Divide your 24-hour day into three distinct phases (0-8, 9-14/15, 16-24 hours after waking) and strategically place habits within them to leverage natural neurochemical states, making habit formation and consolidation more effective.
Schedule your most challenging habits (requiring high ’limbic friction’) during the first 0-8 hours after waking. Support this alert, focused state by viewing sunlight (or bright artificial light) within 30 minutes of waking, engaging in physical exercise, and/or using cold exposure (showers, ice baths). Caffeine, fasting, or tyrosine-rich foods/supplements (e.g., alpha-GPC, phenylethylamine, L-tyrosine) can further enhance this state.
Engage in ‘mellower’ habits that require less conscious effort (low ’limbic friction’) during the 9-15 hour window after waking. Support this relaxed, serotonergic state by gradually dimming artificial lights, viewing low-angle afternoon sunlight, and incorporating NSDR, meditation, self-hypnosis (e.g., Reverie app), or heat exposure (sauna, hot baths/showers). If exercising in this phase, follow with NSDR within 1-2 hours to aid relaxation and recovery.
Ensure deep rest during the 16-24 hour period after waking to allow for neuroplasticity and habit consolidation. Maintain a dark, cool sleep environment (body temperature drops 1-3 degrees for sleep), avoid caffeine too close to bedtime, adjust eating schedules to prevent hunger, and consider sleep-supporting supplements (e.g., magnesium threonate/bisglycinate, theanine, apigenin). If waking at night, use minimal light and NSDR/Reverie to fall back asleep.
Implement a 21-day program where you aim to perform 4-5 out of 6 chosen new habits daily, chunking the period into two-day bins. Do not compensate for missed days by doing more the next day; simply resume the next day to maintain consistency.
After the initial 21-day program, stop the deliberate schedule and assess which of the 6 habits have become automatically incorporated into your routine and are context-independent. Only introduce more new habits once the previous set is deeply embedded and reflexive.
Immediately after performing an unwanted habit, consciously engage in a different, positive, and easy-to-execute replacement behavior. This creates a temporal mismatch, disrupting the neural circuits of the bad habit and making it easier to intervene in the future by remapping the sequence of neuronal activation.
To initiate or restart a habit, mentally walk through the precise sequence of steps required to execute it from start to finish. This simple exercise, done once or twice, engages procedural memory circuits, lowers ’limbic friction,’ and significantly increases the likelihood of consistent performance by setting in motion the necessary neurons.
To accelerate habit formation, positively anticipate the entire ’time envelope’ of a habit—the period before, during, and after its execution. This leverages dopamine’s role in motivation and drive, as anticipation itself triggers dopamine release, providing energy for the entire sequence of events.
Recognize habits you genuinely enjoy doing (e.g., specific exercises) and perform them consistently, as these ’linchpin habits’ can make it easier to execute many other beneficial habits like being alert for work, getting good sleep, maintaining hydration, and making healthier food choices.
Assess how deeply embedded a habit is by two main criteria: its ‘context dependence’ (whether you perform it regardless of environment) and the amount of ’limbic friction’ (conscious effort or activation energy) required to perform it regularly.
Aim for a minimum of 150-180 minutes per week of ‘zone two cardio,’ which is cardiovascular exercise strenuous enough to make conversation a little strained but still possible, to achieve incredibly positive effects for cardiovascular health and glucose clearance.
Take Athletic Greens once or twice daily to cover basic nutritional needs, make up for any deficiencies, and provide probiotics vital for microbiome health, which interacts with your immune system, brain, and overall health.
Dissolve one packet of Element (an electrolyte drink with sodium, magnesium, and potassium in correct ratios, but no sugar) in 16-32 ounces of water first thing in the morning and during physical exercise to ensure adequate hydration and optimal brain and body function.
Use meditation apps like Waking Up, which offer hundreds of meditation programs, mindfulness trainings, yoga nidra, and non-sleep deep rest (NSDR) protocols, to place your brain and body into different states and restore cognitive and physical energy, even with short 10-minute sessions.