The Definitive List Of Daily Tasks That Optimize Your Health

David Wills
Dec 9, 2023
9 min read

Being a well-rounded healthy individual in the modern era is hard work. Our environment has transformed in such a drastic way that the upkeep our bodies need comes much less naturally to us than it came to our ancestors thousands of years ago. Not to mention the fact that our culture has promoted behaviors that aren't as good for us instead of behaviors that can maximize our body's efficiency and effectiveness.

But it is so important to take care of your body and your mind not just to stay happy and healthy now, but for decades down the road. That's why I've compiled a list of activities I try to do every day to maximize my health in the long run in an optimal way.

Note: This list will be updated periodically with new research and new items as I discover them. Skip to the bottom if you want the checklist version of this.

Sleep for 8 Hours

Photo by Kate Stone Matheson on Unsplash

It's hard to overstate just how important sleep is for the proper function of our mind and body. To quote sleep expert Matthew Walker: "There does not seem to be one major organ within the body, or process within the brain, that isn’t optimally enhanced by sleep (and detrimentally impaired when we don’t get enough)."

One night of missed sleep is the functional equivalent of being legally drunk, and poor sleep impacts physical and cognitive performance in a huge range of activities. Conversely, a good night of sleep improves your performance, making it a no-brainer.

Each night, we should aim for between 7 1/2 - 8 1/2 hours of natural sleep (that is, without sleeping pills).

(If you're curious about just how extensively adequate sleep can improve every aspect of our bodily function, I highly recommend Walker's excellent manifesto on sleep titled Why We Sleep.)

Exercise for 30-60 Minutes

Exercise contains countless benefits that are critical for maintaining good health. Most obviously, exercise can help your physical health by increasing muscle mass via weight training and reducing fat mass via cardio. But exercise also has a ton of benefits for your mind, such as reducing stress and improving sleep.

To quote longevity doctor Peter Attia: “Exercise is by far the most potent longevity 'drug.' No other intervention does nearly as much to prolong our lifespan and preserve our cognitive and physical function.”

However, there are different types of exercise, each of which compliment one another:

Strength Training: Lifting weights is critical for gaining muscle mass, which as it turns out is hugely important for surviving in our old age.
Low-Intensity Cardio: Doing long stretches of steady-state cardio in your Zone 2 heart rate zone can dramatically. You should strive for three hours of zone 2 exercise per week to improve your endurance as well as the health and efficiency of your cells. (Zone 2 is generally defined as the level of intensity where you can maintain a conversation, but where you don't want to; you can also estimate your zones at this website)
High-Intensity (Vo2 Max) Cardio: You should aim for at least one cardio workout per week where you do 4-6 intervals of 3-8 minutes of the max effort you can sustain (generally your Zone 5, see above), followed by a cooldown period. This will build your Vo2 max, which is the amount of oxygen your body can use per minute. Not only does raising Vo2 max improve your body's efficiency, but it can also increase your lifespan as well.
Mobility: No amount of exercise matters if you injure yourself, which is exactly why mobility training is so important. Without the mind-body connection that stretching provides, you will likely have poor form while exercising, which greatly increases your chances of injury. Take it from someone who's injured himself multiple times while deadlifting and squatting: you want to make sure your form is perfect. I personally do a 10-minute stretching routine before every workout (this one specifically, which has done wonders for my ability to move my body the way it is supposed to move.

Brush Your Teeth Twice

There's a reason we go to the dentist twice a year: because our mouths are one of the most important parts of our body, so we need to take care of our teeth. Brushing twice a day - once in the morning and once at night after dessert - will fight plaque buildup. If left unchecked, plaque can cause cavities, which in worst-case scenarios can result in you losing your teeth. I personally use an electric toothbrush, but a manual one works fine too.

Note, however, that if you consume acidic food/drinks such as soda or fruit juice, you should wait at least one hour to brush your teeth to protect the enamel on your teeth from getting damaged.

Floss

Photo by Marco Verch Professional Photographer on Flickr

No, I'm not your dentist, but yes flossing is as important as they say. When you eat food, much of it sticks to your teeth, but some of it gets lodged underneath the gums beyond the point where your toothbrush can reach. That's where floss comes in, allowing you to reach that otherwise unreachable food.

Forgetting to floss can cause food to get trapped in your gums, increasing the likelihood of bacteria growing and causing gum disease. This can lead to serious mouth pain down the road, so it's just better to take care of your gums.

Gum health is also correlated with a reduced risk of dementia and cardiovascular disease, with gingivitis often showing up in the brains of Alzheimer's patients. As if we needed another reason to floss!

Wash Your Face Twice

This one is to keep you young: washing your face is important to get the dirt and grime of the day off of your face. If you fail to wash your face, your skin will age much quicker, leading to an older-looking face.

Washing your face twice per day will suffice: once in the morning and once in the evening. You should also wash your face after a sweaty workout or time in the ocean or pool, as the residue from these fluids can have adverse effects on your face.

Eat a Balanced Diet

Diet is up there with exercise and sleep as one of the most important contributors to your overall health. You are, in fact, what you eat, and while it can certainly be delicious to shovel unhealthy foods into our mouths, it makes your body work less effectively over the long term.

There is a lot of confusion over which diets are "best", and the honest answer is that we simply don't know. Nutrition is incredibly complicated, and every person handles food differently. However, here are a few points to shoot for when you're looking at the nutrition facts:

Calories: When it comes to calories, less is more (to an extent). Studies suggest that our bodies actually operate more efficiently when we consume fewer calories, and it can even lengthen lifespan and reduce risk of metabolic disorders, heart disease, cancer, and Alzheimer's disease. Of course, there's still generally a minimum amount of calories you'll want to consume (which you can generate a rough estimate of here), and you'll want to ensure you're getting enough protein and fats (see below). But if you're relatively full and you've got the option to eat more, your body will be better off holding off (despite what your hunger tells you).
Protien: Aim to get an ample amount of protein each day, preferably between 1.6/kg/day - 2.2kg/day of protein. Protein is the most essential macronutrient there is, as it's critical for maintaining muscle and other bodily processes. It's the only macronutrient that has a practical minimum requirement, without which things start to go wrong, so make sure to get your protein in.
Note that plant protein is harder to digest and therefore only 60-70% is actually contributing to your needs.
Fats: Strive to make about 50-55% of your fat intake come from monounsaturated fats (from foods like avocados, peanut butter, almonds, hazelnuts, pecans, and other nuts and seeds). Next, aim to limit your saturated fats to about 15-20% of your fat intake. The rest of your fat intake should come from polyunsaturated fats, with a particular emphasis on the Omega-3 fats that come from oily fishes such as salmon.
Carbohydrates: The remainder of your calories should come from carbohydrates, however not all carbs are created equal. There are two kinds of carbs: simple carbs and complex carbs. Simple carbs are fast-digesting carbs that you'll find in fruits as well as processed foods like white bread, cereal, dough, sugar, and white rice. Complex carbs, on the other hand, are slower-digesting carbs that are found in whole wheat breads, beans, and vegetables. Each person has a different carb tolerance depending on their genes, activity level, and sleep, but generally speaking complex carbs are better for your metabolic health due to the fact that they slow down the digestion process and thus have a lower chance of being stored as fat. However, that's not to say simple carbs are necessarily bad, just that they should be treated with caution.

You'll want to receive your daily vitamins and nutrients, so be sure to take a multivitamin each day. Even the healthiest eaters out there likely don't receive the nutrients they need from food alone.

(If you want more detailed explanations for why we should eat these, I highly recommend reading Peter Attia's book Outlive. Much of the research for this section (and this whole post) came from that book.)

Meditate for 10 Minutes

Modern life travels at 1000 miles per minute. Between our phones, our jobs, and our relationships, there are countless opportunities for distraction, which leads to stress, anxiety, and a feeling of overwhelm. Enter mindfulness: the goal of mindfulness isn't to just sit on a pillow and breathe heavily for 10 minutes. Rather, the goal is to connect your mind, body, and environment and become aware of the present moment without judgment.

I personally recommend meditating (or doing some other kind of mindfulness practice) for 10 minutes each day. This will give you space to become one with yourself, if only just for a little bit.

Stand Up for 2-4 hours

Many of us have desk jobs that encourage us to sit for incredibly long stretches of time. Unfortunately, such excessive sitting can have a plethora of negative effects. For starters, sitting for long stretches means you're not using your legs the way they should be, which can both weaken your leg/glute muscles as well as shorten your hip flexor muscles, increasing the chance for back pain and hip injury.

There are also a number of studies linking long excessive sitting to anxiety, cancer, heart disease, and more, and while the reasons for these links are still somewhat mysterious, the vast majority of research points to sitting being less healthy for you than standing.

The solution? Stand more often - preferably for four hours per day. I personally use an adjustable sitting/standing desk (this E7 Standing Desk from Flexispot has been my go-to), and I will stand whenever I take a break or get tired of sitting.

Spend 20 Minutes Outside (Without Your Phone)

Another unintended side effect of modern society is that we largely flocked to metropolitan areas largely removed from nature. As it turns out, our bodies and our minds crave nature almost like a nutrient. There's an excellent book by Michael Easter called The Comfort Crisis that delves deeper into why exposure to nature is good for us, but the gist is that we are biologically programmed to connect with nature and living things

That's why I recommend everyone everyone find some time to go outside, preferably in a park or area with trees. Studies show that people who spent 15 minutes walking through nature (without their phone) showed noticeable drops in blood pressure, heart rate, and stress hormones. Plus exposure to sunlight can improve your body's vitamin D levels and also make it easier to fall asleep in the evening.

If nothing else, it's also just a great way to break up the monotony of being inside all day. Note that while the research indicates that you only need to do this three times per week to see benefits, I recommend shooting for every day if you can. More nature is never a bad thing!

Drink 90-120oz of Water

Did you know that around 60% of the human body is made of water? That's how important pure H20 water is for our body's health. Water is crucial for a number of essential processes, not to mention making us look and feel healthier, which is why it's critical that we drink enough of it every day.

The age-old eight 8oz cups of water each day (for a total of 64oz) isn't exactly accurate. The ideal number is closer to 91oz (2.7L) for women and 125oz (3.7L) for men (plus an additional 12oz for every 30 minutes that you work out). I typically use a 32oz Hydro Flask and aim to drink four bottles' worth by two hours before bed (to help keep me from waking up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom, thereby disrupting my sleep).

Talk To Someone

Photo by Priscilla Du Preez 🇨🇦 on Unsplash

We are in the middle of a loneliness epidemic. Despite being as connected as ever with technologies with technologies like social media, we're actually lonelier than ever, and this feeling of loneliness can wreak havoc on your emotional health.

The truth is that feeling connected to others is an incredibly important element of maintaining your social health. As such, I recommend catching up with someone new each day, someone you're not obligated to speak to (so no spouses, kids, or coworkers). Ideally you'd see them in person or over FaceTime, but a phone call works too. Catching up over text message should be a last resort, as it doens

I recommend talking to someone new each day, someone you're not obligated to speak to (so no partners, kids, or coworkers). I'll admit: as an introvert this one is admittedly difficult for me, as I tend to prefer to stay within the confines of my shell. But I know that any time I actually leave my shell to talk to someone, I usually feel better.

The Daily Checklist

[ ] Sleep for 8 Hours

[ ] Exercise for 30-60 minutes

Strength Training
Low-Intensity (Zone 2) Cardio
High-Intensity (Vo2 Max) Cardio
Mobility

[ ] Brush Your Teeth (2x daily)

[ ] Floss

[ ] Wash Your Face (2x daily)

[ ] Eat A Balanced Diet

Protein: Eat 1.6 - 2.2 grams of protein per kilogram of bodyweight per day
Fats: 50-55% should be monounsaturated fats; 15-20% should be saturated fats; the rest should be polyunsaturated fats, particularly Omega-3 fats from oily fishes
Carbs: Focus primarily on complex carbs such as vegetables, whole weat, beans, etc.

[ ] Meditate for 10 Minutes

[ ] Stand Up for 2-4 Hours

[ ] Spend 20 Minutes Outside (Without Your Phone)

[ ] Drink 90-120oz of Water

[ ] Talk To Someone