Habit stacking: What it is and 5 examples

It feels good to plan for a major life change. Exercising more, getting a new job, or finally setting up that dating app profile are all wins worth celebrating.

But you might be familiar with the dreaded feeling of realizing you’ve slipped back into old habits. You struggle to exercise consistently, you keep procrastinating writing a cover letter, and never actually go on dates.

Whether you just want to make sure you drink water every day or you’re training to become an elite athlete, habits are the key to achieving any goals you’ve set for yourself. But building solid habits is easier said than done. Doing a daily task once or twice might be realistic, but consistency is key to lasting change.

If you’re struggling to meet those goals, habit stacking could be an effective tool for reaching them. It’s about adding new habits onto the ones you already have, making them easier to remember and complete.

What’s habit stacking?

Habit stacking involves taking advantage of connected behaviors by choosing an existing current habit and “stacking” a new behavior on top of it. 

Productivity author S. J. Scott first outlined this concept in his 2017 book Habit Stacking: 97 Small Life Changes That Take Five Minutes or Less. Then, James Clear, author of the bestselling book Atomic Habits, referred to habit stacking as a form of implementation intention. This involves making an intentional plan to fit a particular behavior into your daily routine instead of waiting for motivation or a mindset shift to make it happen, making you more likely to actually implement the habit.

If you want to get more exercise, making the decision to work out for an hour a day likely isn’t realistic if you currently never make time for it. Your routine doesn’t have space for that time, and when you’re tired from work, you keep putting it off. But if you already have a habit of making a cup of coffee as part of your morning routine, you can stack an exercise habit on top of it by doing 10 push-ups while you wait for it to brew. It’s not the same as an hour at the gym, but it’s a small — and more realistic — step toward reaching your goal.

The power of synaptic pruning

Synaptic pruning is the neural phenomenon that makes habit stacking work. As a person ages, the brain naturally gets rid of connections between neurons, or brain cells, that it doesn’t need anymore. And at the same time, it builds more of the connections the brain uses most frequently.

Synaptic pruning occurs every time you build a habit. The more you continue with existing habits, the stronger the neural pathways become, and the more likely you’ll be to keep it going. The idea is to create healthy habits by starting with something small (like pairing 10 push-ups with your morning coffee), staying consistent enough to build up your synaptic connections, and using those connections to further your habits.

This phenomenon also explains why it’s hard to bring big habits into your life without prior practice. Working out for an hour every day is much harder when your brain isn’t used to it. But when you start with a few daily push-ups, your brain improves your exercise skills slowly, and you can build from there. You can move from push-ups to a full at-home workout, and eventually, turn that behavior into hitting the gym. 

How to start habit stacking: 5 steps

According to Gallup, 70% of adults in the U.S. set goals for themselves at the beginning of every year, but only one-third are very likely to take steps toward achieving them. Habit stacking can help you stick to new routines and reach the goals you set.

Here are a few ways you can start habit stacking and spark behavioral change:

1. Observe and take notes

Before attempting to create new habits, take some time to fully understand your old ones. Use a day or two to take stock of what you do and how you feel on a regular basis, whether that concerns small habits or big responsibilities. Ask yourself questions like:

• What do I never forget to do?
• How do I spend my time?
• How do I feel at different times of the day?
• What’s going on around me during each hour?
• When am I at my worst and best?
• What things tend to get in the way of my intentions?

By considering your day-to-day routine and the existing conditions of your life, you can start identifying opportunities to form new habits throughout the day.

2. List all of your current habits

Make an exhaustive list of your daily habits. This means writing down every little thing you do, from washing your hair at night to taking your lunch break at a certain time. You might spot good habits you didn’t even know you had, like eating a healthy snack when you log off from work or journaling in the evening.

Consider using a habit stacking template like a habit scorecard (the one from Atomic Habits is a popular choice) to keep track of everything you do. That way, you can organize every activity by time, importance, and impact.

3. Set a very specific cue and goal

Cues are the current habits on which you plan to stack new ones. If you have an old habit of sitting down at your desk to eat a salad each day, you can use that as a cue to do some light stretching, write an entry in your gratitude journal, or complete five minutes of meditation.

Whatever the new habit you’re trying to set, be very specific about when and where you’ll do it. Setting a goal to go on a walk every day is very different from planning to walk for 15 minutes around your office at lunch. The former is vague, while the latter has a concrete plan attached to it, making you more likely to follow through.

4. Be realistic about cues

Be realistic about your goals when habit stacking, meaning you’ll need to consider how much time and energy you actually have. If you already tend to go to bed late and wake up tired in the morning, it might not be a great idea to try to read 10 pages of a book or listen to an educational podcast before turning in for the night. Similarly, you can’t do yoga on your lunch break if you’re busy and end up eating at your desk.

Consider your notes from your Atomic Habits scorecard and adjust your intentions accordingly. Maybe you have time after dinner to read those pages, or you can listen to a podcast while walking your dog. Having all of your potential habit cues in front of you can make it easier to pinpoint the best ones to stack.

5. Establish a concrete timeline

Avoid procrastination by specifying how long you’ll keep up with your new habit. Do you want to meditate for a week and then evaluate whether it’s helping you feel calmer, or do you hope to make it a daily practice? How about exercising for 30 days to see if it makes a difference in your energy levels or ability to sleep at night?

Setting a limit for new habits, or a time you plan on revisiting them, can make them easier to manage. Doing yoga every day for a week seems much smaller than doing it forever, and after a week you might even find you want to keep going. Create a timeline, stick to it, and then reward yourself for being consistent when it’s done.

5 habit stacking examples

These examples can give you an idea of potential triggers and how to pair them with new habits. For added motivation, explain the reason why you’re doing each one so you never forget what you’re working toward.

1. When I get out of bed, I’ll do five minutes of stretching to improve my agility.
2. When I sit down for dinner with my family, I’ll ask each person a question about their day to deepen my individual relationships.
3. When I have my weekly 1:1 with my manager, I’ll use 30 minutes afterward to brainstorm ways to implement their feedback so I don’t forget.
4. When I eat breakfast, I’ll take my vitamins to improve my health.
5. When I finish a task at work, I’ll walk around the room for five minutes to avoid feeling stagnant.

9 tips for better habit stacking

If you’re sold on the idea of habit stacking but need inspiration, here are some ways to implement it. Use these to motivate yourself and take small steps toward improvement:

1. “After/before (insert current habit), I will (insert new habit)”: Plugging your habits into this statement is a simple way to create effective cues and cement your habit stacking. Write this down on a sticky note and keep it in the place where you’ll be conducting your new behavior each day so you never forget.
2. Take advantage of the two-minute rule: If you’re starting small, a new habit should take two minutes or less to do each day — any more than that and you might be reluctant to keep it up. When you’ve formed the habit, you can move on to longer tasks.
3. Ditch your to-do list and write a “done” list: Write down the things you accomplish each day right after you do them. You can then use this list as motivation to work toward your goals, since seeing your progress toward a goal recorded increases your odds of success. 
4. Use time-blocking for better motivation: It’s easier to do something you don’t want to do when you know there’s a time limit on it. Break down your schedule each day so you know exactly how long each task will take and avoid procrastination. 
5. Tackle your hardest tasks first thing in the morning: Once you’ve finished your most difficult task, it’s all easier from there. You’re more likely to enjoy the rest of your day knowing the hardest part is over. This strategy is also known as “eating the frog,” or doing your most difficult or cumbersome tasks first.
6. Focus on the three most important tasks of the day: Avoid creating a miles-long to-do list each day. Instead, write down the three most important habits you want to complete. This prevents you from being overwhelmed and helps ensure your goals are realistic.
7. Use subtasks to create manageable steps for goal completion: Break your large goals into smaller steps. This makes the journey more manageable and allows you to see and celebrate your progress along the way. If you want to read 20 books by the end of the year, break that down into how many you must read per month and how many chapters you need to finish daily. Then, make those chapters your habit.
8. Tell others about your goals to create accountability: It’s much easier to bail on your goals when no one knows about them but you. Hold yourself accountable by telling others about your intentions. Ask them to check in with you about your progress and provide encouragement on the journey. You might even find an accountability buddy who also has habits they want to work toward.
9. Reward yourself when you’ve completed a task: Don’t wait until you’ve reached your big goal to start rewarding yourself. Even small habits can be difficult, and rewarding yourself for the little things can provide the energy and motivation you need to keep up the good work.

Starting small can have a big impact

Attempting to achieve a new goal or build a new habit can seem daunting, but habit stacking makes it more doable. By pairing a new routine with an old one, you can leverage the power of synaptic connections in the brain to build positive habits that lead to success.

As you set out on your journey to form better habits, remember to be patient and practice empathy for yourself and others. Slip-ups and setbacks will happen, so learn to take them in stride. Before you know it, your new habits and routines will become second nature, and you’ll be well on your way to reaching long-term goals.