Jeff Sanders's Blog: Jeff Sanders' Blog + Podcast, page 74
August 2, 2015
The Definitive Guide to Inbox Zero [Podcast #110]
During my sabbatical in the month of August I am in “Monk Mode.” On the podcast I will be featuring some of my most popular blog posts as an audio blog.
This post is also 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.
Photo Credit: Jeff Sanders
Listen to The 5 AM Miracle Podcast: Episode #110
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. Be sparing on your archiving. You want to get in the habit of deleting everything.
Reply to the remaining messages. At this point there should only be a handful of emails left in your inbox. It’s likely these are conversations that require your response and it is imperative that you respond TODAY. After responding, delete or archive the email.
The Daily Zero
I have written (passionately) about my obsession with integrity and communication because in the past I have been ignored, left out of the loop, and dis-respected as I never received an email I was expecting.
One of the greatest lessons I have learned over my years of writing, emailing, and communicating online is that people will trust and respect you more if you listen to them. Shocking, right?
You can very easy build trust and rapport with everyone who emails you by making it your policy to respond to EVERY email, EVERY day, without exception.
I respond to every email that is sent to me. Some days are more daunting than others, but every day is manageable. I prioritize communication because it keeps the ball rolling on projects I care about and maintains relationships with people I care about.
Zero is Zero
To reiterate, Inbox Zero happens every day (even on the weekends).
Zero. E-V-E-R-Y. S-I-N-G-L-E. D-A-Y.
Where does the time come from? You have to create it. When you prioritize email communication, you clean up the mess and prevent it from ever getting out of hand in the first place.
With time, this process is a no-brainer. It becomes easier and easier to spot junk, delete spam, unsubscribe from content you don’t like, and reply to conversations you find engaging.
Inbox Zero is a truly phenomenal productivity strategy and you can see progress right away, every day. What’s not to love?
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.
Subscribe to the Show
To make sure you don’t miss a single episode of the podcast, subscribe with your favorite platform.
iTunes — iHeartRadio — Stitcher — Spreaker — RSS
Review the Podcast in iTunes
If you enjoyed the show, please rate and review my podcast in iTunes. I recorded a quick 2-minute video to show you exactly how it’s done. This will help tremendously in getting the word out. Thanks a bunch!
Next Week
On the podcast next week I will be discussing how I lost a significant amount of weight a few years ago in practical, healthy, and natural way.
#110: The Definitive Guide to Inbox Zero [Podcast]
During my sabbatical in the month of August I am in “Monk Mode.” On the podcast I will be featuring some of my most popular blog posts as an audio blog.
This post is also 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.
Photo Credit: Jeff Sanders
Listen to The 5 AM Miracle Podcast: Episode #110
July 29, 2015
Mornings 101: How to Dominate Your Day Before Breakfast
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.
Photo Credit: Compfight
July 26, 2015
Start Now and Do What You Can: Going On Air with Ella [Podcast #109]
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.
Photo Credit: On Air with Ella
Listen to The 5 AM Miracle Podcast: Episode #109
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
Subscribe to the Show
To make sure you don’t miss a single episode of the podcast, subscribe with your favorite platform.
iTunes — iHeartRadio — Stitcher — Spreaker — RSS
Review the Podcast in iTunes
If you enjoyed the show, please rate and review my podcast in iTunes. I recorded a quick 2-minute video to show you exactly how it’s done. This will help tremendously in getting the word out. Thanks a bunch!
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.
#109: Start Now and Do What You Can: Going On Air with Ella [Podcast]
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.
Photo Credit: On Air with Ella
Listen to The 5 AM Miracle Podcast: Episode #109
July 22, 2015
Mornings 101: 5 Healthy Habits to Begin Your Day
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.
Photo Credit: Gratisography
Listen as I Read This Article
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, The Artist’s Way. Tomorrow, wake up and handwrite 3 pages of anything that pops into your mind. Literally, write anything. Just get thoughts on paper and watch as your mind comes to life.
When you begin your day letting all of your thoughts spill onto paper you open up your brain to think with greater focus and creativity all day long.
4. Meditate on Gratitude
When I interviewed Bob Proctor, one of the most successful personal development speakers in the world, he said that his first priority when he wakes up is to spend 10 minutes focused exclusively on gratitude.
I have found that many high-achievers and grounded people are truly thankful for what they have because they intentionally think about their blessings in life. Try waking up and thinking about how lucky you are, how fortunate you have been, and the many miracles that have happened in your life.
Thinking, meditating, praying, writing, or just simply thinking about gratitude can be a subtle and yet amazingly powerful force in your life.
5. Fill Your Mind with Positive Information
One of the most powerful forces in my life has been the positive words of smarter, faster, and more successful people than me. When I began reading on a daily basis I changed my outlook on life, the many ideas I had for the future, and my approach to grand goal achievement.
If you could only choose one healthy habit each morning, I would recommend reading a positive, inspiring, and helpful book that is focused on your current most important goal.
There is nothing more motivating and engaging than learning about how to improve your life when you first wake up each day.
How Do Your Ideal Days Begin?
What are your healthiest morning habits? When you begin your best days, which choices make it work so well? Share your best practices in the comments below or in The 5 AM Miracle Community group on Facebook.
Next Week
On the blog next week I will be sharing the final installment of this six-part Mornings 101 series: how to dominate your day before breakfast.
July 19, 2015
40,000 Words Later: My Complete Book Writing Process [Podcast #108]
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.
Photo Credit: Pixabay
Listen to The 5 AM Miracle Podcast: Episode #108
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]
Subscribe to the Show
To make sure you don’t miss a single episode of the podcast, subscribe with your favorite platform.
iTunes — iHeartRadio — Stitcher — Spreaker — RSS
Review the Podcast in iTunes
If you enjoyed the show, please rate and review my podcast in iTunes. I recorded a quick 2-minute video to show you exactly how it’s done. This will help tremendously in getting the word out. Thanks a bunch!
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).
#108: 40,000 Words Later: My Complete Book Writing Process [Podcast]
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.
Photo Credit: Pixabay
Listen to The 5 AM Miracle Podcast: Episode #108
July 15, 2015
Mornings 101: How to Create Your Ideal Evening Routine
This is the fourth article in the six-part Mornings 101 series that focuses on how to implement the most effective strategies for dominating your day before breakfast.
The best morning routines begin the night before. If you want to wake up early and literally bounce out of bed with enthusiasm tomorrow morning, then you want to make sure you end today in the best way possible.
Photo Credit: Pixabay
Listen as I Read This Article
I have a terrible habit of staying up late for no good reason and I waste more time in the last few hours before bed than at any other time of the day.
For me, a solid evening routine is not a fluffy addition to my daily productivity, it is an essential ingredient that protects me from myself.
How to Create Your Ideal Evening Routine
The first step to waking up early is going to bed early, and with a solid system in place each night you can guarantee better sleep and a more effective beginning to the following day.
1. Make a Big List
Start by listing all of the activities that you ideally would like to complete each evening. Keep in mind that the evening routine tends to much more flexible than the morning routine as schedules are likely to evolve more dramatically as the day progresses.
This means that you may not have strict time requirements for each activity and what you do each evening could vary considerably from day-to-day. The key is to identify what core habits are essential for you to end your day effectively and repeat those habits with increasing consistency.
9 Potential Habits to Include in Your Evening Routine
Review your tasks for the following day in your calendar and task manager.
Implement Equilibrium Zero by putting everything away, including all work-related materials and personal stuff around your house.
Set your alarms for the following day (I use multiple alarms to guarantee I get up).
Turn off any bright visual screens (computers, phones, tablets, etc.) around one hour before bedtime.
Practice yoga, stretch, invert, and prepare your body physically for sleep.
If you shower at night like I do, be sure to record that as well.
Read or listen to fiction to allow your mind to transition into more a care-free state.
Meditate on gratitude, pray, or think about how much great work you were able to accomplish today. Keep these thoughts positive and focused on your successes so you fall asleep free of stress and anxiety.
Create an ideal sleeping environment to fall asleep faster and easier (cooler temperatures, dark room, comfortable bed, etc.).
2. Set Your Boundary
Without a solid evening boundary it’s likely you will stay up later than you intend, which will lead to a lack of sleep or sleeping past your alarm. I set an evening boundary for myself at 8:00 pm each night, which means at that time I must end all work projects for the day.
I also turn off all electronics (TV, computer, phone, tablet, etc.) and officially begin working through my set evening routine.
The evening boundary is critical if you want to end your days with more intentionality, effectively get to bed on time, and get enough sleep for the next day. The evening boundary is really the first and most important step in tomorrow’s morning routine.
It’s usually best to set an evening boundary 1 to 2 hours before you plan to be asleep, and then plan to execute your evening routine activities between your boundary and bedtime.
3. Finalize Your Plan
Based on the boundary you set and the list of activities you would like to complete, it’s now time to formalize your evening routine.
Just like you did with your ideal morning routine, get out your favorite notebook, Evernote, task manager, and/or calendar and record your ideal system for ending each day.
Keep this simple by writing down a prioritized list of the activities you would like to complete between your evening boundary and the time you would like fall asleep. Also note how long you expect each activity to take.
It’s best to formalize a specific order for these habits in order to form a ritualized process. Rituals are great for allowing your mind to slow down while letting your muscle memory take over, which further prevents you from distracting yourself.
What Keeps You Up?
Like I mentioned earlier, I waste more time during this part of the day than at any other. Wrapping up the days activities doesn’t have to take very long, but it’s crucial to stay diligent throughout this process because this is the time of the day when you are most likely to get distracted and veer off course.
Many people are awake late at night for silly reasons like watching television, doing work they could have finished earlier in the day, or just letting themselves get distracted by things that should be dealt with at another time.
Think about your typical evening and identify what keeps you awake. What prevents you from going to sleep on time? What distractions, obstacles, or procrastination techniques are you mastering instead of just focusing on getting to sleep?
Share your evening struggles in the comments below or on facebook.
Next Week
On the blog next week I will be sharing Part V of the Mornings 101 series: five healthy habits to begin your day.
July 12, 2015
Your ONE Thing That Matters Most: An Interview with Jay Papasan [Podcast #107]
If you could only do ONE thing today, what would it be? This week’s episode of The 5 AM Miracle Podcast features an interview with Jay Papasan, co-author of The ONE Thing. Jay and I discuss why focusing on only one thing is so effective and how to prioritize your projects using the power of dominoes.
Photo Credit: Jay Papasan
Listen to The 5 AM Miracle Podcast: Episode #107
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 Community on Facebook [click to join]
Cocaine, Caffeine, and 420: How Drugs Affect Your Productivity [episode #95]
Gary Keller [founder of Keller Williams Realty]
Body for Life [book by Bill Phillips]
Jay Papasan [Jay’s website]
The ONE Thing [New York Times Bestselling book by Gary Keller and Jay Papasan]
The 1 Thing [book website]
How to Discover Your ONE Thing in Every Area of Life [episode #67]
“What’s the ONE Thing I can do, such that by doing it, everything else will be easier or unnecessary?” – Tweet That!
Subscribe to the Show
To make sure you don’t miss a single episode of the podcast, subscribe with your favorite platform.
iTunes — iHeartRadio — Stitcher — Spreaker — RSS
Review the Podcast in iTunes
If you enjoyed the show, please rate and review my podcast in iTunes. I recorded a quick 2-minute video to show you exactly how it’s done. This will help tremendously in getting the word out. Thanks a bunch!
Next Week
On the podcast next week I will be discussing the process I went through to write my new book. Two weeks ago I turned in my completed manuscript to my publisher and finished months of hard work.
If you have ever toyed with the idea of writing a book, getting published, or just persevering through a challenging project, then you will certainly enjoy this episode.
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