All protocols

Kava may help reduce anxiety, with studies using roughly 100 mg of extract in some cases and active kavalactones around 150 mg, with a broader studied range of 50–300 mg. Effects were seen after about 3 weeks; no hepatotoxic signals were reported in the studies reviewed, but it is still advisable to check with a doctor.

View healthy foods as potent for energy, immune function, and endocrine function, and approach eating them with a mindset of indulgence, satisfaction, and enjoyment rather than chronic restraint or deprivation.

View exercise as remarkably potent and effective for health, and cultivate a sense of enoughness rather than constantly feeling you never get enough exercise.

If numerical sleep or recovery scores cause negative expectancy effects, avoid looking at device readouts and instead decide subjectively on waking whether you slept well or not.

Use overhead lights during the first phase of the day to increase alertness and focus; keep them as bright as safely possible without glare or squinting.

Place a bright LED or blue light on your desk in front of you to support alertness and focus.

Use yellow lamps later in the afternoon/evening instead of blue-enriched LED lighting.

For an all-nighter, drink 32 ounces of water and avoid going to the bathroom for at least 90 minutes to increase alertness via bladder fullness.

After drinking water during an all-nighter, avoid going to the bathroom for at least 90 minutes to leverage bladder-driven alertness; example given was 32 ounces of water.

Use a wall-mounted monitor as one way to keep the screen high in the visual field.

Configure a second screen if that helps position your visual target higher and more optimally.

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.

Wear comfortable shoes when adapting to standing for work.

Use a stationary treadmill under the desk to improve attention and cognitive control; better suited for non-verbal-memory tasks.

Use an under-desk cycling workstation to improve attention and cognitive control; avoid for highly verbal recall work because verbal memory scores worsened during active sessions.

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.

Use digitally aged or trajectory-based images of your future self—such as seeing yourself 30 to 40 years older, or under healthy versus unhealthy future paths—to make long-term outcomes more salient and increase investment in retirement saving, exercise, and healthy eating.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.