Habit Stacking

I first heard about habit stacking when reading the book “Atomic Habits” by James Clear.

You can probably tell from the title that this book is all about habits- how to identify them, create them, and use them to our advantage. The main theme of this book is that small habits breed big results…but that concept wouldn’t be much good if we don’t know how to create them, right? Right.

So let’s talk about habit stacking, something Clear discusses in-depth in his book (I highly recommend this read if you haven’t picked up on that yet!)

Habit stacking is when you take a current habit and add your new habit to it. This is an effective strategy for creating a new habit because the initiation of the new habit comes from something you already do routinely.

I talk about this concept with clients and we brainstorm different scenarios where we can incorporate it, and recently I’ve been utilizing this strategy, too.

For whatever reason, taking creatine daily has become a CHORE. There’s no big reason why, I just haven’t been doing it… even on days when I think, “oh, I should take my creatine” I still wouldn’t physically get up, mix the powder in some water and drink it. Taking creatine daily is something I wanted to do but ended up feeling like an inconvenience more often than not… Instead of giving up or saying, “I guess I just don’t want the benefits bad enough,” I started habit stacking.

The first piece of habit stacking requires you to determine what habit you want to create (taking creatine daily), then you need to identify what habit you already have formed that you can “stack” your new habit with.

Here’s how my train of thought went to determine the latter:

Is there a “best” time for me to take this supplement everyday? (for benefits/supplement efficacy or due to my schedule)

Technically, it would be ideal to take my creatine supplement after a workout but it’s more important to simply take it in the first place than it is to time it “perfectly”. There are no time obstacles from my schedule that would influence when I take it.

Okay, no time constraint right off the bat. Is there a time I’m already up and near where the supplement is stored?

I’m up and in the kitchen a few times daily- to make coffee, breakfast, lunch and dinner (and probably a snack or two). But some days we order food from elsewhere or Mitch cooks for us so I’m not always in the kitchen for lunch and/or dinner.

That means I can generally count on being in the kitchen near the supplement the mornings when I’m making coffee or breakfast. Do either of those options present any challenges for consistency or time?

I make coffee every day, there’s only a handful of times per month that doesn’t happen. I eat breakfast just about everyday, too, so no consistency obstacles. When I am making breakfast I’m more busy with things to do, but when I’m making coffee I sit for a second while it brews enough for my first cup…

And there we have it- brewing coffee is the ideal habit for me to stack with taking creatine!

Habit stacking doesn’t mean your new habit will happen automatically or without thought. I still utilize other tools to help build consistency like keeping track of the days I’ve taken vs. missed on a white board in the kitchen.

Habits are a key element to staying consistent with training and nutrition programs …or any kind of routine.

Have you ever heard of habit stacking?

Have you tried it yourself?

What habits are you working on?

Let me know in the comments or shoot me an email at Kirsi.cochell@cochellfitness.com

I’d love to hear from you!