🧹 Optimise
Every great journey begins with one small, hopeful step.
Small changes. Big transformations. The HABIT framework helps you design habits that stick — not by forcing willpower, but by linking action to meaning, identity, and small daily rituals.
Built especially for ADHD minds, it guides you through every stage: choosing a habit, connecting it to your deeper goals, setting yourself up for success, and tracking your progress.
Think of it as a trail map for lasting change — one small habit at a time.
🧠 Why Focus on Habits?
Because almost half your life runs on autopilot. Let's make it work for you.
Most of what we do each day isn't a result of conscious decision-making — it's the result of habits.
Research suggests that around 40% of our daily behaviours are habitual — performed in the same situations, in the same ways, without much deliberate thought.
📚 Study Reference: Wood, Quinn, & Kashy (2002), "Habits in Everyday Life: Thought, Emotion, and Action." (Journal of Personality and Social Psychology)
That means almost half of your life runs on autopilot.
If your habits are working for you, they lift you up.
If they’re not, they quietly pull you in the wrong direction — without you even noticing.
Changing your life isn’t about changing everything overnight.
It's about adjusting the systems that shape your daily behaviours — a little at a time, until the results become inevitable.
Imagine if 40% of your life quietly moved you toward your dreams, not away from them.
That’s the power of habits.
✨ Building a Better Bedtime
A simple habit. A big ripple effect.
Habit Chosen: Go to bed by 10:00 PM.
🔍 H – Helps or Harms
Long-term goal: Wake up refreshed and energetic.
✅ Helpful: Starting a wind-down routine at 9:00 PM, dimming lights, no screens after 9:30 PM.
❌ Harmful: Watching late-night horror movies, scrolling endlessly on the phone in bed.
🎯 A – Appraise Actions
Why? Better sleep improves work focus, emotional regulation, relationships, and physical health.
🛠️ B – Basics and Beyond
How? Set a phone alarm at 9:00 PM to start winding down. Put phone out of reach. Prepare pyjamas and a calming book nearby. Tell family about the goal for accountability.
🌟 I – Identify the Identity
Who am I becoming? A person who honours their energy and wellbeing.
Value: Self-care.
📈 T – Tracking Progress
How? Use the Habit Tracker in the Safe Life Guide app to log "in bed by 10:00 PM" daily. Celebrate small wins. Bounce back if a day is missed.
🌱 This small shift supports bigger dreams — and builds the identity you want to live.
✨ Reducing Social Media Distractions
A simple change. A powerful reclaiming of time and focus.
Habit Chosen: Reduce mindless scrolling on social media.
🔍 H – Helps or Harms
Long-term goal: Reclaim focus, protect mental clarity, and use time more meaningfully.
✅ Helpful: Charging the phone outside the bedroom, setting app time limits, replacing evening scrolling with reading.
❌ Harmful: Keeping social media apps on the home screen, aimless browsing after work or before bed.
🎯 A – Appraise Actions
Why? Reducing distractions improves focus for important work and hobbies, protects emotional wellbeing, and strengthens self-esteem by reducing comparison and overload.
🛠️ B – Basics and Beyond
How? Remove social media apps from the home screen. Set specific "scrolling windows" (e.g., only between 6–7 PM if needed). Use website blockers during work hours. Prepare alternative activities like podcasts, mindful breaks, or walks. Tell a friend for gentle accountability.
🌟 I – Identify the Identity
Who am I becoming? A person who values their attention and protects their mental space.
Value: Focus and Self-Respect.
📈 T – Tracking Progress
How? Use the Habit Tracker in the Safe Life Guide app to log "stayed within my social media limits today." Celebrate even partial wins (e.g., reduced by 50% counts!). Bounce back compassionately if a day is tough.
🌿 This small change reclaims your time, protects your energy, and rebuilds trust with your own focus.
🚴 Small Changes, Big Results
What British Cycling Taught the World
Tiny improvements can change everything.
In the early 2000s, British Cycling was stuck in mediocrity.
For almost 100 years, they had barely won anything. Sponsors avoided them, and bike manufacturers refused to sell them equipment for fear it would tarnish their brands.
Then, in 2003, a new performance director, Sir Dave Brailsford, was appointed.
He introduced a strategy called "the aggregation of marginal gains" —
the idea that if you broke down every area related to cycling and improved it by just 1%, the cumulative gains would be extraordinary.
They didn't just redesign bikes.
They improved athletes' sleeping habits, optimized nutrition, redesigned seat ergonomics, tested fabrics for racing suits, and even taught cyclists how to wash their hands properly to reduce illness.
The results?
- 5 Tour de France victories in 6 years.
- 70% of track cycling gold medals at the 2008 and 2012 Olympics.
This story — now famous through James Clear’s Atomic Habits — shows that small improvements, consistently applied, create unstoppable momentum.
📚 Reference: James Clear, "Atomic Habits" (2018)
If small changes worked for world-class athletes, they can work for you too.
🌟 Habits You Could Start Working On
Start with one. Let momentum do the rest.
You don't need to overhaul your life overnight.
Start with one — any one — and watch momentum build.
Here’s a list of ADHD-friendly habits you might want to work on next:
🕰️ Focus and Study
# Set a 2-minute timer to start a task.
# Write tomorrow’s top 3 priorities each evening.
# Take 3 deep breaths before opening your laptop.
# Clear your desk at the end of each workday.
# Use a visual timer for focus sprints.
🗂️ Organisation and Planning
# Check your planner every morning.
# Put keys, wallet, and phone in a launchpad spot daily.
# Set a 5-minute evening tidy-up alarm.
# Review your upcoming week every Sunday night.
# Keep a “waiting for” list to track loose ends.
💧 Emotional Regulation
# Name one feeling before reacting.
# Pause and drink water when overwhelmed.
# Use a "Feelings Wheel" to journal each night.
# Take a 5-minute mindfulness break at lunch.
# Send one text of gratitude each day.
🌙 Health and Sleep
# Take medication at the same time each day.
# Drink a glass of water after waking up.
# Do 5 minutes of gentle stretching before bed.
# Prepare tomorrow’s lunch the night before.
# Step outside for sunlight within 1 hour of waking.
✋ Impulse Control
# Add a 24-hour pause rule before online purchases.
# Put treats and snacks out of sight.
# Unsubscribe from one marketing email per day.
# Delay impulse decisions by writing them down first.
# Move social media apps off the home screen.
🤝 Self-esteem and Relationships
# Write down one small win each evening in your gratitude journal.
# Make a 5-minute call to a friend each week.
# Speak one kind affirmation to yourself in the mirror.
# Celebrate effort, not just results, honour the process.
# Keep a "kind words" journal.
📱 Safe Life Guide Habit Maker and Tracker
Guided, supported, and built for ADHD minds.
Building new habits can feel overwhelming.
That’s why we created the Safe Life Guide Habit Maker and Habit Tracker — tools designed to guide you, step-by-step, through the HABIT framework.
🌟 Habit Maker:
- Choose a habit or create your own.
- Answer simple, guided questions to connect your habit to deeper goals, values, and identity.
- Build a small, specific, and achievable plan.
🌟 Habit Tracker:
- Track your habit daily with a single tap.
- Watch your streaks grow and celebrate milestones.
- Get reminders, encouragement, and gentle resets if you miss a day.
And you’re not doing it alone:
Your Life Guide is here to help you shape your habits, troubleshoot obstacles, and stay connected to the bigger picture of who you are becoming.
You’ll have guidance at every step — not just motivation at the start.
📚 What's Coming Next...
Build a life around your strengths.
Soon, we’ll be launching a full ADHD Habits Book based on the HABIT framework, giving you guided templates, inspiration, and examples to create a life organised around your strengths.
You’ll also be able to use the Safe Life Guide mobile app to track your habits day by day — keeping your momentum alive and your progress visible. For now, start small. Choose one habit. Begin the journey.
🌱 Tiny actions. Profound change.
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Sat - Sun: Variable
Brisbane North Medical Specialists,
15 Dallas Parade, Keperra, QLD 4054
(07) 5221 3489
reception@bnms.com.au