Behaviors

Keep the work target directly in front of you and not too far beyond the sides of your head; use an invisible-blinders style visual window. Avoid working on a screen so large that it extends far beyond your head/ear width if you want to maintain focus.

Do creative, abstract, brainstorming work in a room with a higher ceiling, ideally during phase two of the day, or outdoors on a deck or patio to leverage an expansive visual environment.

Do detailed analytic work in a lower-ceiling environment, even if done later in the day.

Avoid working in environments with loud, ongoing air conditioner, heater, fan, or ventilation noise because it impairs cognition, increases fatigue/stress, and may damage the auditory system long-term.

Do not position your computer facing the door; face the wall instead to reduce interruption-driven distraction.

Use treadmill or cycling workstations for tasks requiring focus/cognitive control, but not for tasks requiring precise verbal memory recall.

Change work locations across the day, such as house to cafe, office to home, or room to room, to maintain alertness and engagement. If attention drifts in long sessions, move to a different seat or visual angle periodically, including after each session.

Lie down in a quiet room, relax, breathe normally without controlling the breath, and pay attention to your breathing for a few minutes to notice that a deep breath or physiological sigh tends to occur naturally every couple of minutes to about every five minutes.

A bit of multitasking before focused goal-directed work can help generate adrenaline and get you into action, but should not be maintained throughout the work bout.

When not trying to activate focused pursuit, broaden the visual aperture instead of focusing narrowly. This is associated with a more relaxed state.

Keep the visual environment sparse to help orient attention and behavior toward what is in front of you. If you must pursue multiple overlapping goals, create systems that isolate them rigidly and align toward each sequentially rather than all at once.

For any habit you want to adopt or re-adopt, mentally rehearse the exact sequence of steps required from start to finish; do it once or maybe twice, eyes closed if desired but not required. Also include the 10–15 minutes before the habit and the immediate events or feelings after it.

Divide the day into three phases relative to waking: phase 1 = 0–8 hours after waking, phase 2 = 9–14/15 hours after waking, phase 3 = 16–24 hours after waking. Place habits into phases based on the state required rather than rigid clock times.

Put the habits that require the most activation energy and have the highest limbic friction into the first 0–8 hours after waking.

Use broader phases of the day rather than insisting on exact clock times, because rigid timing may reduce long-term adherence through context dependence.

Make sure you are well fed enough entering phase 3 that hunger does not wake you.

Once a habit becomes easy and reflexive, vary its time of day somewhat randomly to test and strengthen context independence.

Use a 21-day habit acquisition period as a structured program for new habits. Write down six habits you would like to do every day for 21 days, expect to complete only 4–5 per day, do not compensate for missed days by doing extra the next day, and think in 2-day chunks with a reset every two days.

After the initial 21 days, stop deliberate acquisition and assess which habits now occur automatically; do not add new habits until the current set has become reflexive and sustainable.

Immediately after catching yourself doing a bad habit, perform a different adaptive behavior right away to weaken the old habit loop through temporal mismatch. Make the replacement something positive and fairly easy to execute.

General recommendation that a healthy life should include exercise as a core piece of the puzzle.

For material you really need to learn or remember, read from paper, books, or printed materials rather than a smartphone; broadening the visual window is recommended for key information and comprehension.

If you must read on a device, use a larger screen than a smartphone, such as a tablet or standard computer screen, to broaden the visual window and support learning and comprehension.

Engage in play as an adult to reopen plasticity, especially in low-stakes settings. Choose activities you are not already highly proficient at, and if you are not naturally playful, do a little play even if it feels mildly uncomfortable. A practical target given is at least one hour of pure play per week.

If you already play regularly, expand into new forms of play involving different social structures: from one-on-one to teams, or from solo play to one-on-one and then groups.

Do not always take the same hike or walk; get into novel environments to support neuroplasticity.

Use a two-step neuroplasticity protocol: focus intensely or at least somewhat on what you want to learn, then follow with deep rest. Deep sleep in the following nights is ideal, and naps, yoga nidra, or NSDR can also help enhance or accelerate plasticity.

For play-induced neuroplasticity, engage in novel movement patterns, including different speeds of movement, rather than only familiar linear exercise.

Choose play involving dynamic, multidirectional movement rather than strictly linear movement; examples include jumping, angled movement, ducking, leaping, and sports like soccer, provided you do not take them too seriously.

Choose activities that let you adopt different roles within the activity rather than rigidly linear ones, to leverage play for neuroplasticity; chess is given as one example.