Habit stacking can assist those struggling to add new behaviors to their daily routines by pairing a new activity with one they already do frequently, such as listening to an audio podcast after dinner or taking a short walk after brushing their teeth.
Pick a cue.
As you build habits, it is crucial that you are aware of how long each task will take. Too many long-term tasks could become burdensome to your subconscious or make procrastination more likely; try keeping each stack under 10–15 minutes.
Habit stacking begins by identifying your existing anchor habits. These actions must already be part of your daily routine and have become second nature to you, such as brushing your teeth or taking an early morning walk, but you must select appropriate anchors for future behaviour changes.
Once you’ve identified your anchor habits, select any new habits you would like to add—for instance, eating more fruits or doing daily pushups—to your routine. By stacking new behaviours onto existing anchor habits, these new behaviours become automatic and less likely for you to forget them altogether. Be sure to select add-ons that are both easily achievable and relevant to achieving productivity goals.
So if you’re currently doing pushups every night before bed, combining that activity with meditation would not make sense; finding pairings that complement each other naturally in your lifestyle will be key here. To start off right and avoid overloading yourself, start by adding just two habits at first; once they become part of your routine, you can add on additional ones gradually. Once everything has settled into place, be sure to review regularly to make sure they work as intended, and don’t be afraid to adjust if necessary!
Create a plan.
To maximise habit-stacking’s potential, it’s vital that teams develop a clear plan. This ensures that everyone is on board and that habits are associated with their appropriate cues.
Establish Productivity Goals: From increasing overall productivity to improving communication or creativity, identify which productivity outcomes are most essential to your team and identify which habits can help achieve those outcomes.
Choose the Right Cues: In order to achieve your desired outcomes while remaining within your existing routines, selecting appropriate cues is critical. For example, when starting to exercise more frequently, it may help to pair new behaviors with existing habits, such as adding walking sessions as part of existing exercise habits or starting up Duolingo lessons alongside your morning coffee rituals.
Decide when and how you’ll introduce the new habit. Although it may seem obvious, the timing of the introduction of any new habit is crucial for success. Implementing new habits during periods of flexibility in your schedule, like before dinner or while working from home, can significantly reduce the likelihood of failure.
Remind and Track Progress: To increase team commitment to habit stacking, use tools such as Lark to reinforce this process and celebrate small victories and successes along their journey. This will build momentum and encourage them to continue onward.
Do It
Habit stacking is the practice of associating one new habit with an already established one in order to make it sustainable. Look at your routine and identify any current behaviors that have become part of it; these “anchors” could serve as ideal triggers for your new habits. For instance, if your goal is to get better sleep at night by going to bed earlier, pair this goal with sleep meditation to speed up your journey into dreamland while soothing your mind.
By connecting a new habit to an anchor, it becomes much simpler and less time-consuming for you to engage in its desired behavior, increasing its chance of becoming permanent in your life. Plus, over time, you can easily modify and tailor your routine as necessary to optimize its efficiency for maximum effectiveness.
At its core, creating an effective habit stack requires developing simple routines of two or three habits that are easy to remember and execute; for instance, brushing your teeth every morning would make an excellent starting point for building one of your own habit stacks. Once established as part of daily ritual, add another habit, such as meditation, to the mix until it too becomes automatic, such as brushing teeth every morning, as an anchor habit.
To keep track of your progress, use a habit stack journal to record daily routines and habits. This can assist in pinpointing effective strategies and areas for improvement, and acknowledging minor achievements is crucial for sustaining motivation and achieving your objectives.
Check it off.
Building lasting habits takes time. Layering new behaviours on top of existing ones can help you make changes like adopting a healthier diet or increasing productivity, and by setting up an accountability system for your new routine, you can stay motivated to stick to it.
Establish your current daily habits, and select anchors to use when building a habit stack. For example, you might choose to brush your teeth before bed or drink coffee every morning as your anchors. Once you’ve chosen these anchors, choose new behaviors to stack on top of them, and establish an anchor cue, such as “After [anchor], I will [new habit].”
To make new behaviors easier to do on a consistent basis, keep them simple and manageable. Complex behaviours take more time to become habits; for instance, making exercise part of your weekly schedule may take weeks, while it only takes a few minutes to floss one tooth or put on gym clothes regularly. In his book Atomic Habits, James Clear elaborates on this process.
Trying different habit stacking strategies may be helpful. BJ Fogg developed the Tiny Habits method, which involves taking small actions (like flossing or setting out workout clothes the night before) to make new habits feel more achievable. Another popular strategy is time-blocking, which involves setting aside specific periods for desired activities.
Repeat
Habit-stacking can be an effective strategy to help you meet your productivity goals. It allows you to take advantage of existing behaviours while connecting them with new ones that will lead you towards your objectives more quickly, increasing their chance of sticking to your daily routines more securely.
Start by exploring what productivity means to you and identifying ways you can increase it, then determine the kind of habits and order in which to add them. From there, scrutinize your daily routine and identify any habits that have become ingrained in you; these will serve as anchors. Choose some positive productivity behaviors you wish to adopt and connect them with them. For example, if you often drink coffee first thing in the morning, use this as a chance to initiate other productive habits like brushing your teeth or preparing healthy breakfast options.
Create triggers for each new behaviour you plan to adopt. Make sure the triggers are clearly defined and simple—for instance, something as straightforward as “after I finish drinking coffee, I will brush my teeth” is an ideal reminder—or use an app that offers reminder features to set reminders for all of your new habits.
Make sure you acknowledge and reward yourself when making progress, which will boost motivation and encourage you to keep going even when things seem challenging. Also remember to review and modify routines as necessary; asking friends or mentors for feedback could be especially useful when trying habit stacking.
