Habit stacking has been around for a while, since it was first coined by SJ Scott in his book. Habit Breaking: 27 Small Changes to Improve Your Health, Wealth, and Happiness However, the concept of habit stacking was not widely known until James Clear came along with his awesome book: Individual habits making it extremely popular. In this post, we’ll look at some examples of habit that you could use in your life to increase your chances of forming new habits.
What is habit stacking?
The concept of habit stacking is quite simple, take a new habit and combine it or do it before or after an existing habit. That way, you’re more likely to adopt your new habit into your routine. If you do this with many habits, you end up with a sort of “stack” of habits. Stacking habits can make it much easier to remember them and of course be consistent with them.
At its core, habit stacking is about creating a locked-in routine made up of small habits.
In my experience, any new habit whether big or small needs to have a purpose, be realistic, enjoyable and have longevity. If you keep your new habits small and related to your existing habits, you may find that you have more success when trying to build a stack. I love the idea of habit stacking and it has helped me incorporate new habits into my life. For example, when I wanted to make drinking water a daily habit, I decided to drink a glass every time I entered the kitchen to clean.
Go to the kitchen > clean up > drink a glass of water
The purpose was clear – I wanted to see if drinking more water would give me more energy because I wasn’t drinking enough. Drinking a glass of water is easy, enjoyable and realistic so it’s something I knew I could continue.
I go and clean the kitchen every day anyway, so making sure to drink a glass of water beforehand is pretty easy to add to my routine. This is the beauty of the stacking habit – you can stack a bunch of simple and easy habits with little effort.
The key to habit stacking is to keep your habits small. Make them so simple you’ll barely have to remember to do them after a week or so.
Your stacks of habits become like chains of actions tied together.
The science of habit stacking
As we age, the brain naturally reduces the connections between neurons or brain cells that it feels are no longer needed. Essentially, if you stop doing something, your brain has no reason to keep those connections. However, this is why habit stacking works if you do the opposite.
This is called synaptic pruning, and it helps us build habits the more we consistently perform the same actions over and over again. Over time, your brain begins to connect the things you keep doing, creating new neural connections. These connections become stronger over time, which makes it easier to stack new habits on top of existing ones.
Determine how you spend your 24 hours
Your time is already consumed by the big and small habits you perform every day. A helpful way to see where you can start adding smaller habits or “stacks” is to identify how you spend each waking hour.
For example, you may already have a routine of waking up, turning off the alarm, drinking water, drinking coffee, watching TV, getting dressed for work, etc., etc. the things you already do. For example, if you already spend 20 minutes watching TV in the morning, could you use 10 minutes of that time doing some kind of exercise?
Break your day into hours and see all the habits you already have. Once you do this, you’ll have a clear picture of where you can gain some habits, while also being able to see some potentially bad habits that you can replace with healthier ones.
Let’s look at some examples of habit stacking that you could easily incorporate into your own daily routine. With a few small tweaks, you can start building a stack of habits that don’t take up much of your time, but could add up nicely over the weeks and months if done consistently. These are just habit stacking ideas, so use them as inspiration for your own routine.
Examples of morning habit stacking
- Wake up > drink a glass of water > take a vitamin.
When you wake up, you may already be heading straight to the kitchen for a glass of water. If you want to make sure you get a vitamin every day, do it first thing in the morning.
- Get dressed in your bedroom > make your bed.
This is another example of habit stacking that is fairly easy to achieve. Most people get dressed for the day in their bedroom, so making their bed before going out is easy to remember.
- Have a cup of coffee or tea > practice gratitude for a minute.
If you’re like me, one of the first things you do in the morning is make a cup of coffee. If you want to practice gratitude, a minute to yourself can do wonders. Sit down with your drink and think in your mind of three things you are grateful for.
- Go for a run > listen to a podcast > drink a protein shake when you get home.
When you’re out for a run, try swapping music for a podcast where you can learn something new. When you get home, drink a protein shake to aid your recovery, depending on your goals.
- Eat your breakfast > take some attention > stretch for 5 minutes.
After you eat your breakfast, take a break and let your mind go. This could involve meditating by simply closing your eyes and noticing your thoughts for a moment. Once you’ve done that, stretch and relax your body in preparation for the day.
Evening Habit Stacking Examples
- Eat lunch > go for a walk > call a friend.
Once you’ve eaten your lunch, go for a brisk walk to increase your daily steps. Add another little habit of checking in with a friend by calling them.
- Eat some fruit > read a book.
When you sit down to lunch, make it a ritual to eat some fruit while reading a book. Do this every day to start associating eating something healthy while exercising your brain.
- Do some back stretches > drink a glass of water.
Before returning to work, do some stretching and then drink a glass of water before sitting down at your desk.
- Complete a task > get up and stretch
Every time you check something off your to-do list, get up and stretch your body or move around in some way so you don’t stiffen at your desk.
- Make a healthy meal > go to the gym
Before you hit the gym, pack a healthy lunch when you get back so you’re not tempted to buy anything while you’re out. This is a good way to start connecting healthy eating with exercise.
Evening Habit Stacking Examples
- Put down your work stuff > lay out your clothes for the next day.
When you get home from work, instead of sitting down right away, gather the clothes you want to wear the next day and lay them out somewhere so they’re ready.
- Cook dinner > drink a glass of water > pack lunch for tomorrow.
While you are already in cooking mode during dinner preparation, start preparing your lunch for the next day. Add another glass of water to your day to create three habits in one stack.
- Let dinner cook > do 3 x 15 reps of push-ups > write a to-do list for tomorrow.
While you wait for dinner to cook, use the time to do push-ups. During the week, these daily habits add up. When you’ve done that, finish by creating a to-do list for the next day.
- Take a bath > read a book > drink green tea.
When you bathe at night, grab a cup of green tea to add some antioxidants to your daily routine. Keep your hands dry and use this downtime to read more of your book!
- Brush your teeth > floss > scrub your face.
Make your self-care routine simple by doing it all at night. You have to brush your teeth anyway, so why not add flossing as an extra step and then a cleansing face wash right after?
- Go to bed > write some sentences in your journal.
Once you’re in bed, charge your phone, then before you do anything else, jot down a few sentences in your journal to clear your mind before falling asleep.
More examples of habit stacking
- Sit on the bus > write in your diary > check emails
If you have to take the bus to school or work, consider if you could use that time to cross things off your list. Perhaps you could use this time to read a book or write in your journal and then catch up and clean up your messages and emails.
- Start work > catch up on emails > read a book
Likewise, if you find yourself getting to work a few minutes early each day, perhaps you could park and use those 10 minutes to read or catch up on emails and even add in a breathing exercise.
- Get up on Saturday > exercise > organize something
If you don’t have to shoot out the door on Saturday morning, block out that first hour or so by doing a workout. While you’re feeling productive and uplifted, go and tackle that thing you wanted to organize before you shower. Once you wash up and sit down, you’ll feel like you’ve accomplished two important things and still have the rest of the day free!
Build your habit by piling into your morning routine
One of the best ways to start building habit stacks is my experience is in the morning before the day starts to distract you. It’s a great time of day to establish a healthy routine before you even step out the door. If you can get a solid habit routine that you follow in the mornings, you’ll prove to yourself that you can do the same at any other time of the day. In my experience, a healthy morning routine helps set the tone for the rest of the day.
If you’ve always wanted to create a morning routine but aren’t sure where to start, try this habit stacking example that incorporates several small but helpful habits into your mornings.
Wake up and get up as soon as the alarm goes off > drink a glass of water > take a vitamin > make a coffee > while your coffee is cooling, do a stretching routine > do 30 push-ups > do 30 sit-ups > drink your coffee > do a ten minute breathing exercise > shower > get dressed.
Do you have a habit of stacking your own examples? Leave a comment below and share how you create helpful routines with your smallest habits.
