Habit Stacking

January is a time when we think about change and set resolutions and goals.  But how many times have you made a resolution in January only to find yourself sinking back into old habits by February…or March?  

The long, cold, dark days don’t lend themselves to supporting new exercise goals. Motivation wanes and moods can dull. So, we have to find tricks that keep us in the groove, despite the barriers and excuses.  

January is also that time when we get lots of advice about changing behaviours and setting goals. I have listened to countless podcasts, news articles and experts sharing their good advice about how to stay on track. Some of the advice conflicts; one person said make “SMART” goals for success and another expert said ditch goals because they limit our potential! Some advice seems to makes sense to me and some I know won’t work for me. In the sea of information, I ran across the ParticipAction blog article and thought it was a tip that had merit.  

ParticipAction suggests a technique called Habit Stacking. A simple cognitive-behavioural strategy that builds on the cue, behaviour, reward framework.  

Habit stacking is simply stacking a new habit on top of one we already have. 

Habit Stacking (2)

The stacking part comes from taking a habit that we already do and stacking the new habit on top of it. The idea is that since we already have formed habits, we will be more successful if we just tack the new habit to the existing one. Easy! 

To be honest, I struggle to stay motivated in the dark winter days. I use loads of excuses like, I need the time to make a more elaborate dinner, and watching the evening news suddenly seems so important! When the workday ends it takes a great deal of motivation to move into excise mode. But I find that as long as I change into exercise clothing my mind says, you got that far so get outside and walk!  

We all have to find what works for us. Some people are morning people and have no problem springing out of bed and into exercise…I say coffee first! For others, the evenings are too busy with family and/or other commitments. They can’t fit regular exercise in after work so an extra 30 minutes at the beginning of the day works better. Some people work shift work so the idea of morning or evening routines doesn’t compute…it becomes a before shift or after shift cue. What’s important isn’t the time of day but rather finding the cue/action/reward process that supports success.  

Habit Stacking (1)
Habit Stacking (3)

Of course, some of our goals have nothing to do with exercise. No problem. Habit stacking will work with other goals too. 

 Use the general concept of: 

Before/after (the current habit) I will (add the new habit).  

Like this: 

“After I get up for a bio break at work, I will walk the stairs three times.” To support the Get Up and Move goal. 

“Before I go grocery shopping, I will make a list of the items I need.” To support a goal of staying on budget. 

“After I turn off the TV for bedtime, I will turn off my cellphone.” To support a goal of getting to sleep.  

Check out the ParticipAction blog for more information about habit stacking.

Habit stack to stay on track! - ParticipACTION

Good luck with reaching your goals, but really, we don’t need luck…just new habits!