Many people have ambitious goals to improve their health: exercise, meditate, eat healthier, go to bed earlier. But often those good intentions to improve well-being do not translate into reality, despite the best efforts.
“When people don’t reach their health or wellness goals, it’s not because they don’t care enough or because they’re not disciplined,” said Dr. Eve Glazier, chair of the UCLA School of Health Practice Group and host of the podcast “Medically Speaking”.
According to Glazier, this is because they rely too much on motivation to create new habits, and not enough on a structured, realistic implementation plan. “Therein lies the interest of the idea of accumulating habits,” he said.
The habit building technique, known as “Tiny Habits,” has gained a lot of popularity in recent years. Created by BJ Fogg, author of tiny habitsand later popularized by James Clear, author of Atomic habits.
“It’s a technique that many behavioral therapists use,” said Beena Persaud, a psychologist at the Cleveland Clinic. “I use it with my patients constantly.”
We talked to experts about how habit stacking works, what the science says, and how to use it to start making real progress toward your health and wellness goals.
What is habit accumulation?
The habit accumulation technique consists of linking a new habit that you are trying to form with an existing one, or “stacking” the new habit on top of the previous one. “You take a habit that is already part of your daily routine, like brushing your teeth or making coffee, which is very common, and use it as a starting point for a new action, even a small one,” Glazier explained. For example: After I shower in the morning, I will do a 10-minute guided meditation.
According to Persaud, a key component to creating habits is the specificity of the action itself. It’s about boiling down a broad, abstract goal (like “get in shape” or “exercise”) to something tangible and achievable (like “do 20 push-ups” or “run around the block”).
Another important aspect is the specificity of when and where you will perform the action. For example, instead of planning to exercise “in the morning,” choose the exact time of day, such as “after finishing a cup of coffee.”
The habit stacking technique seems simple, but it can be surprisingly effective. “It’s a very practical way to turn an intention into something people can actually do,” says Glazier, who has used this technique to help her patients (and herself) achieve goals like becoming more hydrated or meditating.
Why Habit Stacking Works
Despite the widespread use of the habit stacking technique, there is little research on it, said Katy Milkman, professor and co-director of the Behavior Change Initiative for the Common Good at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and author of How to change: The science of getting from where you are to where you want to be.
A small study of 50 people found that those who flossed after brushing their teeth (rather than before) tended to form more ingrained habits and floss more frequently. However, there are currently no large, well-designed studies demonstrating the effectiveness of habit stacking.
That said, “it’s very intuitive that it works,” Milkman said. “It matches our theory of habit and what should work, based on previous research.” The habit stacking technique takes ideas from several other well-studied techniques, Persaud explained.
Signs
One of the hardest parts of forming a new habit is remembering it, so having a reminder—which scientists call a cue or anchor—can be very helpful.
“Research in behavioral therapy shows that we are more likely to maintain habits when they are cue-driven,” Persaud said.
If you’re trying to get into the habit of taking a new medication, for example, your cue might be an alarm on your phone or leaving the bottle of pills on the counter. With the habit stacking technique, you use an existing habit as a cue for the new habit.
Consistency
According to research, the most important ingredient in creating a new habit is constant repetition, Milkman said. “If you do something over and over again, over time it becomes automatic,” he explained.
The brain tends to automate behaviors that we repeat frequently, creating a neural pathway for that action and thus turning it into a habit. (For example, this is why we instinctively wash our hands after going to the bathroom.)
The theory is that habit stacking can help you incorporate a new habit more efficiently, Milkman said, because daily cues encourage frequent repetition.
Small changes
A common mistake is trying to make drastic changes instead of focusing on small steps, Persaud explained. Research on behavior change suggests that small, incremental changes become habits more quickly, strengthen self-efficacy, and are ultimately more sustainable.
Also read: This simple activity is surprisingly good for the brain
By making a new habit something manageable and achievable (like “drink a glass of water when I wake up” instead of “get more hydrated”), you set yourself up for success. “The important thing is to increase your confidence,” concluded Persaud.
How to create a habit stack
If you want to use the habit stacking technique to help you achieve a health or wellness goal, here you go
A step-by-step approach from the experts:
1. Choose a small, realistic new habit: Identify the new behavior you want to incorporate into your day. Be clear and specific, and start small, advises Persaud.
Think about: one minute of deep breathing, 20 squats, or writing down three things you are grateful for. Don’t think about “going to the gym for an hour” or “practicing gratitude.” The clearer and more achievable the habit is, the more likely you are to stick with it.
2. Identify the anchoring habit: Next, think about what time of day you can incorporate that new habit.
“Make a list of your current habits,” Glazier said. “What do you do every day, rain or shine, without even thinking about it?” (Don’t include behaviors that vary from day to day, because then your new habit won’t have a reliable signal, Persaud explained.) Then, choose the main habit that makes sense to combine the new habit with. For example, it makes more sense to put “apply sunscreen” after “wash my face” than after “finish breakfast.”
3. Create a formula: Now, let’s combine both: After [el hábito ancla]I will [el nuevo hábito]. For example:
- “After I turn off the alarm in the morning, I put on a five-minute guided meditation.”
- “After I put the coffee maker to prepare the coffee, I will drink a glass of water.”
- “After I sit in front of the computer at work, I will spend a minute doing conscious breathing.”
- “After I shower in the morning, I stretch for five minutes.”
- “After I put the plate in the dishwasher, I’ll walk around the block.”
- “After I brush my teeth at night, I put my phone on airplane mode.”
- “After I finish my nighttime skin care routine, I will read in bed for 20 minutes.”
How long does it take to consolidate a new habit? It varies. Despite the oft-repeated idea that it takes 28 days for a new habit to take hold, “there is no universal law about how long it takes us to form habits,” Milkman said. (It depends on factors such as the complexity of the action and the frequency with which it is repeated, he explained.) But with consistency, your new habit will eventually become second nature.
CONTENT FOR SUBSCRIBERS
Remember that it’s best to focus on just one new habit at a time to avoid feeling overwhelmed, Persaud said. Once you feel “bored and automatic,” you can add another small new habit, Glazier said. “Add a small improvement, but don’t make a huge leap.”
Over time, your set of habits can become a routine that feels natural and helps you move toward your goals, step by step.