Make hydration a priority.
Go To Habit
DOWNLOAD THE APP
We recommend using the HabitShare app (completely free) to track and share your habits.
Download HabitShare for iOS here.
Download HabitShare for Android here.
Sleekgeek is not affiliated or involved with HabitShare in anyway. It's just the app that we recommend for this challenge.
If you don't want to use an app, you can print out the Sleekgeek Habit Tracker or make your own.
Join the Sleekgeek Health Revolution Facebook Group to take part.
We've also got a dedicated WhatsApp Group if you'd like to join us there (optional).
We recommend picking 4-8 habits to track.
See the rules further down for more instructions.
Healthy habits to help you eat better.
Make hydration a priority.
Go To Habit
Slow down for satisfaction.
Go To Habit
Eating just enough.
Go To HabitNutrition
Make hydration a priority.
2+ liters of water.
This habit is about drinking enough water each day (after all, up to 60% of the adult human body is water!).
Staying hydrated is one of the best things that you can do for your overall health.
Drinking enough water will help you maximise physical performance, boost energy levels and brain function, reduce headaches and constipation, reduce hunger, and help with weight loss.
We recommend aiming for around 2L (~8 cups) of water per day.
But keep in mind that there is no one-size-fits-all guideline for water intake and drinking an excessive amount of water can also be bad for you as it can dilute the electrolytes in your blood.
Individual needs vary based on age, weight, height, level of physical activity, diet, environment temperature, etc.
See if you can tune in to your thirst levels and remember to hydrate regularly throughout the day without forcing it.
Feel free to drink any water-based low-calorie beverage, but the ideal choice to work towards is plain still water.
✅ Design your environment for success by keeping your fridge stocked with bottles of water. Be sure to carry your favourite water bottle with you wherever you go for easy sipping and to use as an obvious reminder to drink more water.
✅ Use habit stacking by pairing the habit of drinking water with another habit you already do often (like making coffee, eating a snack, going to the toilet, etc).
✅ If you’re really struggling or hardly ever drink plain water at all, then make it more enjoyable and satisfying by adding some fruit infusions, flavour drops, warmth (in the form of tea/coffee), cold (ice), or bubbles.
Nutrition
Are you hungry or just bored?
No unplanned meals or snacks.
This habit is about being OK with a little bit of hunger in-between meals, making sure that you’re eating because you’re truly physically hungry, and building well-balanced meals that will sustain you until the next one.
These days we rarely experience significant physical hunger.
This is a good thing from a survival perspective and also useful for fueling physical performance, but it can be counter-productive if you’re trying to lose weight or maintain a healthy weight.
We recommend that you stick to your planned number of balanced and well-rounded meals while avoiding any unnecessary snacking or nibbling in between.
Before each meal, consider rating your physical hunger on a scale of 1 to 10 where 1 is absolutely no hunger at all and 10 is the hungriest you’ve ever been.
Most snacking happens around levels 3-6, so consider waiting until you’re at a 7 or 8 out of 10 before eating a meal.
Remember: A little bit of hunger is not an emergency (unless your doctor has said otherwise for diagnosed medical conditions).
Nutrition
The building blocks of life.
At least 1 palm-sized serving of protein per meal (3-4 meals).
This habit is about eating enough protein each day (it’s for everyone, not just for bodybuilders!).
Proteins are the building blocks of life.
Eating enough protein will help you to increase your metabolism, build lean muscle, reduce body fat, produce hormones, manage appetite, balance blood sugar, and feel more satisfied after meals.
Most people should eat around 1-2g of protein per kg of bodyweight per day.
(If you are overweight or very sedentary then aim for the lower end of the range, if you’re lean, highly active, or trying to build muscle then aim for ht higher end of the range.)
To simplify things, we recommend eating 1-2 palm-sized servings of protein across 3-4 meals per day.
Alternatively, simply aim for 20-40g of protein per meal across 3-4 meals per day.
Keep in mind that this is grams of protein within food, not grams of actual food.
See the Sleekgeek Food List for recommended sources of protein.
✅ Make this habit specific by focusing on your problem-areas, for example this habit might be “Get enough protein for breakfast” if you struggle with protein at breakfast.
✅ Pre-commit by taking some time to plan your meals ahead of time with a focus around high-protein foods.
✅ Stock up on high-protein foods that you actually like and are willing to eat.
✅ Stick to easy and convenient sources of protein (buy them pre-prepped or pre-cooked if need be).
✅ Do something that “Future You” will thank you for by bulk cooking and pre-prepping protein for the week ahead.
Nutrition
Load 'em up!
At least 1-2 fist-sized servings of veggies per meal (2-4 meals).
This habit is about eating enough vegetables each day.
Vegetables are nutritional powerhouses and they’re the foundation of just about every healthy diet out there.
Each brightly coloured vegetable has it’s own unique health benefits, so making an effort to eat a variety of colours is important.
We need vegetables to help avoid nutrient deficiencies, reduce risk of disease, boost our immune system, improve digestion, lower inflammation, improve recovery, and generally raise our overall level of health.
Vegetables help to displace other high-calorie foods, which can make weight loss and healthy weight maintenance easier. Also, when you bulk up your meals with vegetables, you’ll feel fuller after eating and stay more satiated for longer.
We recommend eating 1-2 fist-sized servings of vegetables per meal across 2-4 meals per day.
We suggest 2-3 meals of your typical 3-4 meals per day because most people find breakfast more difficult to include vegetables in, but it’s not impossible (a lot of veggies go really well with eggs, for example).
A fist of vegetables usually looks like 1 heaped cup of raw vegetables.
See the Sleekgeek Food List for recommended sources of vegetables.
✅ Make this habit specific by focusing on your problem-areas, for example this habit might be “Eat enough vegetables for lunch” if you struggle with eating vegetables at lunch and always end up going for quick convenience meals instead.
✅ Pre-commit by taking some time to plan your meals ahead of time with a focus around colourful vegetables.
✅ Stock up on colourful vegetables that you actually like and are willing to eat.
✅ Stick to easy and convenient colourful vegetables (buy them pre-prepped or pre-cooked, canned, frozen, etc, if need be).
✅ Do something that “Future You” will thank you for by bulk chopping and pre-prepping vegetables for the week ahead.
Nutrition
Eating just enough.
Eat to 80% full.
This habit is about finding that sweet spot between being “hungry” and being “full” (100%) or even “stuffed” (120%+)
It can take a while for your brain to detect that you’ve eaten enough and can now stop.
If you keep eating until you actually feel full then you will very possibly have overeaten (easy weight gain, difficult weight loss) and will feel closer to overfull 10-15 minutes later.
Apart from helping you avoid eating too much in the moment, it also teaches the skill of appetite/hunger awareness.
Here’s a graphic to help you visualise 80% full.
On one side of the hunger scale, you’ll get “starving” at 0%, followed by “hungry”, “peckish”, “unsatisfied”, etc.
On the otherside, you’ll get “full” at 100%, followed by “uncomfortably full”, “stuffed”, “about to burst”, etc.
Somewhere in between that is the sweet spot of 80% full where you’re satisfied enough and no longer hungry.
To help you better identify when you are 80% full, there are a few signs that you can pay attention to.
✅ Avoid the common mistake of confusing “eating to 80% full” and “eating 80% of what’s on your plate”. This is not about wasting food, it’s about serving yourself the right amount of food to avoid overeating (if need be, serve too little and go back for more).
✅ Design your environment to make eating to 80% full easier by setting aside enough time and space that you can eat mindfully, slowly, and without distractions.
✅ Make feeling fullness easier by eating solid, substantial, high-fiber foods that require lots of chewing and take up significant volume of space in your stomach.
Nutrition
What and why did you eat?
Track what you eat.
This habit is about tracking what you eat to increase awareness and mindfulness.
People who track what they eat consistently lose more weight than those who don’t.
There are several reasons for this, including:
Plus, when you have some kind of record of what you ate, you can easily scan back to look for meal ideas that you liked and that worked well.
Tracking what you eat doesn’t need to be meticulous calorie counting (although it can be, using something like MyFitnessPal or FatSecret).
Our top recommendation is to simply take a photo of EVERYTHING that you eat before you eat it. That’s it.
Alternatively, write down in plain words what you eat before you eat it.
Over time, you can also look at upgrading your food journal to note things like:
✅ Keep it simple because tracking your food can be schlep. So make it as easy as possible to do at first and then add more details over time if you wish.
✅ Be 100% honest because whether you log “good” stuff or “bad” stuff, it’s all just data. It doesn’t judge you or shout at you. But the more accurate it is, the more helpful it is.
✅ Lean in when it gets hard. Tracking the junk foods and 2am snacks that weren’t part of the plan will be more useful than tracking the super duper healthy meals when it comes to troubleshooting progress and ultimately achieving your goals.
Nutrition
Back to whole foods.
No (or less) junk food.
This habit is about eating more whole foods more often and less junk food less often.
Our habits lead us to a certain “standard” of eating.
Most fit and healthy people see junk food as occasional treats or for rare celebrations.
On the other hand, some people find themselves eating junk food just about every day as part of their daily diet.
The goal of this habit is to help you shift what’s “normal” for you closer to the healthier end of the spectrum.
At Sleekgeek, we don’t recommend demonising any food or making completely off-limited because the poison is in the dose, but we do want you to make an active effort to eat less junk food and to eat it less often.
It’s up to you to define what “junk food” means for you.
It might be explicitly sugary and fatty foods or “sweets” like chocolates, pastries, cakes, cookies, ice cream, etc.
Or it might be more junk food kind of “meals” like burgers, pizza, pancakes, deep-fried foods, takeaways, etc.
Or it might be one or two very specific foods that you struggle to eat in moderation and would like to cut down on.
Check out the Sleekgeek Food List (especially the red list to “eat less of and less often”) for ideas.
✅ Design your environment by not buying and bringing home any junk food from the shops.
✅ If you do keep junk food at home (e.g. for other family members), then find ways to hide them away so that they’re less visible, less accessible, and less convenient to eat.
✅ Don’t shop on an empty stomach so that you have greater resistance to temptations and impulse buys.
✅ Don’t shop without a pre-made shopping list so that you can stay focused on looking for the items on the list rather than browsing the shelves to see what looks good.
✅ Load up on water, protein, and veg to keep yourself feeling full and satisfied.
Nutrition
The toxin we love.
Recommended: No alcoholic drinks.
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Although there may be room for moderate amounts of alcohol in a sustainable healthy diet, most people underestimate their alcohol consumption and end up being moderate to heavy drinkers without realising it.
Drinking alcoholic drinks can negatively impact your liver, brain function, mental health, bodyweight, recovery, and more.
So cutting back on alcohol is a good way to significantly improve your health – even if it’s just for a short period of time to help you “reset” your level of consumption and tolerance.
Plus, you tend to make healthier food choices when your judgement isn’t being impaired by alcohol.
Nutrition
Do your drinks add value?
Recommended: No high-calorie drinks.
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It’s easy to overconsume calories from drinks because they aren’t very filling and satiating.
This could make weight loss or healthy weight maintenance more difficult, and displace healthier drinks that are better at hydrating you.
Most high-calorie drinks are loaded with sugar, preservatives, caffeine, or alcohol which can be counterproductive to your health and fitness goals.
And of course, some high-calorie drinks can impair your judgement leading to additional unhealthy choices. Alcohol is an easy one to understand with its intoxication effects, but even just a sugary drink may make you more likely to crave other sugary high-calorie foods.
Consider drinks on a continuum:
There may be exceptions, such as protein shakes and sports recovery drinks – in which case ask yourself “Do my drinks add value”?
Nutrition
Slow down for satisfaction.
Recommended: Intentionally eat slowly and mindfully with each meal.
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It takes about 20 minutes from the start of your meal for your brain to send out satiety signals and hormones that indicate you are full and no longer need to eat.
If you eat too quickly then you will completely miss these hunger and satiety cues. You are very likely to finish your meal (and have eaten too much) before you realise you are full. You may even be tempted to go back for seconds or dessert.
Ways to eat more slowly:
Nutrition
Improving digestive function.
Recommended: 1+ healthy action for your gut.
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Your gut microbiome is as unique as your fingerprint – it’s a community of microorganisms that lives throughout your digestive tract that help your health and well-being in many ways.
This is still a new area of research, but we know that the gut microbiome do things like produce small amounts of helpful nutrients, and ferment fiber/resistant starch to help regulate your immune system, appetite, and stress response.
It also keeps your system moving by bulking up stool and increasing gut motility, and assists in regulating inflammation and the immune system.
Some simple actions that you can take to help you support your gut health:
Nutrition
More coming soon!
Healthy habits to help you move better.
Set and maintain minimums.
Go To Habit
Get off your butt.
Go To Habit
Let's get moving!
Go To HabitMovement
Walk to freedom!
Recommended: 8,000+ steps.
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Walking more throughout the day is one of the easiest and most reliable ways to improve your wellbeing.
Here are some guidelines to aim for:
Whichever category you choose, it should be a slight stretch that pushes you out of your comfort zone.
You could also consider having a “bare minimum” to aim for as well as an “ideal” amount of steps to push for so that you have a range to work between depending on how life is going.
Movement
Let's get moving!
Recommended: 30+ mins of exercise.
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You choose the intensity.
It might be an intense gym workout, a moderate run, a restorative yoga session, or a brisk walk.
Find something that challenges you at your current fitness level.
We recommend aiming for a minimum 30 minutes of exercise 3 times a week.
Feel free to do less if you’re a beginner or more if you’re more advanced.
If you want specific guidelines to aim for, the WHO recommends at least:
Movement
Loosey goosey!
Recommended: 10+ mins of mobility.
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Tight hips? Achy back? Rounded posture?
A little bit of physical “self-maintenance” every day can go a long way to helping your body feel good.
Especially if you sit at a desk for most of the day, getting on the ground and going through different movement patterns or positions that you wouldn’t normally find yourself in can help maintain physical function.
This could range from as little as 5-10 minutes of stretching in the morning before work or foam rolling after a workout, or it could lead into a full blown 40-minute yoga session.
If you’re looking for ideas, check out:
Movement
Make it rock solid!
Recommended: 10+ mins of core work.
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Having visibly defined abs mainly requires a low level of abdominal body fat to reveal the muscles as well as good genetics for an aesthetic-looking core.
But more importantly, your core provides you with balance, stability, and good posture which in turn helps to reduce back pain, prevent injury, and improve physical performance.
Your core is not just your rectus abdominis “six-pack” muscles. Rather, it’s made up of a collection of muscles surrounding the spine – front, side, and back – that work together in symphony, including muscles like your obliques, multifidus, glutes, diaphragm, and more.
We’re big fans of Girls Gone Strong’s Complete Core Training approach that focuses on strength and stability over endless crunching.
Another great resource is Dr. Stuart McGill’s “Big 3” specifically for dealing with back pain and weightlifting.
Otherwise, check out Healthline’s List of Core Exercises For All Fitness Levels for more ideas.
Movement
Opportunities For Movement
Recommended: Being satisfied with the effort that you put in to seize OFMs.
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Opportunities For Movement (OFM) are everywhere.
Maybe it’s choosing to take the stairs rather than the escalator or lift.
Or parking towards the back of the parking lot and walking a bit further to the shops.
Or maybe it’s going for a walking meeting or date rather than sitting in an office or at a coffee shop.
Or even, if you’re brave enough, to carry the shopping in with multiple trips rather than all at once.
When you’re committed to moving move throughout the day, you start to find these “movement snacks” everywhere you look.
This habit can be difficult to “track”, so it’s up to you to honestly evaluate whether you feel you put in the extra effort or not.
Movement
Enjoy moving more.
Recommended: Have fun getting active.
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A large part of being more active every day is finding ways to actually enjoy it.
For some of you, this may indeed be going to the gym or for a run.
But for others, it might be taking your dogs for a walk and throwing the ball for them.
Or a night of dancing.
Or a walk with friends.
Or playing with your kids.
Or surfing, or golfing, or hiking.
While the health and fitness industry likes to focus on the “best” or “most effective” workouts, it’s important to acknowledge that people have gotten into GREAT shape in MANY different ways.
Some people run, swim, or cycle, other people lift weights or go to bootcamp classes. Some people do martial arts like karate or tai chi, while others do yoga, pilates, or even just walk and hike a lot.
Do more of what you enjoy and have fun with it to make it more sustainable.
Movement
Get off your butt.
Recommended: Stand up for 1+ minute every hour during the work day.
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If you’re looking to be fitter, stronger, and healthier… then sitting is NOT the way to do that.
Even if you go to the gym for 1 hour a day, 7 days a week… If you sit on your butt behind a computer, in the car, at a table, on the couch, or in your bed for the remaining 23 hours of your day then you are STILL sedentary!
Spending less time sitting can make weight loss easier and weight gain harder, it’s linked to a longer life and decreased risk for disease, and it provides unique benefits that exercise cannot.
While sitting less might seem simple, it’s not always easy to do.
An easy way to raise your awareness around how much you are sitting versus standing is to set a simple reminder on your phone to remind you to stand up.
We recommend standing up and moving around for at least 1 minute every hour during the workday (and after that too if possible).
Once an hour is great, but if that’s too much then try every 2-3 hours to start with.
Make a game out of it by deciding that you have to stand up and move around for at least 1 minute before you check your email at work or social media at home.
Many smartwatches and fitness trackers have built-in monitors that track how much time you spend moving versus sitting and give you prompts to stand up and move around if you’re too sedentary.
Movement
Stand up for your health.
Recommended: 1 hour of standing for every 2 hours of sitting during the work day.
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A standing desk is a great way to spend less time sitting and avoid some of the downsides of a very sedentary job.
Standing desks may lower your risk of weight gain and obesity, lower blood sugar levels, lower risk of heart disease, reduce back pain, improve mood and energy levels, boost productivity, and more.
However, just like sitting too much can be bad for your health, standing all day every day can cause issues too.
The best thing to do is alternate between sitting and standing throughout the day while moving around frequently in between.
A helpful ratio is 2:1 sitting versus standing. Meaning aim to stand for 1 hour for every 2 hours that you sit during the work day.
If you’re new to a standing desk, start gradually and work your way up.
Wearing comfortable shoes or going barefoot can help, definitely get yourself an anti-fatigue mat or something padded to stand on, and make sure that your desk, screen, mouse, and keyboard are adjusted ergonomically.
Movement
Not just for runners.
Recommended: 1 per week.
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Finding ways to get active on the weekend is a great habit to get into.
One of the simplest, free events that most major towns in South Africa have is called parkrun.
parkrun is a free, community event where you can walk, jog, run, volunteer or spectate. parkrun is 5k and takes place every Saturday morning at more than 200 locations around South Africa
You can register for a parkrun account here – you’ll receive a personal barcode to print out and bring to each event so that you can scan in at the end to track your time and attendance.
Don’t forget to join the Sleekgeek Club on parkrun here (or log into your account, select Groups from the menu, and then search for “Sleekgeek”).
Alternatively, myrun is another option that takes place on a Sunday rather than a Saturday with about 38 clubs around South Africa. While myrun is also free, you do have to buy a fairly inexpensive timing band to track your time and attendance.
Healthy habits to help you think better.
Mindset
Never lose sight of your why.
Recommended: Know your Deep Why.
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Your desire to build healthy habits needs to be stronger than your desire to stop when things get difficult.
If you don’t have a “Deep Why” behind something you’re doing, there’s a good chance it probably won’t last.
Why is it important that you build and stick with this habit?
What will be different if you continue to do it consistently and repeatedly for the next 12 months?
What will giving up or abandoning the habit mean for you?
Go through The 5 Whys Exercise to find out for yourself.
And then most importantly, keep it top of mind.
EVERY. SINGLE. DAY!
This might mean writing down your Deep Why each day, or saying it out loud, or finding some way to reinforce the vision of why you’re doing this.
People who are super motivated tend to think about their why first thing in the morning, frequently throughout the day, and last thing at night.
Mindset
...
Recommended: 10+ mins of meditation.
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Take some time to slow down…
You could use an app like Insight Timer, Headspace, or Calm.
Or you could use a more manual technique.
For some, meditation may even be in the form of prayer.
Whatever you choose, just take some time out to sit with yourself and meditate. Do nothing else, no multi-tasking.
If you’re new to meditation, start with 10, 5, or even just 2 minutes of mindfulness.
We recommend 10 minutes as the sweet spot for most people, with working up to 20 or 40 minutes for those looking to push themselves further.
Mindset
Actively chase relaxation.
Recommended: 10+ mins of deliberate relaxation.
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It’s common to get caught up in a whirlwind of plans, responsibilities, to-do lists, and deadlines.
In fact for many of us, this is the day-to-day norm.
Rarely do we find ourselves relaxing, unwinding, and de-stressing enough to balance this out.
In today’s busy world, we need to make a conscious effort to relax.
The Japanese word “Zen” can be roughly translated as “meditative state“.
So ask yourself:
The things that relax us are different for everyone, but the key is that it must be a calming, peaceful, non-stimulating activity.
Walking, reading, gentle music, being in nature, pets, loved ones, cuddling, back tickles, warm bath, gentle yoga, journaling, colouring in, deep breathing…
While getting into a Zen-like state may sound boring or too simple for some, we’d like you to reframe this as chasing relaxation.
Make it your MISSION to de-stress.
Mindset
Building resilience.
Recommended: 1+ min of cold water.
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Cold exposure has many mental and physical benefits, such as reducing muscle soreness, easing symptoms of depression and stress, and boosting your immune system.
It’s also a great mental toughness challenge for building commitment, willpower, and resilience.
Plus it apparently gives you “cool points” on social media.
“Cold” is anything below 15°C (59°F).
The easiest way to start is to jump into a regular warm shower and finish off with 1 minute of cold water.
But you could scale this up all the way to a swim in the cold sea or even an ice bath.
For full benefits, allow your body to warm itself up again naturally rather than heating your body back up with warm water or similar.
Mindset
Good ideas in = good ideas out.
Recommended: 10+ mins of learning.
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Quite simply, good ideas in equals good ideas out.
The information that you consume and the thoughts that you have as a result shape your beliefs and how you see the world.
A little bit of learning each day can go a long way to building a positive life.
The purpose of this habit is less about “studying” and more about exposing yourself to thoughtful ideas on a daily basis.
This could come in the form of a physical book (recommended), ebooks, podcasts, lectures, documentaries, online courses, etc.
Whatever it is, keep your focus and make it a priority in that moment.
Mindset
An attitude of gratitude.
Recommended: List 3-5 Things that you’re grateful for.
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Science has proven that gratitude can have a powerful impact on happiness.
Every single day, you get to wake up and decide what you’re going to focus on.
This is not necessarily about whether you’re an optimist or a pessimist – rather, it’s about what are you deliberately seeking out.
Are you keeping physical or mental lists of all the things that go well?
Or are you keeping lists of all the things that go badly and ruminating on them?
Those who live the wealthiest and most luxurious lives can still be miserable and discontent. Similarly, those who live the poorest and harshest lives can still be happy and appreciative.
This is the art of gratitude.
Mindset
Get busy getting better.
Recommended: No complaints.
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“Champions never complain, they are too busy getting better.” – John Wooden.
Complaining is a natural part of coping with and communicating our frustration or dissatisfaction.
In small doses, it can be helpful, but when done too often or too frequently it can create a cloud of negativity that follows you everywhere. Not fun for you or those around you.
We encourage you to take a break from complaining by:
If you do feel the need to complain for the sake of venting negative emotions, consider writing them down in a journal rather than airing them to the world around you.
Remember, less time and energy spent complaining means more time and energy to dedicate towards getting better.
Mindset
Set your intentions.
Recommended: Complete the Great Day Exercise.
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Sometimes it can feel like we have an endless list of priorities…
But what are 3 things that you will do to make today GREAT?
Say it out loud or write it down and then go make it happen!
Ideally do this in the morning while setting your intentions for the day.
These could be critical and productive to-do list items, or they could be personally meaningful actions that just make your day awesome.
Mindset
Automatic Negative Thoughts
Recommended: Spend less than a minute at a time dwelling on repetitive negative thoughts.
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No, we don’t mean squashing actual ants, but it’s a good acronym and visual.
A.N.T.s stands for:
One of the biggest challenges that people face on this journey is the amount of doubt and persistent negative thoughts they have.
We can’t always control these thoughts, but we can control how much time we spend with them.
Letting these negative thoughts come and visit your mind now and then can be helpful to observe and learn from them, but don’t let them set up camp and live there rent-free.
Do you sit and ruminate on your negative thoughts for hours and hours every day? Or do you squash them as soon as you notice them and move on with your day?
Squashing automatic negative thoughts creates space for more positive and productive thoughts.
The idea is that as soon as something negative (or doubtful) pops into your head, you look for a way to squash it immediately.
Ignore it. Push it away. Change your environment. Distract yourself. Do something to prove it wrong. Take back control.
Squash the thought.
Then, replace it with something more positive.
Healthy habits to help you sleep better.
Make it a priority.
Go To Habit
Winding down for the night.
Go To Habit
Snooze you lose.
Go To HabitSleep
Winding down for the night.
Recommended: At least 1 deliberate sleep ritual behaviour before bed.
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A sleep ritual is a set of behaviours that help to facilitate good sleep.
It tells your brain that it’s time to calm down, focus less on your to-do list, and focus more on falling asleep.
Just like how you can’t go from 0 to 100 first thing in the morning, you can’t do the reverse and go from 100 to 0 last thing at night either.
Your body and mind need time to wind down and de-stress, making a slow transition from being super busy and alert to being more calm and relaxed.
There are many different obstacles that might get in the way of you getting a good night’s sleep, but the biggest one within your control is whether or not you have a good sleep ritual or bedtime routine.
Another benefit of a sleep ritual is that it will put you in control of your evenings, helping to protect you from sleep disruptors that may decrease your chance of sleeping restfully.
Check out the Sleekgeek Sleep Ritual for ideas.
Sleep
Snooze you lose.
Recommended: No snoozing.
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Snoozing is a habit that often has the opposite effect to what you might want. Very often, the more we snooze, the more tired we end up feeling.
While you might think that hitting snooze will give you a chance to finish your natural sleep cycle and wake up feeling rested, that’s not what happens.
Your body actually prepares for waking up about 2 hrs before you usually wake.
When you snooze, you are throwing out a false alarm. After you hit snooze and drift off, your brain starts its sleep cycle all over again.
When the alarm goes off a second time, you’re likely at an even deeper, earlier part of your sleep cycle, which results in you feeling even worse than you did the first time.
If need be, set multiple alarms that are 1 minute apart so that you don’t have the chance to hit snooze by accident.
Or put your alarm further away from your bed so that you actually have to get up and out of bed in order to turn it off.
Although this task may sound simple, it’s one of THE BEST quick-and-easy tasks you can do to improve your overall sleep hygiene.
Sleep
Get it out on to paper.
Recommended: Brain dump before bed.
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Have you ever got into bed only to lay awake for hours because you are thinking about your to-do list for the next day?
Or maybe your presentation that’s coming up?
Or what you are going to take to work for lunch?
Or what you will wear?
Or why some people don’t like pineapple on pizza?
Or that embarrassing thing you did 10 years ago?
A great tool for this is to do a “brain dump”.
All you do is before you get into bed or before you turn off your light, take a few minutes to write down whatever’s bugging you. Dump it all out on paper.
Emails that you need to send or reply to… Great ideas that you have… Appointments that you have to book… That thing you should have said to someone… Heck, even the lyrics to the song that’s stuck in your head.
The simple act of writing them down and putting them somewhere more permanent can give your brain “permission” to stop obsessing over them and worrying that you’ll forget.
It’s sort of like closing the 50 million open tabs in your web browser.
Sleep
Get it out of your system.
Recommended: No caffeine after 2pm.
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Most people understand that too much caffeine, the stimulant that is found in things like coffee, tea, energy drinks, and soft drinks, can be bad for your sleep.
But what many people don’t know is that the “half-life” of caffeine is about 5-6 hours.
This means that if you consume 160mg of caffeine from a strong cup of coffee at 4pm, you will still have about 80mg of caffeine in your system 6 hours later at 10pm.
That’s only half the caffeine gone from your system! The rest will still take a few more hours.
While you may feel that the most obvious effects of caffeine have worn off shortly after you downed your cup of coffee, it actually hangs around for quite a long time in your system.
This is a problem because caffeine can make it harder to fall asleep and ALSO reduces the quality of the sleep that you do get.
We’re not trying to demonise caffeine (because it does have its benefits).
Rather, we’d like to help you get the best use out of your caffeine consumption without it negatively affecting your sleep – such as consuming it much earlier in the day.
Sleep
For better quality sleep.
Recommended: No alcoholic drinks.
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This may come as a surprise, but drinking alcohol in the evening can actually DECREASE the quality of your sleep.
Seriously.
Yes, we know that many people find that alcohol helps them feel relaxed and even sleepy. Plus, if you drink too much then it completely knocks you out…
BUT… drinking alcohol (like caffeine) can actually interfere with your body’s ability to go into deep and restorative sleep.
So even though drinking alcohol may help you feel more relaxed and fall asleep quicker, you won’t get any of that really good quality deep sleep that you need to wake up and feel amazing the next morning.
While alcohol may have its benefits and pleasures, it’s worth being mindful that every time you say “yes” to alcohol you might be saying “no” to a really good night of sleep.
Sleep
Major sleep disruptor.
Recommended: No screens 1+ hours before bed.
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A hormone called melatonin plays a very important role in regulating our internal sleep-wake clock called the circadian rhythm.
When it gets dark, our bodies produce more melatonin which helps us to feel tired and get ready to go to sleep.
However, when we are exposed to bright light (particularly blue light from electronic screens, LED bulbs, the sky, etc) our brains interpret it to mean that it’s daytime so melatonin production gets suppressed.
You can read more about how light negatively affects melatonin and your sleep over here.
However, all you really need to know for now is that one of the easiest steps that you can take to “design your environment” for a good night of sleep is to reduce the amount of bright blue light that you are exposed to from electronic devices in the evening.
Ideally, you should try to avoid bright light (particularly from electronic screens) for 1-2 hours before bedtime.
Sleep
Make it a priority.
HABIT RECOMMENDATION:
7-8 hours of sleep per night.
WHAT:
This habit is about getting enough sleep so that you wake up feeling refreshed and well-rested.
WHY:
Getting enough good quality sleep is like a modern-day super power in today’s sleep-deprived world.
Most people find that when they don’t get enough sleep, they:
On the other hand, people who do get enough sleep:
Feeling well-rested can improve how you show up in your relationships, how you manage your finances, your ability to be productive and high-performing at work, your overall ability to enjoy life more, and a cascade of other healthy habits.
HOW:
Individual needs may vary depending on age, level of physical activity, work stress, medications, and so on.
However, getting a solid 7-8 hours is the most commonly beneficial amount for the average person and is a great goal to aim for.
We recommend that you:
Check out the other Sleekgeek Sleep Habits or Sleekgeek Sleep Ritual for individual ideas on how to get more quality sleep.
Sleep
Not just for babies.
HABIT RECOMMENDATION:
10+ mins of relaxing music before bed.
WHAT:
This habit is about using the power of music in the evening to help you relax and unwind for a good night of sleep.
WHY:
Humans have been making music for over 400,000 years and it’s deeply ingrained in every single culture around the world in some shape or form.
It can affect us both on a conscious and on a sub-conscious level.
If you regularly exercise, then there’s a good chance that you’ve used the power of music to hype yourself up, feel more energised, and push harder through your workout.
The same can be done for opposite purposes too.
Music can be used to help calm yourself down, feel more relaxed, and start getting ready for a good night of sleep – especially if you’re currently feeling wired and wide awake.
According to Sleep Foundation:
See? Lullabies aren’t just for babies.
HOW:
In order to help yourself get better sleep, you want to listen to peaceful, calming, and relaxing music that has a slower tempo.
But other than that, it’s down to your own personal preference as to what type (lyrics, no lyrics, piano, jazz, nature sounds, etc).
Here are some playlist links to get you started:
The idea is to spend some time before bed or while in bed listening to music before trying to go to sleep.
However, you can also experiment with playing gentle music while you’re actually trying to sleep or even having it on as gentle background music throughout the whole evening.
Sleep
Rise and shine.
HABIT RECOMMENDATION:
10+ mins of direct sunlight, ideally in the morning.
WHAT:
This habit is about getting some sunlight during the day to so that you can get better sleep at night.
WHY:
Sunlight plays a very important role in regulating our internal sleep-wake clock called the Circadian rhythm.
According to SleepFoundation.org, “Light is the most important external factor affecting sleep.“
Research has shown that morning sunlight induces sleep earlier in the day, improves the quality and duration of sleep, and even provide an antidepressant effect.
Bright light during the DAY = more awake during the day and better sleep at night.
Bright light at NIGHT = worse sleep at night and less awake during the day.
So while you’re working on avoiding bright light and electronic screens at night before bed, you can also help regulate your body’s internal sleep-wake cycle by getting some natural sunlight during the day.
HOW:
We recommend trying to get at least 10 minutes of natural sunlight during the day – ideally in the morning or earlier during the day if possible.
Go for a walk, have your breakfast/coffee/lunch outside, call a friend, journal, etc.
Even if the weather is overcast, that’s OK, there is enough sunlight and brightness to help.
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