First things first, you have to get everything together. This was initially the most annoying part to me, for I am very lazy. But I adapted, because the sandwich is that good.
You'll need: a sandwich bread of your choosing (something round that fits is preferred over trying to jam regular, square sandwich bread in there) — I usually use an english muffin, but bagels, croissants, and even hamburger buns (more on that later) work well too. Then, if you eat meat, get your meat. If you eat cheese, get your cheese. I adore both and usually pick sliced ham (Applegate Organics Slow Cooked Ham is my favourite) and sliced cheddar. It's worth it to buy your cheese presliced to make this as quickly and as conveniently as possible. Then, the most effort is with the egg, because I've found that cracking the egg yolk gives you better results than not. To that end, I crack the egg into a ramekin first, lightly scramble, and add a little salt and pepper.
This sounds like a lot of prep, but honestly, it only takes a couple minutes to pull everything out and get it ready. And that's fine, because it's the perfect amount of time to preheat the Hamilton Beach Breakfast Sandwich Maker ($25).