As 2022 comes to an end, a Year that has seen a number of changes in life; Balancing a Daughter in Pukekohe, My partner Nicole in Hastings, Our House in Tokoroa and Beginning work 60Km down the Road in Taupō, has meant keeping up the podcast; exercise, sleep and nutrition have been all the more important. Here are some of the Productivity tools I have implemented in 2022 that have made all the Difference.

Gymnastics Rings have always been a real challenge for me in CrossFit work outs. Weighing in at 90-100kg, gymnastics work are definitely my nemesis. Even with a low ceiling in our garage at home these rings have allowed me to work on ring rows, L-Sits, Leg raises, Dips and even Seated Muscle ups. I noticed a massive difference in the consistency and quality of my pull ups doing Murph on the last day of November compared with my efforts in March. Whats better the design that goes into the One Eighty Products rings means they easily roll up to take on holiday. Check out the Podcast with Cam MacDonald to listen how Architecture Principals go into this exquisitely designed gym equipment. Check out https://oneeightyprojects.com.au/ and use STAG20 for 20% off your Order! While you’re there, get ya hands on their amazing Liquid Chalk, my daughter Billie is a big fan while she practices her Skin The Cat on the rings.

Ārepa. The world’s smartest brain food. 100% natural. Caffeine free. Effects you can feel. Ārepa has been an amazing resource for Friday Night Drives from Taupō to Tamahere and back to Tokoroa when picking up Billie, or late night Podcasts when I need to be switched on and have guests hitting a state of flow. The Beuty of being caffeine Free and packed with L-Theanine means once my head hits the pillow, even after stimulating conversation through a laptop, I instantly head off to deep sleep to rejuvenate the body and mind. Visit https://drinkarepa.com/collections/all-products Use the code “STAGROAR” at checkout for 20% off your order!

As part of my convo with Robb Wolf in April I began using his LMNT electrolyte supplement. I had used electrolytes a lot in my sporting career and also out hunting. The down side to many, is the sugar content and especially on long missions such as; day long and weekend long 7s tournaments, on my multi-hour Ultra running and training, or on Multi-day Hunting missions, the sugar crash and sweet after taste were a real down side. Often I would settle for Himalayan salt in water but this had a less than desired taste. Robb had been on the same journey trying to balance low Carb/Keto with BJJ and came up with LMNT to bring to market. Follow the link DrinkLMNT.com/STAGROAR for your “Free Sample” Just Pay for Shipping.

Toward the end of 2021 Nicole and I purchased Bumper Plates to begin our home gym set up. In 2022 we added the Nitro Phoenix Barbell to do Olympic work outs from home. Thanks to years of writing programs at university and with the help of a fair number of CrossFit classes I was able to program small WODs to do a few mornings a week before getting ready for work, or on weekends when we could work out as a family. This Kettlebell has come into its own in the holiday season, super easy to throw into the back of the car and get in a quick high intensity circuit to get the muscles burning and the heart rate up before carrying on for the day. Like the kettlebell, Hex dumbbells are a versatile equipment to provide an isolated muscle building workout or a full body high intensity lung buster. Currently I have a set of 12.5Kg and Nicole has 7kg. We hope to add a Box, A lifting Rig and Chin Up bar to the set up as well as some cardio equipment like a Concept 2 Rowing Erg and an Assault Bike.

Lastly towards the back end of 2022, I was able to implement a small level of revenue for the podcast. One of the troubles of small revenue is keeping track of tax, student loan and ACC obligations. I first saw ads for Hnry mid 2021 on either instagram or Tik Tok, maybe both. I then Heard it mentioned on Sarah Kelsey’s “One Up Project” and Luke Kemey’s & Mikey Smith talk about it on “Keep the Change” as well as Luke and Phil on “The Whats Next Podcast“. The App has allowed me to keep on top of invoices, expenses and offset what is being purchased and used for the podcast with my personal PAYE income working as an optometrist.

I would love to know what has helped you to be more productive in 2022 either in the comments or by sliding into the DMs on the socials. Be sure to sign up to the newsletter for more productivity hacks for 2023.