The Protocol Library

Protocols

Structured routines with the evidence attached. Explore them, share what works, download a protocol to keep — or add one and it becomes daily habits in your tracker.

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Showing 53 of 53 protocols

Daily Mindfulness Meditation: mind protocol. Ten minutes of noticing your attention wandered and bringing it back.
MindEasy

Daily Mindfulness Meditation

A short daily seated practice of returning attention to the breath whenever it drifts.

1 habit
Ongoing, 10 min/day
Daily Walking Baseline: exercise protocol. The aerobic floor. Free, joint-friendly, and hard to argue with.
ExerciseEasy

Daily Walking Baseline

Establish a non-negotiable daily walk as the base of your activity, independent of whatever training sits on top of it.

1 habit
Ongoing, 30-45 min/day
Deep Work Blocks: work protocol. One 90-minute undistracted block on the hardest thing you have.
WorkModerate

Deep Work Blocks

Schedule one or two daily blocks of 60-90 minutes of completely undistracted work on your most cognitively demanding task.

2 habits
Ongoing, 60-90 min/day
Evening Light Dimming: sleep protocol. Dim the lights by half after sunset — or spend $8 on red bulbs and stop thinking about it.
SleepEasy

Evening Light Dimming

Cut indoor light by at least half in the hour or two before bed, ideally shifting to warm, low-mounted, red-spectrum light.

2 habits
Ongoing, last 1-2 hrs of the day
Fixed Wake Time: sleep protocol. Same wake time, seven days a week. Walker's single strongest piece of advice.
SleepModerate

Fixed Wake Time

Wake at the same time every day — weekday, weekend, and especially after a bad night.

1 habit
Ongoing, permanent
Foundational Supplement Stack: nutrition protocol. Creatine, vitamin D, omega-3, magnesium. About $35/month, and that's the whole list.
NutritionEasy

Foundational Supplement Stack

A minimal evidence-backed supplement stack: creatine monohydrate, vitamin D3 with K2, omega-3, and magnesium.

2 habits
Ongoing, daily
Grease the Groove: exercise protocol. Practise one lift often, never to failure — strength as a skill.
ExerciseEasy

Grease the Groove

Perform frequent, low-fatigue sets of a single exercise spread across the day, always stopping well short of failure.

4 habits
Ongoing, 4-6 mini-sets/day
Morning Sunlight Exposure: sleep protocol. Five to ten minutes of outdoor light, early. The cheapest circadian lever there is.
SleepEasy

Morning Sunlight Exposure

Get direct outdoor light into your eyes within 30-60 minutes of waking — 5-10 minutes on a clear day, 10-20 when overcast.

1 habit
Ongoing, 5-20 min/day
NSDR / Yoga Nidra: mind protocol. Twenty minutes lying down. The best recovery tool that isn't sleep.
MindEasy

NSDR / Yoga Nidra

A guided non-sleep deep rest session — lying still, following an audio script, without falling asleep.

1 habit
Ongoing, 10-20 min
Pay Yourself First: finance protocol. Savings that leave the account first never have to survive the month.
FinanceEasy

Pay Yourself First

Automate a transfer to savings or investments the day you're paid, before any other spending.

1 habit
One-time setup, ongoing
The Daily Stoic: mind protocol. One passage, morning and evening. Read it, apply it once, move on.
MindEasy

The Daily Stoic

A short Stoic passage each morning to set the day, and an evening review of how it went.

2 habits
Ongoing, 1-2 min twice daily
Time-Restricted Eating: nutrition protocol. Eat inside a 8-10 hour window. The boundary is the intervention.
NutritionModerate

Time-Restricted Eating

Confine all food intake to a consistent 8-10 hour daily window, aligned toward the earlier part of the day.

2 habits
Ongoing, daily
Alcohol-Free Evenings: sleep protocol. Sedation is not sleep. Alcohol fragments the night and suppresses REM.
SleepModerate

Alcohol-Free Evenings

Stop drinking at least three hours before bed, or skip it on weeknights entirely.

1 habit
Ongoing, evenings
Attention Principles, Daily: work protocol. One minute on why focus matters, read before the block that needs it.
WorkEasy

Attention Principles, Daily

A daily one-minute passage on attention and deep work, read immediately before your focus block.

1 habit
Ongoing, 1 min/day
Automated Index Investing: finance protocol. Same amount, same day, every month, into something boring.
FinanceEasy

Automated Index Investing

A recurring automatic investment into a low-cost broad-market index fund, independent of market conditions.

1 habit
One-time setup, ongoing
Batched Communication: work protocol. Email in one window, not in the background of everything else.
WorkModerate

Batched Communication

Process email and messages in one or two defined blocks rather than continuously through the day.

1 habit
Ongoing, 1-2 blocks/day
Blueprint-Style Protocol: nutrition protocol. The most measured protocol in existence, at $361/month. The $35 version gets most of it.
NutritionHard

Blueprint-Style Protocol

Bryan Johnson's Blueprint approach — a large supplement stack, early fixed dinner, and regular biomarker testing.

2 habits
Ongoing, daily + quarterly testing
Caffeine Cutoff: sleep protocol. Last coffee by early afternoon. The half-life is longer than the feeling.
SleepEasy

Caffeine Cutoff

Set a fixed daily cutoff time for caffeine, roughly 8-10 hours before you intend to sleep.

1 habit
Ongoing, daily
Cruciferous Vegetables Daily: nutrition protocol. Broccoli sprouts and mustard seed. The cheapest way to hit the sulforaphane literature.
NutritionEasy

Cruciferous Vegetables Daily

Eat cruciferous vegetables daily, prepared to preserve sulforaphane formation.

1 habit
Ongoing, daily
Daily Dead Hangs: exercise protocol. Thirty seconds on a bar. Grip strength predicts more than it has any right to.
ExerciseEasy

Daily Dead Hangs

Hang from a bar for accumulated time each day to build grip strength and decompress the shoulders.

1 habit
Ongoing, 60-90 sec/day
Daily Spending Log: finance protocol. Write down what you spent. That's the whole protocol.
FinanceEasy

Daily Spending Log

Record every purchase the day you make it, by hand, without categorising or judging.

1 habit
Ongoing, 2 min/day
Delay the First Coffee: sleep protocol. Wait 90 minutes after waking. Trades the 2pm crash for a slower start.
SleepEasy

Delay the First Coffee

Delay caffeine by 90-120 minutes after waking so it doesn't mask the natural cortisol peak.

1 habit
Ongoing, first 90-120 min of the day
Deliberate Cold Exposure: mind protocol. A cold shower is free. The plunge tub is $3,000. The evidence barely distinguishes them.
MindModerate

Deliberate Cold Exposure

Brief, uncomfortable cold exposure a few times a week — starting with the end of a shower.

1 habit
Ongoing, 2-5 min, 3-4×/week
Digital Minimalism Reset: work protocol. Thirty days off optional tech, then add back only what earns its place.
WorkHard

Digital Minimalism Reset

A 30-day break from optional technologies, followed by deliberate reintroduction of only those that pass a real test.

1 habit
30 days, then ongoing
Emergency Fund Ladder: finance protocol. One month, then three, then six. Build it in rungs, not one heroic leap.
FinanceModerate

Emergency Fund Ladder

Build cash reserves in defined stages, each with its own target and its own small celebration.

1 habit
6-24 months to complete
Gratitude Journaling: mind protocol. Three specific things, three times a week. Specificity is the active ingredient.
MindEasy

Gratitude Journaling

Write down three specific things you're grateful for, a few times a week rather than daily.

1 habit
Ongoing, 5 min, 3×/week
Hydration with Electrolytes: nutrition protocol. Water and a pinch of salt before coffee. You wake up dehydrated.
NutritionEasy

Hydration with Electrolytes

Drink 400-500ml of water with a small amount of salt on waking, before any caffeine.

1 habit
Ongoing, on waking
Identity Reminder: mind protocol. Re-read who you're becoming, in the seconds before you decide.
MindEasy

Identity Reminder

A one-minute daily reading on identity-based habit change, positioned before your hardest habit.

1 habit
Ongoing, 1 min/day
Kettlebell Swing Practice: exercise protocol. One movement, ten minutes, most of the hinge pattern you'll ever need.
ExerciseModerate

Kettlebell Swing Practice

A short daily or near-daily kettlebell swing practice built on submaximal sets of ten.

1 habit
Ongoing, 10 min, 4-5×/week
No Food Three Hours Before Bed: nutrition protocol. Stop eating early. Free, and it improves sleep and glucose at once.
NutritionModerate

No Food Three Hours Before Bed

Finish eating at least three hours before bed so digestion doesn't overlap with sleep onset.

1 habit
Ongoing, daily
No-Spend Days: finance protocol. Two days a week where nothing leaves the account.
FinanceEasy

No-Spend Days

Designate two days each week on which you spend nothing discretionary at all.

1 habit
Ongoing, 2 days/week
Pomodoro Method: work protocol. Twenty-five minutes on, five off. The entry-level rep for focus.
WorkEasy

Pomodoro Method

Work in 25-minute focused sprints separated by 5-minute breaks, with a longer break every four sprints.

1 habit
Ongoing, any work session
Post-Meal Walking: nutrition protocol. Ten minutes after eating. One of the best glucose interventions available for free.
NutritionEasy

Post-Meal Walking

Walk for 10-15 minutes after your largest meals to blunt the post-meal glucose rise.

1 habit
Ongoing, 10-15 min after meals
Premeditatio Malorum: mind protocol. Name what could go wrong before it does. Then start anyway.
MindModerate

Premeditatio Malorum

A short weekly practice of deliberately imagining what could go wrong with a current plan.

1 habit
Ongoing, 10 min/week
Protein-First Breakfast: nutrition protocol. 30g of protein before anything else. Flattens the mid-morning crash.
NutritionEasy

Protein-First Breakfast

Eat at least 30g of protein as the first food of the day, before carbohydrate.

1 habit
Ongoing, daily
Resistance Training Basics: exercise protocol. Two full-body sessions a week, where strength and bone density actually move.
ExerciseModerate

Resistance Training Basics

Two whole-body strength sessions per week built on compound movements, progressing load slowly.

1 habit
Ongoing, 2×45 min/week
Rucking: exercise protocol. Walking with load. Cardio and strength in the same free hour.
ExerciseEasy

Rucking

Walk with a weighted pack, building load gradually. Most of it sits below zone 2 except on hills.

1 habit
Ongoing, 45-60 min, 1-2×/week
Sleep Opportunity Window: sleep protocol. Eight hours of sleep needs more than eight hours in bed.
SleepModerate

Sleep Opportunity Window

Schedule 8.5-9 hours in bed to actually obtain 7.5-8 hours of sleep, accounting for onset and night waking.

1 habit
Ongoing, nightly
Sleep Principles, Nightly: sleep protocol. One minute of sleep science, read at bedtime.
SleepEasy

Sleep Principles, Nightly

A short nightly passage on sleep and circadian principles, read as part of the wind-down.

1 habit
Ongoing, 1 min/night
Subscription Audit: finance protocol. Cancel what renewed without you noticing. It's usually more than you think.
FinanceEasy

Subscription Audit

A quarterly pass over every recurring charge, cancelling anything you wouldn't actively re-subscribe to today.

1 habit
Quarterly, 30 min
The 72-Hour Rule: finance protocol. Want it for three days before buying it. Most wants don't survive.
FinanceEasy

The 72-Hour Rule

Impose a mandatory 72-hour wait on any discretionary purchase above a threshold you set.

1 habit
Ongoing
The Cool Bedroom: sleep protocol. 65-68°F. Your body has to cool down to fall asleep at all.
SleepEasy

The Cool Bedroom

Set the bedroom to roughly 65-68°F (18-19°C) so your core temperature can drop enough to initiate sleep.

1 habit
One-time setup, ongoing
The Physiological Sigh: mind protocol. Two inhales, one long exhale. The fastest way down from acute stress.
MindEasy

The Physiological Sigh

A double inhale through the nose followed by a long exhale, repeated one to three times, used in the moment of stress.

1 habit
20 seconds, on demand
The Shutdown Ritual: work protocol. End the workday on purpose, so the evening is actually an evening.
WorkEasy

The Shutdown Ritual

A fixed end-of-day sequence: review what's open, plan tomorrow, and declare the day finished.

1 habit
Ongoing, 5-10 min/day
The Strength Mindset: exercise protocol. One minute a day re-reading why you train the way you do.
ExerciseEasy

The Strength Mindset

A daily one-minute read on strength as a practice — the principle behind never training to failure.

1 habit
Ongoing, 1 min/day
The Two-Minute Rule: work protocol. Make the start so small it can't be refused. The start is the whole problem.
WorkEasy

The Two-Minute Rule

Scale any habit down to a version that takes two minutes, and treat starting as the entire goal.

1 habit
Ongoing, 2 min
The Warm Bath Effect: sleep protocol. Get warmer to get cooler. A hot bath 90 minutes before bed makes you fall asleep faster.
SleepEasy

The Warm Bath Effect

Take a hot bath or shower 1-2 hours before bed to accelerate the core temperature drop that initiates sleep.

1 habit
Ongoing, 10-20 min, 1-2 hrs before bed
Time Blocking: work protocol. Give every hour a job in advance, so the day can't give itself one.
WorkModerate

Time Blocking

Assign every working hour to a specific activity the night before, and revise the plan rather than abandoning it.

1 habit
Ongoing, 10 min/day
VO2 Max Intervals: exercise protocol. One hard session a week. The single strongest predictor of how long you live.
ExerciseHard

VO2 Max Intervals

A weekly interval session — four minutes near maximum effort, four minutes recovery, repeated four times.

1 habit
Ongoing, 1×40 min/week
Weekly Money Review: finance protocol. Twenty minutes looking at what actually happened last week.
FinanceEasy

Weekly Money Review

A short weekly pass over the previous week's transactions, without judgement or budgeting.

1 habit
Ongoing, 20 min/week
Weekly Review: work protocol. One hour a week looking at the whole board instead of the next square.
WorkModerate

Weekly Review

A weekly pass over every project, commitment and open loop, ending with next week's priorities.

1 habit
Ongoing, 45-60 min/week
Wim Hof Breathing: mind protocol. Thirty deep breaths, hold, repeat. One of the few breathwork methods with a controlled trial.
MindModerate

Wim Hof Breathing

Three rounds of 30-40 deep breaths followed by a breath hold, optionally paired with cold exposure.

1 habit
Ongoing, 15 min/day
Zone 2 Base Building: exercise protocol. Conversational-pace cardio. Boring on purpose, and the base everything else sits on.
ExerciseModerate

Zone 2 Base Building

Accumulate three to four hours a week of steady aerobic work at an intensity where you can still hold a conversation.

1 habit
Ongoing, 3-4 hrs/week