If you’ve ever tried to build a new habit - whether it’s exercising more, improving your nutrition, or simply remembering to take your supplements - you’ll know how difficult it can be to stay consistent.
We all know that motivation comes and goes and even our best intentions can fall apart under a busy schedule.
Well, let me introduce you to habit stacking.
Habit stacking is a simple yet very powerful concept. Instead of trying to recreate or build a new habit from scratch, you attach it to something you already do consistently. By stacking a new behaviour onto an existing routine, we make it easier to repeat and it eventually becomes automatic.
Habit Stacking Explained
Habit stacking is simply pairing a new action with an established habit so it becomes part of a seamless and effort routine. Think of it like this: After (current habit), I will (new habit). For instance:
After I wake up, I will go outside for morning sunlight
After I have my greek yoghurt for breakfast, I will take my Multee multivitamins
After my morning coffee, I will take my Creatine Monohydrate
After the gym, I will go in the sauna to support recovery
After I close my laptop, I will stretch
These are just some examples. The goal here is to remove the need to think. We turn intentional actions into automatic behaviours by anchoring them to something you already do every day.
Table of Contents
Habit Stacking Explained How Habit Stacking Works (And Why It’s So Effective) Making Habit Stacking Work: Real Life Examples Top Tips for Making Habit Stacking Work 1. Anchor What’s Already Solid 2. Keep It simple And Friction-Free 3. Stack Habits That Naturally Fit Together 4. Use Your Lifestyle As Your Framework 5. Focus On Consistency Over Perfection Small Actions, Repeated Consistently Frequently Asked Questions
How Habit Stacking Works (And Why It’s So Effective)
Habit stacking works because it taps directly into how habits are formed in the brain.
Every habit follows a loop: Cue→ Behaviour→ Reward. The cue triggers the action and the repetition strengthens the connection over time.
With habit stacking, the existing habit becomes the cue. That’s what makes habit stacking so effective. Instead of relying on memory or motivation, you’ll simply be using something already embedded in your routine.
There’s a body of strong evidence to support this approach also:
The British Journal of General Practice (2012) found that anchoring new habits to existing routines led to meaningful, long-term behaviour change, particularly in health-related behaviours.
The European Journal Of Social Psychology (2009) reported that it takes an average of 66 days for a behaviour to become automatic on average, but consistency (not perfection) is what matters the most.
What the research found is that limiting the amount of decision-making leads to greater adherence to the new habit/behaviour. When actions are pre-linked (like in habit stacking), you’re far less likely to skip them due to fatigue or indecision.
The easier a habit is to start, the more likely it is to stick. Habit stacking makes starting almost effortless.
Making Habit Stacking Work: Real Life Examples
1. Morning routine: building early momentum for the day
Mornings are one of the most reliable anchors within your day. For me, it can look like this:
- Wake up→ hydrate with water and Hydree Electrolytes
2. Training and performance: building upon the morning
If you train regularly, this is an easy win! I currently play football 2-3 times per week, gym and run twice a week. Instead of treating my recovery and preparation as separate tasks, I focus on ‘stacking them’ into my existing routine.
- Unpacking my gym bag→ have my protein shake
- After the gym session→ deep breathing work in the sauna
- Finishing a run→ deep stretching and mobility work
These are already linked to my training which is a fixed part of my week, so they require very little extra motivation/discipline from me. One simply flows into the next!
3. Workday movement and mobility
I’m a classic case of a sedentary athlete. Let me explain this further if you’re new to the concept! Despite doing lots of exercise/steps across the course of the day/week, I work sat at a laptop for long periods of time, leading to blocks of significant inactivity. However, habit stacking enables me to minimise and break that cycle. Here’s what currently works for me:
- Hour long work block→ 5 minutes of movement
- After a meeting→ 5 minute screen break
- Closing laptop for the day→ 10-15 minute yoga flow
These small stacks, although very simple, consistently support me with avoiding deconditioning of my muscles, aiding my posture but also supporting my concentration and quality of focus on tasks. It allows me to keep up my productivity levels throughout the day.
4. Lifestyle and recovery stacks
Not every effective habit stack has to involve nutrition or training. These are your habits, your stacks, and they should be tailored exactly to your targets/goals. For me, some of the most important habit stacks I have relate directly to my recovery and thus well-being. Here are some more examples:
- After my lunch→ i go for a walk to support digestion
- Before bed→ dim lighting and avoid screen time
- After brushing my teeth→ complete a 5-minute meditation
- With my morning coffee→ I complete a short journal entry
These are really simple, but hopefully you get the idea.
Top Tips for Making Habit Stacking Work
Building effective habits isn’t complicated, but doing it well makes all the difference. Here are my top tips for success.
1. Anchor What’s Already Solid
Choose habits that are already part of your daily routine - your morning/wake-up schedule, eating meals, training sessions, working at a desk, etc. The more consistent the anchor, the stronger the stack. Establishing these ‘fixed’ anchor points in your day-to-day life will make it far easier for you.
2. Keep It simple And Friction-Free
If the habit feels like effort, it won’t last! Preparing in advance always gives you the best chance of completing said behaviours/actions. That’s why I like to:
- Meal prep for the week
- Pack my gym bag the night before
- Have my supplements visible in the kitchen
- Clearly structure my day
The easier it is to act, the more consistent you’ll be!
3. Stack Habits That Naturally Fit Together
Don’t force it, the best stacks always feel logical and right! Hydration after exercise, stretching after work, walking after meals, etc. This feels natural and creates flow throughout my day. It’s important that I factor time to enable me to do this as it helps me optimise performance at work and in my personal life.
4. Use Your Lifestyle As Your Framework
Your habits should reflect your actual routine currently - not an ideal one! I already train regularly, so it therefore makes sense to stack my recovery, hydration and preparation around that. Because I work at a desk for long periods of time, I build in movement and mobility into my day to support function and goals. This makes it very sustainable for me.
5. Focus On Consistency Over Perfection
You DO NOT need to get it right every day. Missing a stack occasionally does not matter in the grand scheme of things. What matters is making the intentional effort to repeat an action or behaviour enough so that becomes automatic over time. These actions, albeit small and very achievable, will compound over time and produce very meaningful results.
Small Actions, Repeated Consistently
None of this is about encouraging you to do more things to your already busy days. This is all about doing things better and being more effective and efficient with your use of time.
It removes reliance on motivation (which naturally ebbs and flows), simplifies decision making and helps build consistency over areas you want to work and improve on. Whether it’s something as simple as improving your morning routine or staying on top of your supplements, or moving more throughout the day or even doom scrolling less at night, the principle for all is the same: small actions, repeated consistently, lead to long-term results.
If you are looking to improve your routine without overcomplicating it, habit stacking is one of the most effective tools you can use.
Think about and start with what you already do, every single day. Seek to add small, intentional habits and watch them build and grow.
When the habits become automatic, consistency stops being a challenge and it becomes your default.
The Author: Jordan Cantwell BSc Occupational Therapist
Jordan combines occupational therapy principles, health coaching and holistic support to help individuals improve their physical, cognitive and emotional wellbeing.
Jordan has experience working in multiple hospital settings and currently specialises in support and rehabilitation for individuals suffering from long-term effects of Covid-19.
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