Habit Stacking 101: Creating Habits That Stick
What are your daily habits? In other words, what do you do every single day without a reminder or any extra effort? We all have good habits, bad habits and neutral habits that play a part of our daily lives. New habits are hard to create. Trying to incorporate something new into your daily routine can often be discouraging. Before they can become ingrained in your life, they require motivation, dedication, time, and effort. It’s not easy to stick to something new, but there is a method that works better than most, habit stacking. Here are some tips on how to use habit stacking as a form of incorporating new habits that help you achieve your goals.
What is Habit Stacking?
Whether they’re good, bad, or neutral, we each have our fair share of habits ingrained in our routines. These are the habits you don’t even have to think twice about, such as brushing your teeth or driving to work. Habit stacking is a technique popularized by James Clear in his book, “Atomic Habits”. Essentially, this method takes advantage of existing habits to build new ones more easily. Link the habits you’re trying to create with the ones you already have. For example, if you have a routine of making a cup of coffee every morning and you want to drink water as soon as you wake up, you can drink a glass of water while making your coffee. Not only does habit stacking help you remember to do your new habit, but it also gives you a specific time and place that you must do it and it fits into a pattern that your brain is already familiar with. .
How Can We Use Habit Stacking to Create New Habits?
The first step of the process is to take note of all your current habits. What do you do each day or each week that comes easy to you? Write this down. Then, find where and when it makes the most sense to link new habits to your old ones. For example, if you know your mornings are busy, don’t make your own lunch while drinking your coffee. Instead, prepare your lunch the night before, right after washing the dishes, or performing another nightly habit that you already have. Now that you understand the benefits of habit-stacking, here are a few tips on how to create and stick to manageable habits.
Set Clear Goals
The first step in forming effective habits is to gear them towards clear and specific goals. You may have heard of the SMART acronym for setting goals. Your goals should be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-based. For example, rather than setting a goal to be fit, you can set a goal of exercising for a specific amount of time at a certain frequency throughout the week. With a clear goal in mind, it will be much easier to create habits that get you closer to the life you want to live.
Start Small
It is crucial that you start building your habits with a small time frame. The most common reason that people give up on their goals is when they set overly high expectations from the start. For example, don’t expect to meditate for one hour the first time you try it. Start with one or two minutes until you get comfortable with that. Understanding that sustainable change cannot occur at the snap of your fingers will allow you to integrate these habits into your routines gradually. Try to do your new habits at the same time each day so that it becomes a part of your routine. Over time you can continue to build up your habits.
Consistency is Key
Set reminders. Don’t expect to feel motivated and excited to do your tasks every single day. There will be days that you feel unmotivated or simply forget and that is more than okay! Just set reminders to keep you on track. The most useful form of reminder is probably a visual reminder. For example, if you want to make sure that you go on a walk or run each morning, put your workout clothes and running shoes right next to your bed so that they’re the first thing you see when you wake up. Additionally, you can create a notification on your phone, use a habit-tracking app or share your habit goals with a friend or your coach so that they can act as your accountability partner. These cues will help remind you what you wanted when you started your journey, even when life gets busy or you don’t feel motivated.
Track Your Progress
Habit formation takes time. Be patient with yourself, and don't be discouraged by occasional setbacks. It's normal to have days when you slip up, but the key is to get back on track. Habit tracking apps and accountability partners are not only great for daily reminders, but can also help you to see each individual day as part of a bigger picture. Be flexible and gracious in your approach. If a particular habit isn't working for you or your circumstances change, feel free to adjust or adapt it. The goal is to create habits that serve YOU, so they should be adaptable to your needs.
Reward Yourself
As you can see, building a habit is a lot of work. It really helps to associate this progress with positive outcomes, such as seeing friends or having a spa day. Not only will this motivate you to keep going, but you also deserve it. The best part about rewarding yourself for creating new habits is that these are just outward symbols of the internal reward, the healthier and happier you. That being said, try not to work towards rewards that contradict your progress towards your goals (like getting ice cream…). Your reward should not be an excuse to slip back into your bad habits for a feel good moment. The goal is to feel good afterward!
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The fact is, change is hard and motivation alone doesn’t work (I think we all figured that out). By setting clear goals and stacking habits that bring you closer to those goals daily, you will have the opportunity to be an eyewitness of your own life changing. Invite your friends and mentors on the journey to hold you accountable, encourage you and celebrate with you. Together, we can build on your strengths and skills and come up with actionable steps that fit into your daily routine that get you exactly where you deserve to be. After all, we have ONE life and this journey is about YOU!
Additional Resources
Habit Stacking was popularized by James Clear, a leading expert in the field of habit formation. He is most well known for his book, “Atomic Habits”. However, his website is full of articles, resources and insights on breaking bad habits and building up good ones. Check it out here: https://jamesclear.com/
Interested in habit stacking but not sure where to start? Here are five habits of healthy people that you can use your new habit stacking skills to incorporate in your daily life: https://www.virtualhealthcoaches.com/blog/the-5-habits-of-healthy-people
To learn more about the science behind habits and habit formation, check out The Power of Habit Blog. It is associated with Charles Duhigg, the author of “The Power of Habit” and provides plenty of valuable content. It can be found here: https://thepowerofhabit.com/blog/
The writer of this blog is Claudia Haller, NBC-HWC Health and Wellnness Coach. Claudia believes that food is medicine and that our thoughts and the way we speak to ourselves are powerful tools that can help or hurt us. Mindset is everything. She loves creating a judgment-free environment and meeting her clients where they are. One of the most exciting parts of coaching for her is to create a vision with her clients and then use their personal strengths to come up with goals and an action plan. She finds that sometimes clients simply need help creating space in their daily routines for self care.
Facts rarely help people create lasting change. Behavioral health and wellness coaching is where the magic happens. It is where facts, vision, managing time and the excitement for change come together. It’s like a secret sauce and Claudia loves being part of that process. “Self hacking your body with curiosity and patience” is one of her favorite statements.
She offers 1:1 coaching, group coaching, detox programs, corporate workshops and a membership program to offer the consistent support of a familiar community.
If you are interested in how to integrate habit stacking into your life and you prefer personal guidance and support, then working with a coach might be the perfect solution for you. During a strategy session, we will discuss your goals and come up with a plan that is tailored specifically for you. If you are ready to take action and create balance in your busy life, click here now to schedule your free call.