Improving your health rarely starts with a 3-day juice detox, a 5am spin class, or a digital fast. It starts with small habits: a humble glass of water in the morning, a walk around the block, or defying the urge to check Instagram as soon as you wake up.
If you were one of millions of people that read the best-seller “Atomic Habits” since it launched in 2018, you should know all about the power of performing these “micro-habits” consistently over a long period of time.
Forget the “go hard or go home” mindset. It’s all about incorporating small practices into your daily routine and building the systems so that these practices can be long-lasting.
Inspired by the book and powered by advice from leading experts, here are some small habits that you can adopt to improve your mental and physical health:
1. Don’t touch your phone when you wake up
Our phones are designed to stimulate and gives us continuous peaks of adrenaline. That’s why we keep checking throughout the day, even if we don’t have any notifications.
But according to Dr. Andrew Huberman, a neuroscientist at Stanford University and the host of Huberman Lab, the number #1 health podcast in the world, giving your brain even 30 minutes in the morning without that flood of input can improve focus and emotional regulation throughout the day.
Leave your phone in another room overnight. Wake with a traditional alarm (hello shopping trip to IKEA!), and give yourself half an hour of analogue space — even if all you do is sip your coffee and stare out the window.
2. Water before coffee
Nothing hits quite like that first cup of strong brew in the morning. But after seven or eight hours of sleep, your body is naturally dehydrated, and what you need is pure mineral water – not caffeine.
Dietitians often recommend 500ml of water before anything else, ideally with a pinch of sea salt and a squeeze of lemon to support electrolyte balance. This small act primes your digestion and helps with alertness before the coffee kicks in.
3. Walk daily – and walk like you mean it
Daily walking is often dismissed as too ordinary to be effective. But the science says otherwise. Harvard Health reports that a brisk 21-minute walk each day can reduce heart disease risk by 30%, as well as improve your mood and cognitive function.
More than just movement, walking — particularly outdoors — creates space for unstructured thought. It’s no coincidence that writers and scientists across history credited their best ideas to time on foot. Build it into your routine, be it before breakfast, after lunch, or mid-afternoon in between emails and calls.
4. Stretch during the day
Stretching doesn’t need to be reserved for an after gym session. Instead, scatter it throughout your day, either after lunch, just before shower or whenever you can slot in 10 minutes comfortably within your diary. If you want to DIY your routine, you can simply learn the basics and hold each position for 10 seconds. If you feel it would be helpful to have someone guide you, there are plenty of YouTube videos and apps with tutorials.
It’s not the RESET team mandating this new habit – there are plenty of studies like this one that show that even brief stretching reduces cortisol (the stress hormone) and improves musculoskeletal comfort. And if you’re an office worker, you need to move your body and flex your joints even more! Otherwise, hours of hunching and sitting still will come to bite you later in life.
5. Elevate your snacks
Snacking isn’t inherently unhealthy, but what and how you snack can either drain or fuel you. UK-based leading nutritionist Rhiannon Lambert recommends opting for combinations of whole foods that offer fibre, protein, and healthy fats. Think an apple with almond butter, a handful of berries with Greek yoghurt, or dark chocolate with a few raw nuts.
You need snacks that keep your blood sugar steady and your concentration sharp so you can dodge that mid-afternoon slump. To avoid giving in to the office snack shelf (which is probably full of chocolate and biscuits you really don’t need on a Wednesday afternoon), prep a few go-to snack pairings at the start of the week and bring them along on office days. Make sure you are hitting all your vitamins too – snacks aren’t supplements.
6. Clean your space
The idea that physical mess clouds mental clarity isn’t new, but it’s more relevant than ever. That’s why many productivity experts now treat environmental resets as a form of mental hygiene. You don’t need to deep-clean your house; you just need a system.
Try anchoring five-minute resets to moments you already have: clear your desk before your first meeting, do a quick tidy while the kettle boils, or fold clothes while listening to a podcast. These micro-habits reduce background stress and give your brain a break from decision fatigue.
There’s also a mood-setting element at play. A made bed in the morning can cue a more intentional start to the day. A tidy space at the end of the workday creates a boundary between ‘on’ and ‘off’. You don’t need your office or living room to be resembling a Japanese showroom, but it should support how you want to feel and function.
7. Adjust your sleep
We all know sleep is crucial, but it’s often the first thing we sacrifice. Late nights, early mornings, and endless screens all contribute to a cycle of fatigue that affects everything, from focus and mood to productivity and creativity.
Dr. Shelby Harris, a behavioural sleep expert, recommends making gradual changes to your sleep schedule. Instead of trying to jump from four hours to eight, she suggests shifting your bedtime just 15 minutes earlier every few nights.
Another simple yet effective change: get natural light within 30 minutes of waking up. Exposure to sunlight helps regulate your circadian rhythm, making it easier to feel awake and alert during the day. A quick walk outside or just standing near a window for a few minutes can help set your body up for better sleep later.
One small habit at the time
There are always things we can change in our day-to-day life. But real change doesn’t happen through sweeping gestures. It’s built through the small, consistent habits that we can actually stick with. Try focusing on progress: it’s these everyday shifts that can compound into big results and lead to lasting transformation.