Habit Stacking: For When Your Mental Load Is Maxed Out
Busy seasons of life can feel like the hardest time to make changes to our routines or improve our health. Becoming a new parent, changing careers, or experiencing other big life events can make creating new habits seem impossible—whilst at the same time, it’s when feeling our best is most needed.
*This is where the magic of habit stacking comes in.*
Put simply, habit stacking is adding a new habit on top of a well-established habit in your daily routine. The key is that the anchor habit must be something you do consistently, without thinking—like brushing your teeth.
Weaving in new actions in this way removes the mental burden of having to remember yet another thing on your already overspilling to-do list. It also means you don’t have to create lots of extra time in your schedule, as it should slot nicely into your current routine. On top of this, it helps build consistency with the new habit until it becomes a natural part of your day.
A Few Tips If You Want to Give Habit Stacking a Try
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The anchor habit and the new habit should be complementary. What I mean by this is: don’t use brushing your teeth before bed as your reminder to do a 45-minute home workout. Try to link habits together that can be done in the same space. Your morning coffee could be a reminder for a gratitude practice. You could add some stretching to your bedtime routine, or use bathroom breaks as a prompt to hydrate.
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Make it as easy as possible. By this, I mean removing anything that might cause resistance and setting up what you need ahead of time. For example, if you want to journal as part of your bedtime routine, leave your journal and pen by your bedside, and put your phone on ‘Do Not Disturb’ so you’re not tempted into a pre-bedtime scroll.
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Leave yourself reminders. Even though habit stacking makes it more likely you’ll remember to follow through, there’s still an element of conscious effort at the beginning. So leaving reminders for yourself increases the certainty of following through and means that less info needs to be stored in your mind. Some people like to set calendar reminders, post-it notes, or something as simple as leaving running trainers at the foot of your bed to remind you to get out for that run in the morning.
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As always, start small. This is one of those annoying pieces of advice but is always at the core of any of my programmes. Our vision and ambition can be as big and lofty as we like, but the consistent actions towards getting there should be small and achievable—that’s how we make lasting change.
Give it a go, you’ve got this!
If you’re in a busy season of life and struggling to fit wellness into your schedule, I’d love to help. This is an area I specialise in, book a free chat here.
Liv x