how to stay sane in 2026

TL;DR

Dr. K shares six personal mental health practices — from resisting your phone to disbelieving your own mind — backed by psychiatry and lived experience.

Key Points

• 1.Intentional friction beats easy habits for building willpower. Dr. K keeps his phone bedside but forces himself not to use it each morning — after a year of often failing, his daily screen time dropped from 4.5 hours to 1.5–2 hours.
• 2.Treat energy like a battery, not a willpower problem. Caffeine is a loan against future energy, not a source of it; Dr. K replaced doom-scroll breaks with 20–25 minute naps and walks to actually recharge rather than deplete further.
• 3.Stop powering through entertainment you don't enjoy. Forcing yourself to wait for a show or game to 'get good' wastes hours without fun; quitting immediately when bored frees mental space and raises enjoyment of reading and other activities.
• 4.Dedicate at least one hour daily to passion projects, done first. Starting in residency (working 80–100 hrs/week), Dr. K carved out 20–30 minutes each morning for personal growth; this sense of choice and autonomy is what research links to feeling in control of your life.
• 5.Disbelieve your mind — especially when it thinks in black-and-white or makes comparisons. Across nearly every mental illness, recovery correlates with reduced belief in one's own thoughts; Dr. K treats comparisons to wealthier entrepreneurs or bigger creators as instruments, not truths.
• 6.Mental health techniques are limited without foundational security. Financial stability, a safe home, and loving relationships (Dr. K cites his nuclear family and 2v1 Smash Bros losses to his kids) are irreplaceable foundations that no habit stack can substitute.