Once the basics are in place, 15 small habits, like visualizing your day, walking outside and doing two-minute tasks at once, can take your days from a 10 to a 12. It starts with the basics everyone has heard: eat your greens and protein, floss, wear sunscreen, drink water, exercise, sleep enough, take cold showers and limit screens. If you are not doing them yet, start there.
These 15 are the next level, little habits you can add once the basics are part of your routine.
Watch the full video here, or skip to the breakdown below.
The 15 habits at a glance
- Visualize your day as if it is a movie (0:56)
- Plan what you listen to (2:15)
- Walk outside (3:32)
- Put your alarm on vibrate (4:55)
- Find an aha moment (5:51)
- Flip and strain the knowledge you gather (7:12)
- Close your eyes (8:45)
- Procrastinate your pointless purchases (10:20)
- Obsess over a hobby (11:13)
- Take one small step with one daily habit (12:47)
- Do the first thing that comes to mind (14:06)
- If it takes less than two minutes, do it now (15:41)
- One item, one sheet (16:24)
- Voice the other side of your thoughts (17:17)
- Follow the flow of your space (18:09)
1. Visualize your day as if it is a movie
Your mind is like a naive, excited toddler. It runs wild if you let it and believes whatever you show it. Each evening, spend one minute picturing the next day, from waking and your morning routine to work tasks, the commute home and your evening.
Stay in control rather than drifting into daydream. The mind cannot tell reality from imagination, so visualization works as a rehearsal. It perfects what you have pictured and celebrates your wins as if they happened, which builds confidence and eases stress. The video says it can also lift mood, help memory and sharpen problem solving.
2. Plan what you listen to
Chores are boring and getting up is hard. Our brains love stories, whether from songs or shows, and we are effective at doing things while listening to them, a sort of active trance.
The trouble is that in the morning, the task plus the decision of what to play is too much. We freeze and scroll. When you have a quiet moment at the weekend or the night before, queue your favorite songs or podcasts so the choice is already made. Note what you like when you are not under pressure, and press play when you need the trance.
3. Walk outside
Any workout, however small, helps mental and physical health, and walking is so intrinsic to human nature that it let our ancestors spread from Africa to Eurasia and the Americas on foot, over thousands of years. Walking releases endorphins and helps with weight loss, cardiovascular disease, arthritis and more.
It also activates the brain areas for decision making, goal seeking, memory and planning, so it turns on your mental muscles too. If you are stuck on a question or decision, walk until you find the answer.
4. Put your alarm on vibrate
A screeching alarm readies you to fight or run. You go from calm deep sleep to fighting for survival, which is a stressful way to start the day.
Apps can set an alarm based on when you go to sleep, using a half-hour window so you are not pulled out of the deepest sleep. Softer sounds help, and a vibrating alarm is better still, since the combination of sound and movement is gentler. It may not wake the deepest sleepers, but it is worth a try.
5. Find an aha moment
An aha moment happens when we surprise ourselves with what we can do. It motivates, satisfies and helps us remember. These moments come from struggling with a problem first, not from understanding at once.
So look for things you do not get: a riddle, a crossword, a complicated theory or article. Think up solutions, walk away, talk it over or look up expert talks. The aha may arrive when you least expect it, even on another day, and your brain will have built new problem-solving blocks.
6. Flip and strain the knowledge you gather
Take the topics you gravitate toward, set them aside and learn about their opposites. Then run what you learn through a mental strainer and keep only the most valuable parts.
TikTok’s For You page is the example: it becomes your personal library, locking you in an echo chamber and closing the door to other perspectives. Learning outside your comfort zone puts you into different conversations, makes you face topics you thought were boring, and refines your taste. It also helps you shut off when you have had enough, instead of scrolling for a millisecond of satisfaction.
7. Close your eyes
Think of squinting at road signs and turning the music down. When we need a quick decision, the brain switches off the senses that cost the most energy. The video says your eyes use 80% of your brain’s energy per second, hearing uses 10% and everything else the other 10%.
Eyes take in 10 million pieces of information per second, except when they are closed. Even closing them slightly frees energy for problem solving, memory and creativity. Take 20 seconds or two minutes now and then, as long as you do not fall asleep at your desk.
8. Procrastinate your pointless purchases
We are brilliant procrastinators, yet when it comes to spending, delaying never crosses our minds. Point that energy at purchases: when you want to buy something, say you will do it tomorrow, and keep saying it until you forget because you did not need it.
It works on snacks too, and on the stressed late-night browsing that ends with a crazy expensive thing. Put the item on a wishlist and leave it for tomorrow each time you return.
9. Obsess over a hobby
We are prone to obsession. When it fixates on our thoughts, actions and past conversations, it looks like a flaw. It is a superpower pointed at the wrong target, usually things we cannot control.
Aim it at a hobby instead: exploring abandoned buildings, learning coffee types, succulents, old cartoons, even saving money. Some obsessions stick and some fade, and dropping one is normal. Find another. Direct the constant rumination toward things that excite you rather than make you anxious.
10. Take one small step with one daily habit
Focus on incremental progress. For something you already do daily, do slightly more tomorrow, framed as a game rather than a push to be productive. Set the alarm a minute earlier, run a few hundred meters further, read an extra page or spend a minute more on your side hustle.
Pick one thing or three, but do not push every routine at once. When you reach the point of laughing that you do not have time for it anymore, check where you started and where you are. Small steps lead to major change, and the lesson leaks into the rest of your life.
11. Do the first thing that comes to mind
At least once a day, act on your first thought, with one disclaimer. Research shows our usual first impulses when upset, bored or stressed are replying while angry, shopping, eating or doom-scrolling. Cross those out.
Picture a thermometer with consequence at one end and benefit at the other. If the consequence is in the red, discard the thought. If the benefit is in the green, do it, like walking the beach after seeing a sunset or complimenting a stranger. We filter impulses so heavily that we can miss exciting moments.
12. If it takes less than two minutes, do it now
David Allen describes this in his book Getting Things Done. Small tasks clutter the mind because we keep postponing them, so if one takes under two minutes, do it immediately.
A quick task gives you momentum and frees mental space for harder work. Just do not let it interrupt bigger missions.
13. One item, one sheet
Another David Allen idea, and a contentious one worth testing. A multi-task list pulls your eye to lower priority items every time you return to it.
Put one task on one sheet and you focus on it alone, and you cannot move on until you have made a next-action decision. The evening before, try cutting a page into five pieces and writing one important task on each.
14. Voice the other side of your thoughts
In quiet moments, like falling asleep or showering, thoughts run wild and often take only one road. Flip the voice and play devil’s advocate, saying the opposing view out loud.
That slows racing thoughts and gives your mind another route to the answer. It can be a quick push-back. Ask where a friend would jump in, then play that role yourself to flesh out ideas and plans before committing.
15. Follow the flow of your space
This is more a strategy than a habit, and it takes some setup. Arrange your room, apartment or house to match your ideal movements. If you function best dressing straight away, put clothes by the bed. If you go straight to the bathroom, clear the path.
Each habit gets a place and each place leads to the next, like a dance you do not have to think about. Muscle memory carries you and decision fatigue drops, especially in the morning. You do not want to wake up like Pac-Man, heading one way and hitting a wall.
Build on what you have
These 15 habits are meant to make a day brighter, better and easier. Use them to build on what you already do, or start from scratch.
FAQ
What small habits make for a better day?
There are 15, including visualizing tomorrow for one minute, planning what you listen to, walking outside, using a vibrating alarm, closing your eyes briefly and doing two-minute tasks immediately.
What is the two-minute rule?
From David Allen’s Getting Things Done: if a task takes less than two minutes, do it now. It builds momentum and frees mental space.
Why close your eyes during the day?
The video says your eyes use 80% of your brain’s energy per second, so closing them frees energy for problem solving, memory and creativity.
How does visualizing your day help?
The mind cannot tell reality from imagination, so a one-minute rehearsal the night before helps perfect your actions and builds confidence while reducing stress.
What does one item, one sheet mean?
Write each task on its own sheet so you focus on one thing and make a next-action decision before moving on.
Keep reading
- 15 Realistic Micro-Habits to Live Better Every Day
- 15 Daily Habits to Boost Your Intelligence
- 15 Habits That Help You Balance Life Better
