Simple ways to achieve a “five-per-cent shift”

Choose a habit that is embedded into your schedule, such as going for a coffee, and then link a new habit to it, such as cycling. Rather than having to magically transform yourself into the kind of person who always exercises enough, you become that person by building the activity into your pre-existing routine.

Create pockets of peace by incorporating a “mindful activity” into your busy day: brushing your hair, cleaning your teeth or some other routine activity that you would otherwise do unconsciously. Instead, concentrate on the physical sensations, in the moment.

When feeling overwhelmed, surreptitiously lift your hand to your face, press a finger against one side of your nose and breathe through the other nostril. Simple it may be, but the results can be spectacular. By halving the rate at which you breathe, you lower your blood pressure and trigger the body’s relaxation response, which is the opposite to its fight-or-flight response, and enter a state of deep physical rest.

Even a brief hug releases a whoosh of soothing oxytocin, reducing stress and stimulating the brain’s reward circuit. Next time you hug someone, notice the difference when you hold them for that little bit longer, softly acknowledging their physical presence with yours.

The paradox is that, to achieve sleep, you have to abandon the imperative to achieve it, but learning or reciting a poem can also help you nod off. Try A Boy’s Song by James Hogg, with the hypnotic lines: “Where the pools are bright and deep/ Where the grey trout lies asleep.”