You need to make time for quality interactions and friendships. Can the 5-3-1 challenge help?

We've all been told to shoot for 10,000 steps per day and eight hours of sleep at night to preserve our physical health. But it turns out there are metrics we can aim for when it comes to spending time with others and maintaining our social fitness, which is crucial for our overall well-being.

It's called the 5-3-1 guideline, and it's the brainchild of Kasley Killam, a social health expert and author of The Art and Science of Connection, who likens the social challenge to the step count or protein goals you might have to keep your body fit and fueled. Under 5-3-1, people should "aim to interact with at least five different people each week, to maintain three close relationships and to spend one hour a day connecting," Killam tells Yahoo Life.

How does it work? Here's what to know.

Interact with 5 different people each week

Hanging out with the people you live with (your partner, kids, roommates, etc.) is great, but interactions with people you don't know quite so well is good too. These interactions should ideally be varied, from asking your co-workers about their weekend plans to chatting with a server at your favorite local cafe to checking in with your nearest and dearest. Says Killam: "The more variety of connection that we have, the better off we are. I wouldn't discount the importance of those micro-moments of connection." These interactions don't all have to be in person, but that is the preference.

Some examples of these interactions could be:

• A friendly interaction with a barista, cashier, Uber driver, server, etc.

• Hosting a family gathering

• FaceTiming a friend

• Chatting with co-workers

• Grabbing lunch with your romantic partner

• Having a good conversation with a neighbor

• Striking up a conversation with another shopper about the weather, their cool T-shirt, the price of eggs, etc.

Maintain at least three close relationships

Your closest relationships — those "ride-or-dies" you connect with on a deeper level — might be with people you rarely see. And that's OK! The important thing, according to Killam, is that, in addition to having those more casual everyday interactions with a variety of people, you have a stronger support system with at least three other people.

Natalie Pennington, an assistant professor of communication studies at Colorado State University who recently published in the American Friendship Project, tells Yahoo Life that having more than one person in your corner is key because it can be "a buffer."

"If you're having to fight with your mom, it's being able to turn to a friend," Pennington explains. "If you're fighting with your friend, it's being able to turn to your partner. If there is stress experienced in one relationship, being able to have someone else you can turn to is really important."

Do what you can to actively foster those bonds, Killam adds. That might mean having a date night with your spouse, planning a trip to visit your best friend on the other side of the country or just calling a loved one for a catch-up. In contrast to the other parts of 5-3-1, this is less about hitting a weekly quota and more about not losing sight of the relationships that really matter.

Spend an hour each day connecting with others

The one hour of connection each week doesn't have to be spent in one big 60-minute block, or with one person. Consider it a benchmark for working more active connections into your day. Killam cites a few examples:

• A 10-minute phone call during your commute to work

• A 20-minute conversation with your co-worker during your lunch break

• Taking a walk with your partner or kids after work

• Making a post-work phone call to a friend

And no, Killam says she doesn't believe that watching TV with your significant other or child qualifies.

"Doing an activity together can definitely count, but watching TV or something like that is passive," she says. "Sure, you're together, but you're not engaging with each other more deeply. I would say it's much more important that we get actual quality connection."

Why do we need friendship challenges in the first place?

You're on social media. You're answering emails all day. You're talking to people ... right? Killiam says today's reliance on technology makes it easy to feel like we're constantly connected, but it's "in a way that isn't fulfilling more deeply." It's like snacking on chips and popcorn instead of having a hearty meal. "It might be filling, and it might be satisfying to a certain extent, but we need to invest in that in-person time and deeper connection to truly be nourished."

Another trend she's observed: People leaving the neighborhoods they grew up in and moving to new places, creating a sense of transience. Data shows that people aren't as active in community groups — such as book clubs, sports leagues or neighborhood associations — as they used to be, she notes. In the absence of those tried-and-true opportunities for connection, challenges like 5-3-1 can help motivate us to fill that friendship gap.

While 5-3-1 might seem like a numbers game, Killam says that it's more about quality than quantity. It's about striving for more in-person encounters over social media scrolling, opening ourselves up to new friendships and spending quality time with the people we love most.

That last one is especially important, says Pennington, who points to the American Friendship Project's findings that most people are satisfied with the number of friends they have, but wish they were closer and spent more time with those friends.

And if it's just not practical to do an in-real-life hang, a text or FaceTime can still hold value.

"We underestimate how much that means to the other person," says Killam. "A lot of us live in different places than our friends and family, and so it's a requirement to be able to stay connected in those kinds of ways."