Simple health fixes feel sooo good

Like many people in their 20s, I’ve been super distractible and tired in the last few months. I’ve been getting into hobbies, but I’m practically plagued by my inability to put my phone down for five minutes. This is paired with a subtle feeling of general tiredness, maybe a lack of energy and enthusiasm. I’d have rated my health as a 6/10 perhaps.

This week, things started going swimmingly! Really really well. I’ll explain some of the changes and my ideas about what is going on behind the scenes.

Distractibility: Turn off mobile data and WiFi.

First change I’ve made, I’ve got a new habit going. When I don’t want to be distracted, I turn off my WiFi and mobile data. This has had a dramatic effect on my energy levels, my ability to focus, and my motivation for difficult tasks and chores.

Background:

I realise that I pick up my phone between 100-200 times daily, often just to see if I have any new WhatsApp messages.

This can feel super rewarding, but often sends me into a general feeling like I need to be on my phone without knowing why? Up late in bed just waiting for something… not quite clear what… to happen.

Has anyone else heard about notification addiction? It’s more subtle than being hooked on reels or TikTok. But I’ve realised that I’m super addicted to the feeling of getting new messages from people, and I try to be 24-7 available to reply. Not great!

My previous solution to this, reserved for periods of big focus, or sometimes after a rather big phone binge, is to turn off the phone completely.

I would regularly turn my phone off a few times a week, a few hours at a time, for the past year. It’s felt brave and useful, and probably a bit helpful.

But actually I realised - this wasn’t working for me! There are a few reasons why I break the phone off thing and end up just aching for new notifications again.

I often want to turn my phone on again to check my alarm for the morning.
I want to quickly check Google maps or some other utility.

And I still feel like my energy is sapped, still feel distractible.

New fix: turn off mobile data + WiFi. Some people like to use airplane mode, but somehow this feels too dramatic. And I can’t use Bluetooth to connect to speakers.

So I’d say in total this move; which I’m implementing maybe 3 hours a day, has cut my screen time by about 30%, and has left me feeling so much more free from notifications.

6/10 → 7/10

Poor health: 30 day HIIT challenge

The app Seven has been around for a decade, and used to be shit and highly paywalled. I did a few of their Full Body workouts back-to-back, and found that I generally feel refreshed after. (3 circuits, 21 minutes).

I decided to upgrade, and am a week deep into the Upper Body monthly challenge. Materials required for this are: workout space at 21 DegC. Water.

That’s literally it! It’s such a simple workout, I can see gains in tone and muscle, and it doesn’t take long to do. I back this up with gym stuff, usually I treat this as a warmup and then lift some weights. I use @Bio/Acc’s tips about proper form when doing calisthenics (body-weight exercises).

I’ve also begun eating enough protein, and starting my day with water and apples. This seems healthy, and I hope is making a good change somewhere. Can’t tell if this is affecting my mood though.

7/10 → 8/10.

Sleep: regular wake time, good morning habits

I’ve been listening to Atomic Habits lately. The author explains how repetition of tasks teaches your brain to do them on autopilot, even if they are tricky.

One evening, I set 10 alarms spaced a minute apart. And each time I’d wait in bed with my eyes closed, then practice leaping out of bed, standing straight to salute the day, opening the curtains, then turning the alarm off.

Highly recommend this slightly silly sounding technique. I’m now fantastic at getting up with my alarm.

Pairing this with going to stare at daylight for a few minutes, and I’ve got a fantastic circadian rhythm. I still sleep a bit restlessly, but find myself with lots of energy in the mornings now.

I’ve started getting up at 7:30, regardless of when I slept. Even on 6 hours sleep, I’ll still get up at 7:30, just to maintain the good rhythm. I might just nap in the day to make up for it.

Good sleep. 8-10 → 9/10

Summary

I think people like Musk contribute to the idea that you can neglect your health, neglect phone hygeine, and just do miraculously fine. As I just found out, this is completely untrue for me. My mood is linked to my health!

In short, I’ve been feeling so healthy this week. The simple changes to do with phone hygeine, daily muscular/cardio exercise, sleep routine have had huge effects for me.

My mood is boosted, I’m feeling more proud, I’ve become more enthusiastic. I took the bins out today! I hate that usually. Or I offered to run back up to my friends apartment when he forgot his keys.

This also makes my other hobbies and projects more enjoyable. I’m happy at work. I’m enjoying reading and learning. And I get more excited about new ideas and feedback on my writing.

I have to give credit to another substacker who mentioned this idea, that we are probably deficient in certain vitamins, probably don’t know how healthy we are. And that it’s worth trying out new health fixes to see if we can feel better. He was right, and I hope this keeps up.

TLDR; health is important.