Big Gains from Tiny Tests

Sharpen your thinking, reduce brain fog, and learn how to be your best self by running micro-experiments

We can all learn how to feel and perform better at work, home, or hobby. Tiny tests give us a more systematic and evidence-based approach to discovering exactly which changes deliver the best results.

Here’s how using improved sleep as our first example.

Why You Should Base Your Choices on Personal Evidence

Arguably the most common approach to change, shared daily via social media channels, is that you can become healthier, wealthier or wiser if only you schedule your day the way _____ does (fill in your favourite celebrity or entrepreneur’s name).

I wish life was so easy that one-size-fits-all advice works for all.

Tiny tests are a better approach that help you discover what’s right for you. These self-run experiments offer a more evidence-based approach. We all have different work, life, family, social, home, health, and personality conditions which is why one size does not fit all.

The ubiquity of smartphones, wearable technology, and tracking apps now make it easy to track behaviours and collect some data (and experience) to make a better choice.

Here’s How I Improved My Sleep with a Tiny Test

The method is simple: One month on, one month off, and one month on again while tracking my data daily.

That’s it. Tiny tests are that simple.

I measurably improved the quality of my sleep, and have been feeling great, since running the sleep tiny experiment. For me, it began with a simple (yet unscientific) quiz in the New York Times called What Kind of Sleeper Are You? The quiz suggested that my sleep type might benefit from going to bed much earlier.

What?

I have always been a night owl. The suggestion caught me off guard because it ran counter to how I had lived my life for four decades.

Nonetheless, I gave it a try. Here was my recipe.

1. First month: I went to bed between 8:30pm and 9pm, and was often asleep by 9:30. This also meant I was getting up and starting my day at 05:00 in the morning. I listened to audiobooks, no movies or screen time in bed, and each day I tracked my sleep using an Apple Watch paired with Sleep++.
2. Second Month: I returned to my old habit of going to bed at 11pm or even midnight. Again, I listened to an audiobook, allowed myself no screen time, and tracked my sleep. I could see that I was achieving roughly averaging the same amount of sleep each night.
3. Third Month: I returned to an 8:30 or 9pm bedtime, listened to audiobooks, allowed myself no screen time, and again achieved about the same amount of sleep.

I now had 90 days of sleep data that enabled me to gauge what sleep routine helps me arise feeling rested and with a clear mind.

The results were, in my mind, surprising and clear.

I sleep better when I shut off earlier and rise well before sunrise. While this tiny test approach does not give me data that would make scientists jealous, the data and experience are personalised to me. No more generic advice based on what social media celebrity claims to do.

Here are My Top Takeaways from This First Tiny Test

Three discoveries from my sleep tiny test surprised me.

1. I seem to be one of those unusual folks who rest better by going to bed very early (by societal standards) and getting up well before sunrise. Some days I am so well-rested I literally forget to make my coffee. It seems the NYT quiz pointed me toward a useful question and I concluded 7+ hours of sleep starting much earlier delivers better rest than 7+ hours starting later.
2. I get more deep sleep when I sleep early (see data above). The cycles of deep sleep seem to happen earlier in the night and not during the morning hours. Perhaps this is part of the reason I feel better rested.
3. Early morning hours have quickly become my prime hours for doing my most important work. Each night I journal my top three deliverables for the next day and I work on these items first thing while the world is quiet. No checking email, no reading phone messages — I protect those prime early morning hours and my BraiNergy (i.e., brain energy) for my top tasks.

I now feel better, have a clearer mind, make better progress toward my priority goals, am less grouchy, and overall am happy with the gains.

I am now averaging 7 hours and 47 minutes of sleep every night. Before I averaged 6 hours and 30 minutes. Not bad.

Tiny Tests Make You the Designer of Your Better Life

The power of smartphones and wearables enables anyone to run tiny tests.

Data is now literally at your fingertips. Whether you want to sleep better, exercise more, meditate regularly, take more breaks during the day, manage your money more closely, improve your diet, or reduce screen time there is now a solution for each of these subjects (and more).

You simply need to set up the data collection and then use the month on-off-on again approach described here. In 90 days you will have enough personal data to make an informed choice.

What will be your first tiny test? Answer that and you are on your way to designing the life that’s right for you.

Resource: Want to learn about Tiny Habits? Go to the original source, Prof. BJ Fogg, at Stanford. Read here.

Want to Improve Your BraiNergy? Follow here and also Extend My Runway on LinkedIn.

Special Note: Prof. Netzley is a Ph.D. and not a medical practitioner or clinician. Any time that you make important lifestyle changes you are encouraged to speak with your primary care physician if you have concerns or questions. Never gamble with your life; seek out sound medical advice.