IMPROVING HABITS WITH HABIT STACKING

WHAT IS HABIT STACKING?

Habit stacking is a method of forming a new habit by attaching it to a habit you already have. It is easier to add another action or activity to a habit that already has an established time or trigger. If you are interested in reading more about this type of habit building, I would suggest checking out the books Tiny Habits by BJ Fogg and Atomic Habits by James Clear.

HOW TO START HABIT STACKING

First, make a list of the habits you already have.  We often have many habits that we don’t even think of as habits.  Some examples might be: brushing your teeth, taking a shower, getting dressed, making coffee, or eating breakfast. Really think about all of the things you do each day without really thinking too much about it.  These are the habits that you want to use to build on so that you can stack on new habits. Pick one of these habits that makes the most sense to stack a new habit onto.

Examples of stacking a habit might be something like:

• While I eat lunch, I will clean up my email inbox
• Before I cook dinner, I will take my vitamin
• After dishes are done, I will read for 10 minutes
• After I get out of bed in the morning, I will immediately make the bed
• When I get into bed at night, I will read for 20 minutes

MAKE SURE YOU KNOW THE REASON YOU ARE ADDING YOUR NEW HABIT

We often talk about knowing your “why”. This is an important part of creating new habits also. Make sure you know why you want to add a new habit. Make sure you are adding a habit that is truly important to you. Don’t add habits just because you think you should. If everyone is trying to get in journaling time, but you don’t really like writing, then don’t try to create a journaling habit just because you have heard others doing it. You only have so much time for daily habits, so make sure you are using that time on things that really matter to you.

PUT YOUR NEW HABIT ON YOUR TO-DO LIST

Even though you are attaching your habit to an already existing habit, you still may forget to do it at first. I know there have been many times I will tell myself starting tomorrow I will do a new habit that I want to create when I do something else. I’m super excited about it and certain I will do it at the time. Very often by the time tomorrow comes, all of the enthusiasm is gone, and I often completely forget. By putting it on your daily to-do list for a while, it will be a good reminder.

DON’T DO IT ALL AT ONCE

Focus on one new habit at a time. Sometimes when we get all excited about starting new habits we start coming up with so many great ideas about what we can do. The chances of success are very low if you try to add all these new habits at once. If you haven’t been doing them all along, it’s OK if you take your time building on your good habits. Start small and build over time.  Think progress over perfection. If you are doing one small new habit, you are doing better today than you did yesterday. So acknowledge your success no matter how small.

If you try to add too much at once, you will more likely than not burn out.  This can cause you to give up on the whole thing. If you do zero pushups right now, don’t add a new habit of 20 pushups a day.  Maybe try for 2 or 3. If you want to drink 6 glasses of water a day, and currently don’t drink much water at all – maybe try for 2 glasses.  Once you have a good habit, you can build on it.

TIPS TO STICK TO YOUR BUILDING YOU NEW HABITS

Occasionally you might not complete your new habit, but try to never let yourself miss two days in a row. You will lose momentum and it will make it easier for you to continue to skip other days. Try tracking a daily streak.  My tip for streaks is trying not make them all or nothing.  I use a habit tracker but started setting a goal to complete the goal a certain percentage of the time. Before that, often if I lost my streak instead of picking up the next day, I would basically just give up. So, be careful about how you set up streaks, and don’t be too harsh on yourself.

Do not try stacking on a new habit until the previous one you added has truly become a habit that you no longer have to think about it.  It should just be part of what you do.  Then you can add on something new. Tell someone about the new habit you are working on, this can help you stay committed when you know someone else is aware of what you are trying to do.

Thanks so much for checking in! If you would like to hear the podcast version of this topic to check out Lola’s Frugal Life Podcast! Also, be sure to check out my other blog posts on this site!

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