Forming good habits can be just as difficult as breaking bad ones. You know something is good for your health, your mind, or simply makes life easier, yet it’s hard to keep the momentum going, or you just keep forgetting. While it can be frustrating, productivity experts and self-help professionals have found a method that can help you stick to a new good habit: stack it onto one you already have.
Life coach and habit builder Shelby Sacco quickly breaks down a simple technique to develop, retain, and maintain good habits dubbed “habit stacking” on her social media. Habit stacking is a technique popularized by author James Clear but founded by behavioral experts BJ Fogg and S.J. Scott that involves taking the habit that you wish to adopt and including it to your established routine. By combining what you have to do with what you get to do, your brain begins to associate the new habit with the one you already have baked in, essentially combining them into a single habit.
Here’s an example of habit stacking: Let’s say that you want to drink more water each day to meet hydration goals, but you can’t seem to drink enough. In this situation, let’s say that the first thing you do after your morning shower is brew coffee and fill up your mug. A way to habit stack is to take your mug and fill it up with water, drink it down, and then brew your coffee as you usually do. You won’t have to think too much about it, since the elements of your established habit and your new habit are the same: you need water and a mug to make and drink coffee. If you wanted to drink more water, you could create additional habit stacks, like drinking another cup before making a second coffee or having a full glass of water with each meal.
Many people succeed at habit stacking by incorporating one new habit with an existing one (for example, putting floss next to your toothbrush so you remember to floss before brushing), but that doesn’t have to be the case. If you want to read more but can’t seem to make time for that and exercise, you could listen to audiobooks while on the treadmill. If you and your partner want another regular date night but chores like laundry get in the way, you could try a “Laundry Date Night” on Wednesdays, going to the laundromat together and stopping by the cafe next door to chat while your clothes tumble dry.
By doubling up like this, you can turn less fun habits into something to look forward to each time. Or, on the opposite end, you can combine two not-so-fun chores to get them done at the same time and earn extra time back, rather than doing them separately.
Like any habit, good or bad, momentum and repetition will cement it into your regular routine. You can then stack additional habits onto it again and again to achieve whatever goals you’re working toward. Like anything else, good habits are best maintained when they’re added and built over time, without judgment.
