The Vault

Habits & Focus

Claim
Running your hardest work at the same time and place each day, with your phone out of reach, is one of the simplest ways to make focus feel automatic instead of forced effort.

Why it matters

• Repeating the same action in the same context (same time and place) is how habits form; over weeks, the context itself starts triggering the behavior with less need for willpower.

• Habits built on stable cues are more likely to persist and keep performance behaviors going even when motivation is low or you’re tired.

• The visible presence of a smartphone pulls attention and working memory, and lab studies show lower test performance when a phone is on the desk compared with being in another room.

• Tracking whether you hit a daily focus window makes the behavior more likely to stick, because you’re giving your brain a simple “did I do it?” scoreboard.

Action

1. Pick one 45–90 minute slot you can defend most days (same start time, same spot). That slot is now your “focus window.”

2. Before the window starts, put your phone in another room or shut in a bag/drawer you can’t reach, and close all non-essential tabs and apps.

3. Decide one task only for that window (writing, studying, building, etc.) and work on that task and nothing else.

4. After the window, quickly rate your focus 1–10 and mark a simple checkbox for “done / not done” for the day. Aim for 10–14 days in a row, then adjust the time if you keep missing.

Source
Research on habit formation and automaticity in stable contexts – Lally et al., 2010, European Journal of Social Psychology (prospective study of daily habits over 12 weeks). PubMed
Reviews on habit-based behavior change and the importance of consistent cues – Gardner et al., 2022–2024, Health Psychology Review and related papers (narrative and systematic reviews). PubMed
Smartphone presence and reduced cognitive performance – Thornton et al., 2014, Social Psychology; Skowronek et al., 2023, Scientific Reports (lab experiments on attention and working memory with phone present vs. absent). PubMed
Self-monitoring and behavior change – Harkin et al., 2016, Psychological Bulletin (meta-analysis on tracking progress and goal attainment). PubMed

Body & Training

Claim
Eating a carb-focused meal with some lean protein 1–3 hours before training is a simple way to boost how much work you can do and support muscle gain in workouts lasting ~45 minutes or longer.

Why it matters
• Carbohydrate taken before or during lifting lets lifters complete more total sets and reps in longer or fasted sessions.
• Sports-nutrition guidelines recommend ~1–4 g carbohydrate per kg bodyweight and 20–40 g protein around training to support performance and muscle growth.
• High-fat, high-fibre meals close to exercise slow digestion and are linked with more gut discomfort, so pre-exercise meals are usually kept relatively low in fat and fibre.

Action

1. For any session ≥45 minutes, eat an easy-to-digest meal 1–3 hours before: about 1 g carbohydrate per kg bodyweight + 20–40 g lean protein, with only light added fat and low fibre.

2. If you train soon after waking and can’t get a full meal, have a small carb-heavy snack with some protein 30–45 minutes before instead, still keeping fat and fibre low.

3. Use this pattern for your next 6–10 workouts, watch energy, reps, and stomach comfort, then adjust the carb amount slightly up or down while keeping the same carbs + protein, low-fat, low-fibre structure.

Source
Pre-workout carbs & lifting volume – King et al., 2022, Sports Medicine (systematic review/meta-analysis). PubMed
Athlete nutrition guidelines (carb + protein ranges) – Thomas et al., 2016, Med Sci Sports Exerc (ACSM joint position stand); Jäger et al., 2017, J Int Soc Sports Nutr (ISSN protein stand). PubMed · PubMed
Pre-exercise gut comfort & low-fat/low-fibre meals – Mancin et al., 2025, Nutrients; de Oliveira et al., 2014, Sports Med; Hughes et al., 2021, Adv Nutr. PMC · PubMed · PubMed

Body & Recovery

Claim
Setting a hard cutoff time for caffeine and screens in the evening is one of the simplest ways to improve sleep quality and next-day energy, because it removes two of the biggest sources of late stimulation.

Why it matters
• Caffeine has a long half-life, so afternoon and evening use can still affect sleep hours later.
• Bright screens close to bed keep the brain in “daytime” mode and delay natural sleepiness.
• Better sleep quality improves focus, mood, training performance, and decision making the next day.

Action

1. Pick a daily cutoff time for caffeine and energy drinks, at least 6 hours before you plan to sleep.

2. Set a screen “dim and dock” time about 60–90 minutes before bed, where devices go on low brightness and off your bed.

3. Track how you feel and perform for the next 7–10 days, then adjust your cutoff times if needed.

Source
Caffeine and sleep disruption – Gardiner et al., 2023, Sleep Medicine Reviews (systematic review and meta-analysis on caffeine’s effect on night-time sleep). PubMed

Timing of caffeine before bed – Drake et al., 2013, Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine (400 mg caffeine taken 0, 3, or 6 hours before bedtime). PubMed · Free full text

Evening light-emitting screens and circadian delay – Chang et al., 2015, PNAS (light-emitting eReaders before bed); Chinoy et al., 2018, Physiological Reports (tablet use in the evening). PubMed · Publisher

Sleep restriction and next-day performance – Van Dongen et al., 2003, Sleep (dose–response effects of chronic sleep restriction on neurobehavioral performance). PubMed

Money & Work

Claim  
Cancelling small recurring charges that you never actively use is one of the fastest ways to reduce money stress and increase the feeling of control, because it removes constant background loss without needing daily discipline.

Why it matters  
• People systematically underestimate how much small recurring payments add up over a month.  
• Studies on self-monitoring and financial behavior show that simply making expenses more visible and concrete reduces overspending and money anxiety for many people.  
• For your brain, fixed leaks free more headspace than constantly trying to remember not to buy small one-off items.

Action  
1. Open your bank, card, PayPal, and app-store histories for the last 60–90 days.  
2. List every repeating charge that is not strictly essential for work, housing, food, or transport.  
3. For each one, decide: keep, cancel, or pause for 3 months. Cancel or pause all “maybe later” items now, then set a reminder to review in 90 days.

Source  
Research on expense visibility and self-control in spending shows that tracking and aggregating small purchases improves financial outcomes and perceived control over money. Example: Fernandes et al., 2014, Management Science (meta-analysis on financial education and behavior).