with Ella Download the Script Here you have access to the script that I use to record each episode. This is not a complete word-for-word transcript, though it does provide you with a detailed account of what I do to produce every episode of this podcast. Download the script. Resources Mentioned in the Show * Mornings 101: How to Create Your Ideal Evening Routine [blog post] * On Air with Ella [website] * On Air with Ella Podcast [hosted by Ella] * Shawn Stevenson [host of The Model Health Show] “Start where you are, use what you have, and do what you can.” – Arthur Ashe Next Week On the podcast next week I will be beginning my annual August sabbatical and discussing the amazing power of getting to Inbox Zero each and every day. ← Previous Episode Next Episode →

This is the fifth article in the six-part Mornings 101 series that focuses on how to implement the most effective strategies for dominating your day before breakfast. When given the choice, I prefer to begin my day focusing on self-care. That means I'm eating healthy foods, exercising, and filling my brain with brilliant information and inspiration. Healthy habits make for ideal choices first thing in the morning. ← Previous Episode Next Episode → Photo Credit: Gratisography I know from experience that if I begin my day focused on a few key healthy habits I can set myself up for enormous success. When I don't make the time or prioritize these habits, I pay the consequences in lost time, missed opportunities, failed health, and an overall negative attitude. Beginning your day well always begins with a healthy perspective. 5 Healthy Habits to Begin Your Day Here are five healthy and practical habits you can work on, beginning as early as tomorrow morning. This list is far from comprehensive, but if you focus on implementing even just one of these habits consistently for the next week, you will certainly see a major difference. 1. Eat a Handful of Bananas If I was stranded on a desert island and could only eat one food for the rest of my days, bananas would top the list. During various points of my life I have eaten as many as 30 bananas a day to stay healthy, energized, and strong. Bananas are to your diet what dogs are to your psyche — a perfect match. You can't help but smile when you see them and they will love you no matter what. Bananas are tasty, healthy, affordable, filling, energizing, available year round, easy to transport, easy to blend, and fantastic for your mind, body, and soul. My most common breakfast includes water, coffee, and a banana smoothie. Just blend and go. It's that's simple. 2. Get Your Body in Motion When I picture an ideal morning the first healthy habit that comes to mind is running. As an avid marathoner, I lean towards running to solve most of my life's problems. In the morning, making time to workout (or especially to run) is a magical strategy to wake you up, pump your blood, and improve your mood. If you are having trouble waking up early and want to solidify that habit, make exercise a central focus of your morning routine. If you tend to wake up feeling sluggish, workout for 21 days in a row early in the morning and watch how your attitude changes in just a few short weeks. Making time to move your body before breakfast is not a chore or a requirement from your doctor, it's a grand opportunity to make your best day come to life. 3. Dump Your Brain on Paper One of the greatest productivity strategies that I use every day is what David Allen describes as a brain dump. I spill out all of my thoughts on paper and then organize them into logical lists and projects. Even if you don't believe you have an ounce of creativity in your body, you can use Julia Cameron's Morning Pages strategy that she describes in her book,

Have you ever though about writing a book? In this week's episode of The 5 AM Miracle Podcast I discuss my complete book writing process from A to Z. ← Previous Episode Next Episode → Photo Credit: Pixabay Download the Script Here you have access to the script that I use to record each episode. This is not a complete word-for-word transcript, though it does provide you with a detailed account of what I do to produce every episode of this podcast. Download the script. Resources Mentioned in the Show * The 5 AM Miracle is Going Pro . . . I Just Signed a Book Contract [original announcement] * Ulysses Press [my book publisher] * Graduated and Clueless: How to Live with Purpose After College [episode #32] * Graduated and Clueless [eBook + Audiobook] * Scrivener [my favorite software for writing books] * Buy Scrivener for Mac [affiliate link] * Buy Scrivener for Windows [affiliate link] Next Week On the podcast next week I will be interviewing Elizabeth Lucas-Averett, better known as Ella from the podcast, On Air with Ella. We will be talking about effective fitness tips for busy people and how to bounce a quarter off your abs (if that's something you're in to). ← Previous Episode Next Episode →