The Best Time of Day to Form Good Habits

The Best Time of Day to Form Good Habits

In that phase, your whole system is action and focus oriented. And we know that when you're action and focus oriented and because of the neurochemicals that are naturally released in your brain and body that you will be more likely to overcome any limbic friction that stands in the way of performing particular habits. - AH

Changing behavior is hard. It's even harder to change in the long-term. That's why you need to leverage your brain & body for habit formation.

Your day is divided into 3 phases. Each phase supports a different type of habit. For now, let's focus on phase 1. It's the first 0-8 hours after waking up (ex. my phase starts at 6 am and ends at 2 pm). Most people are +/- 2 hours.

In this phase, dopamine and epinephrine are higher. No matter who you are. it's more likely that you engage in that habit - even when you don't feel like it. Hence, you are more likely to stick with it in the long-term.

So now think of a habit you want to develop.

Some morning habits are: getting sunlight, working for 90 minutes, working out, meditating, meal prep, eating healthy food, and most importantly, reading your tip of the day :)

Just kidding. Choose a habit from these or come up with your own (running, reading, smiling, etc.). If there's something you've struggled with, just choose that.

After the first two tries, you will notice that, doing it in the early phase makes it much easier to accomplish. Remember, it might not be easy to begin, but your brain and body are better able to push/remind you to eventually engage in it. In simpler terms,

Morning-noon (phase 1) is the best time to rewire your habits.

Keep in mind. You do not need to set the exact time you will do it. In fact, be more flexible about that. It's better. So instead of "I will run at 9:30 am every single day", say "I'll run before 12".

Just make sure it belongs in that same phase.

Here is the clip of Andrew explaining it and the full literature review of habit science.