I grew up when television had an end. Late at night, the anthem played, the screen went to static, and that was it. You did not “just keep watching.” The system shut down.

Now the system never shuts down. Most of us carry it into bed.

That is where Julie Fratantoni, PhD and I started in this conversation. Brain health gets marketed like you need a new personality. Julie’s approach is simpler. Pick habits that are low effort, repeatable, and protective. Try them for a week. Pay attention to what changes. Keep what works.

Julie shared four habits she considers the highest return on the smallest investment. I like them because they are realistic for people with jobs, families, and lives that do not cooperate.

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Habit 1. Keep your bedroom for sleep

Julie’s first habit is to sleep in a different room than your phone.

This is about protecting sleep. When the phone is within reach, the decision to stop scrolling becomes a nightly negotiation. In the morning, the same device that woke you up becomes the first thing to hijack your attention.

The practical setup is straightforward. Pick a charging spot outside the bedroom and use a real alarm clock. The point is not to become a purist about screens. The point is to make it easier to fall asleep, stay asleep, and start the day without being pulled into messages and headlines before your brain is online.

People often push back with a reasonable concern. What if my kids call. What if there is an emergency. Julie’s suggestion was to stay reachable without staying attached. Turn the ringer up, keep the phone outside the room, and trust that you will hear what you need to hear.

What tends to change in the first week is not subtle. Many people report waking up calmer because they are not starting the day in reaction mode. Sleep quality often improves because the phone is no longer part of the bedtime routine. Better sleep also makes follow-through easier, since decision-making and self-control suffer when you are tired.

Habit 2. Drink water before you do anything else

Julie’s second habit is simple. Drink a glass of water when you wake up.

It sounds basic because it is basic. Hydration supports attention and memory, and many people underestimate how much mild dehydration affects how the day feels. Julie framed this habit as a consistency builder as much as a physiology habit. You start the day by keeping one small promise to yourself.

Make it easier by setting it up the night before. Put the glass where you will see it without thinking. If mornings are chaotic, anchor it to something you already do. I had a patient who realized her “morning water” was really just rinsing and spitting after brushing her teeth. She changed the rule and finished a full glass after brushing. That one tweak turned an intention into a habit.

In my own audience, this has been one of the easiest wins. When I surveyed readers on healing habits, this was the one people adopted most often, and many said they felt the benefit quickly.

Habit 3. Turn off email and social push notifications

Julie’s third habit is to turn off push notifications for email and social media.

This is not about ignoring responsibilities. It is about reducing unnecessary interruptions. Each notification is a cue, and cues pull attention even when you do not pick up the phone. Over time, that keeps the nervous system keyed up. People describe it as stress, but it often starts as constant switching.

When notifications are off, you choose when to check. That puts you back in control of your attention, which is a brain health issue as much as a productivity issue. It also makes deep work possible again. Thinking well requires uninterrupted time.

If you already use focus mode or do-not-disturb during meetings, you can extend that idea. Set your phone to protect your attention automatically during the times you most need it. This removes the daily decision fatigue of trying to resist your own device.

Habit 4. Walk after a meal

Julie’s fourth habit is a ten-minute walk after meals. If doing it after every meal feels unrealistic, start with one. Dinner is a good place to begin because it also helps many people transition out of the workday.

Julie called this a habit with multiple benefits, and she is right. A short walk can lift mood. If you are outdoors, it supports circadian rhythm through light exposure, which affects alertness during the day and sleep at night. It also creates a natural break that many people rarely get.

From the metabolic side, movement after meals helps muscles use circulating glucose. Many people notice less of a spike and less variability when they move right after eating. That matters for overall metabolic health, and metabolic health is tied to brain health.

If you cannot walk, you can still use the idea. Some of my patients run their own experiments with CGMs and find that a few minutes of simple resistance movement can have a noticeable effect. The goal is not a perfect routine. The goal is using muscle after eating, in a way you can repeat.

Extra Habit…Bring back boredom

Partway through the conversation, we kept circling back to downtime.

A quiet moment shows up, and many of us reach for the phone before we even notice we are doing it. That habit is not about weak willpower. It is about training. The brain learns that every pause gets filled.

Julie made a good point that constant stimulation can make it harder to know what you actually enjoy. It also crowds out the space where ideas come together, where you process, and where you reset.

There is a simple way to test this without turning it into a project. Spend a few days driving without audio and pay attention to how your brain responds when there is nothing filling the space. Many people notice restlessness at first. That reaction is useful data. It shows how quickly the brain has come to expect input.

So if you remember ANYTHING from this conversation let it be this…Boredom is not something to avoid, it means you have created a little room again for your brain to take a break.

A one-week experiment

If you want to try this without making promises you do not plan to keep, treat it like a short experiment.

Move the phone out of the bedroom at night. Drink a glass of water when you wake up. Turn off push notifications for email and social. Take a ten-minute walk after one meal each day.

Then observe. Notice how you feel in the first hour of the morning. Notice whether you feel more scattered during the day. Notice sleep quality. Notice whether you reach for your phone as often when you have a spare moment.

If nothing changes, you learned something. If something changes, keep the parts that helped and drop the rest.

Thanks for reading The Habit Healers! This post is public so feel free to share it.

A note for caregivers

Julie shared that she is caring for her mom who has Alzheimer’s. That matters because caregiving changes the baseline of life, you have sleep that gets disrupted, higher stress, and time scarcity.

Caregiving also raises the caregiver’s own risk over time. That is one reason small habits matter. You need options that work on hard days, not a plan that only works on ideal days.

Julie also said something that many caregivers need to hear. People often want to help, but they do not know what you need. You have to tell them. If you cannot name exactly what would help, you can still say you need help and ask someone to problem-solve with you.

These habits are not complicated. That is the point. Your brain responds to what you repeat.

Try one. Try all four. Give it a week. Let the results decide what stays.

Tell us what you will try this week and please share with someone else’s brain that you care about!

Links for Dr. Julie…

Dr. Julie Fratantoni on Substack

Dr. Julie Fratantoni’s website

Get full access to The Habit Healers at drlauriemarbas.substack.com/subscribe