As I continue to work away at this transition I have been working to develop some new habits.

My reasons are clear: I want more joy and satisfaction in my life and more time, money and energy to spend with family.

Brendon Burchard, a high performance coach with tons of videos on YouTube, recently published a list under the banner of “5 habits for a 30% boost in productivity.” I was pleased to discover that, through one means or another, I have already been working on about 4 1/2 of them and recommend them.

Here’s Brendon’s list.

1. Sleep 50 minutes more. Unless you usually sleep 8 hours per night, bump your regular sleep routine up by 50 minutes. This means go to bed 50 minutes earlier. That extra sleep will improve your cognitive scores by 22% within 7 days. Nice! Plus, you’ll have more energy to get stuff done, and you’ll be kinder to others – yep, the science proves it.
2. Spend 50 minutes in the morning stretching and strategizing. Stretch for 20 minutes then strategize your day for 30 minutes. This means you do not check email or respond to others in the first 50 minutes of the day. This alone will change your life. The inbox is nothing but a convenient organizing system of other peoples’ agendas; so if you begin the day in your inbox you are framing the day in reaction not thought. Instead, get in tune with your body, then sit down and decide on the major projects and priorities you will dramatically move forward today.
3. Work/create in 50-minute scheduled blocks. During these blocks, NOTHING is allowed to happen except you focus and work. You don’t take calls, look at your inbox, browse, or start other activities. You do ONE THING. I block four of these per day. FOCUS.
4. Every 50 minutes, take a BREAK. I set an alarm on my phone to go off every 50 minutes. It helps me get that block time done, but it also makes sure I stand, stretch and hydrate every hour. No matter what I’m doing, no matter how interested or passionate I am, at the 50-minute mark I stand, get water, stretch or walk, even if just for 5–10minutes. It refreshes the mind, allows the body to re-align after sitting, and builds up tremendous stores of energy.
5. Create 50 minute renewal times. I do 20 minutes of the Release Meditation Technique every day, and I also walk briskly OUTSIDE for 30 minutes – EVERY day. That’s 50 minutes in the day total to completely focus on energy renewal. Yes, I also work out every other day, but that is not counted in this or the other 50 minute blocks. This 50 minutes of total renewal each day is a MUST for high performers who want to be creative, energized and without gobs of stress.

(Photo by Sam Scrimshaw)