How to Master Habit Stacking in 4 Easy Steps to Become THAT GIRL

We’ve all had those moments where we’ve convinced ourselves that we were going to get our live together “this month”, making these 42-step routine to follow and watching all of the TikTok videos on how to become a productive girlie for motivation. The problem is that we think we can change our lives over night by doing all of these steps but end up getting overwhelmed in the process.

Nothing’s wrong with wanting to change our lives, but change happens one step at a time not in 42 steps. This is where habit stacking comes into play. Habit stacking is one of the most effective ways to build habits without feeling overwhelmed. It’s the ultimate cheat code for the productive girlies who want to transform their lives. If you’re tired of your habits falling through you’ve come to the right place, because this is the ultimate guide for habit stacking.

How to Master Habit Stacking in Four Easy Steps to Become That Girl — Image by Young Women’s Essence on Pinterest

What is Habit Stacking?

Habit Stacking is to add a new habit before or after a habit that you already have. Think of it as adding a new LEGO block to a piece you already have been building.

The concept of stacking habits is before or after you do your current habit, you begin or follow up with your new habit.

For instance, after I brush my teeth (current habit), I’ll read 10 pages of a book (new habit) or before I lay down (current habit), I’ll lay out my work clothes for the next day (new habit).

Habit stacking is simple; it’s like piggybacking off of a habit that already exists in your life.

Why Habit Stacking Works?

Our Brains Love Patterns

We’re creatures of habit. Our brains love routines and habits. It loves cues and repetition. In fact, our brains don’t have to work hard when habit stacking. Moreover, our brains love it when we attach a new habit to a current habit because it associates them together. In a sense, the old habit becomes a reminder of doing the new habit.

The less you have to think about doing something the more likely you’ll do it.

It’ll Be Hard Not to Follow Through

Many of us fail at a new habit because we simply forget to do it until we stop doing it all together. When we don’t habit stack, the habit we’re trying to build will be out of sync with our routine, making it hard to remember.

However, when we attach our new habit to a current habit of ours it will be hard to forget because our current habit will by default become our reminder to take action. This is why habit stacking works because it helps you remember to do a habit.

Think about it, if you say, “I’ll go at the gym”, it’ll be harder to follow through because it’s not in your routine, it’s something new to you. But, if you say, “I’ll go at the gym, after I finish my breakfast”, you’re more likely to remember to go to the gym.

It Makes the New Habit Feels Easier

Sometimes our brains avoid things when they are new, uncomfortable, or seems too big for us to do.

Trying to build a new habit by itself seems hard, until we pair it with an existing habit. It sounds more manageable and less intimidating to say, “I’ll take a 20 minutes’ walk after I drink my coffee”, rather than, “I’ll go on a 20-minutes’ walk”.

Furthermore, when we habit stack, it helps us take small steps which builds momentum over time and create results.

How to Habit Stack?

1. Identify Your Anchor Habits

Your current habits are the foundation to building your new habits on. In fact, your current habits are your anchor habits. Your anchor habits are actions you do on repeat without thinking about them; to do them, you don’t need any motivation or reminders. These are the habits you want to attach your new habits to.

Therefore, identify your anchor habits. Mentally walk through your morning and night routine. Then, make a list of your anchor habits. Your anchor habits can be brushing your teeth, getting dress, doing your hair, making your bed, etc. They’re things that you don’t need much thinking to do them, they’re just automatic for you. You don’t need a perfect routine to identify your anchor habits.

2. Take Tiny Steps

When creating a new habit, a lot of people make the common mistake of being overly ambitious. Journaling for an hour. Working out for an hour. Reading 50 pages daily. All of these habits are achievable, but they’re too big for a beginner.

You’ll start to see these habits as too much and quiet them. Therefore, don’t get overly motivated, but start with small actions and build on it over time. So, instead of journaling for an hour start with 5 minutes, instead of working out for an hour start with 15 minutes, and instead of reading 50 pages a day start with 5. Starting off small makes it easier for you to follow through with action.

When starting a new habit your main focus should be consistency rather than intensity.

If you want to learn how to make a new habit stick and succeed at them, you must first start off small.

3. Use Clear Triggers

The secret to learning how to make new habits stick, is to create specific triggers. Saying that you’ll go on a 10-minute walk daily may sound wonderful, however, it is not clear enough. Instead, say “I’ll go on a 10-minute walk after I brush my teeth.”

When you combine a new habit with an old habit, the brain automatically associates these habits together.

Also, clear triggers are important for habit stacking because they tell you when you need to take action. Without triggers you won’t know when to start a habit, which can cause you not to take action.

Triggers also eliminate decision fatigue. You don’t have to decide when to do a habit because it’s already connected to an existing one. You won’t have to keep remembering to do a habit because your triggers will remind you.

4. Focus on Creating One or Two Habits at a Time

Some of us have this notion that we can change our lives overnight. We want to wake up at 4 o’clock, go to the gym for an hour, journal every morning for 30 minutes, and eat healthier all at once, which leads to burnout and quitting. This isn’t realistic.

Instead, we should focus on automating one or two habits that’ll have the biggest impact on our lives first.

Hence, when your new habits become easier for you, add to them little at a time.

Starting small when habit stacking builds confidence because you actually follow through with your habits. Each time you show up and do what you said you’ll do, you begin to build trust in yourself.

Slow progress is still progress and productivity isn’t built overnight. Therefore, take it one step at a time.

Common Mistakes of Habit Stacking

1. Trying to Change Your Entire Life Overnight

You watch a productive morning routine on TikTok, suddenly you get a burst of motivation to wake up at 5:30 a.m., workout daily, meal prep, and become this higher version of yourself overnight.

This isn’t how habit stacking works. Your brain will begin to feel burnout and stress when you have too many things going on at once. As a result, causing you to quit. Instead of building habits that are sustainable you’ll see them as chores.

This fantasy version of yourself will become impossible to keep up with.

The right way to habit stack is by starting with one or two habits and gradually build on them.

The goal is to build a routine that supports your long-term progress, not one that destroys it.

2. Choosing Bad Anchors

Another common mistake that people make when habit stacking is choosing habits that they’re inconsistent with as their anchor. When choosing a habit to stack on, it must be reliable. Your anchor habit shouldn’t be “after I come from the gym, I’ll make a healthy meal”, when you only go to the gym once every month.

Choose strong anchors that you often stick to. You can choose anchor habits such as brushing your teeth, making coffee, or taking a shower as a trigger to take action on your new habit.

3. Making the Habit too Big

If you want to learn how to make a new habit stick, you must start off small. When we get too overly ambitious, we think that we can do it all at once: work out for 90 minutes, meal prep, and organize our lives overnight. This is way of building habits isn’t practical.

Making your habits too big will feel like a throne in your side more than something that can change your life for the better.

The key to making habit stacking work for you is by making them so small that they almost feel like nothing to do. In fact, starting off small makes the habit feel more approachable and less intimidating.

Wrapping Things Up

So, now you know how to habit stack, it’s time to put it into practice. First, you want to define your anchor habit: what are the habits you do on a daily basis without failing? Secondly, stack your new habits on your anchor habits: build your new habits gradually, consistently is much more important. Thirdly, use your old habits as triggers to remind you to act on your new habits: make sure your triggers are clear and you do them without fail. Finally, you want to perfect one or two habits at a time: choose the most meaningful habits to build and stack on them little by little.

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How to Master Habit Stacking in 4 Easy Steps to Become THAT GIRL

What is Habit Stacking?