The Key to Developing New Habits: Habit Stacking

By now, you’ve heard me talk about the importance of keeping a regular schedule. Keeping a routine helps provide feelings of accomplishment and wards off the blues. Getting up each day, getting your day started, getting dressed, doing your hair, and maybe putting on a little make-up, will help you feel great. I even put on jewelry and lipstick! When I look good, I feel good!

I don’t know where I’ve been the past several years, but recently I was introduced to the concept of habit stacking. It’s an awesome way of building new habits and getting them to stick! The key is to start with tiny modifications and tie them to your established routine. There are several theories on the subject — some say to add the new habit before an existing one, and some recommend adding it after. But all seem to agree on the best part: add in a reward!

How does habit stacking work?

Habit Stacking provides a way to make small changes in your routine so easily that you don’t have to rely on motivation. If motivation has been a problem for you too, you might enjoy my article, What To Do When You Don’t Want To.

Habit Stacking goes something like this: I wanted to get in the habit of exercising in the morning. My normal habit is to get up, make the bed, shower, brush teeth, get dressed, make tea and breakfast.

I slid my NEW habit into my established routine like this: Make bed, wash face/brush teeth, put on work-out clothes, work out, REWARD of a cool down dip in the pool, shower, get dressed, make tea and breakfast.

With just a small adjustment to my well-established morning routine, I’ve been able to incorporate a workout. I’m a creature of habit, and it would be so easy for me to forget that I wanted to work out. If I lay out my workout clothes right before bed, they’re sitting there waiting for me in the morning and I don’t forget. After that first week, the walk is ingrained as a habit.

This is also where a growth mindset comes in. Instead of thinking “I’m not a morning person” or “I’ve never been consistent with exercise,” try reframing it: I’m someone who is building new rhythms, one small step at a time. Habit stacking gives that mindset something concrete to hold onto.

The Power of Tiny Changes

One of the most powerful aspects of Habit Stacking is that it allows you to make tiny, manageable changes. Instead of overhauling your entire routine in one shot — which can be overwhelming — Habit Stacking suggests integrating small habits into what you’re already doing. Think of it like layering: each habit builds on top of the other, making it easier to create momentum and reinforce positive changes.

For example, if you already drink a cup of coffee every morning, why not stack a new habit of journaling for five minutes during or right after your coffee? Instead of trying to fit in a journaling habit at some other random time in your day, you’re connecting it to an activity you already do without thinking.

This approach eliminates the need to set aside extra time for your new habit, making it easier to get started and build consistency. This is the beauty of stacking — it’s designed to work with your existing schedule rather than disrupt it.

This is also why I love pairing Habit Stacking with our 90-Day Rhythms. Each new season brings a natural reset — a chance to ask yourself, what’s one small habit I want to grow into over the next 90 days? You don’t need to change everything at once. You just need one good stack to start.

The Role of Emotions in Habit Formation

According to Behavioral Psychologist BJ Fogg and his Tiny Habits method, it is emotions — not motivation — that make habits stick. Celebration is the best way to use emotions and create a positive feeling that wires in a new habit. Celebration can be something as simple as saying “Woohoo!” out loud, or a physical treat such as my cool-down swim after my workout.

Eventually your new behavior will become habit and you’ll no longer think about the celebration. It’s getting cooler at night, and our naturally warmed pool is slipping into the high 70’s. Soon a post-workout swim won’t feel rewarding at all. But my habit is ingrained, and I’ve come to enjoy listening to podcasts, watching the wildlife, and the post-workout energy and calm that exercise provides. Exercise is now its own reward.

In his Tiny Habits Ted Talk, BJ Fogg takes very small steps to build a bigger benefit. For instance, after every time he goes to the bathroom, he does 2 pushups — eventually building up to 8 pushups each time, totaling 50 or 60 by end of day. He also built the habit of flossing by starting with just one tooth after brushing. His idea is to add the new behavior after an established trigger.

A growth mindset makes this easier to embrace. When you believe that your abilities and habits can grow with practice, you stop waiting until you feel “ready” and start showing up in small, consistent ways instead.

Habit Stacking for Housework: Small Efforts for Big Rewards

You can build other habits too. For instance, our light tile floors never look clean, and it drives me crazy. It takes about four hours to completely sweep/vacuum and then mop our large, entirely tiled home. And in the Arizona desert, dusting is a full-time job. I literally feel like I have to clean every day or live in a dirty home.

So, this morning, I started a new habit. After starting the teapot, but before breakfast, I ran a dust mop quickly over the main living space and kitchen areas. It took me five minutes. Then I enjoyed my feeling of accomplishment with my tea and breakfast. After breakfast, I quickly damp-mopped the kitchen and breakfast rooms — another five minutes. Then I went into the office to shop for a gift for a friend. I love to shop and I love giving gifts, so this was a reward for me.

Basically, spending 10 minutes to sweep and mop the high-traffic areas should keep the dirt down enough that I’ll be able to postpone the huge job to every other week. Win!

Someone I know tidies her house at the end of her workday for five minutes. She literally sets her timer and runs around picking up all the little messes left during the day. Then she gets to take her first sip of her nightly glass of wine. She loves a glass in the evening, and the one glass lasts her all night — but she doesn’t allow herself that first sip until after the five-minute tidy. That’s her stack, and it works beautifully.

Habit Stacking by S.J. Scott

S.J. Scott wrote a book on the topic back in 2017, with a free Quick Start Guide as a companion. He explains the 3 types of habits: Keystone Habits, Support Habits, and Elephant Habits. Adding my morning exercise is a Keystone Habit — it has a positive impact on multiple areas of my life, even those I’m not intentionally trying to improve.

The key to S.J. Scott’s theory is keeping habits to 5-minute blocks and anchoring them to a trigger. A trigger can be an alarm, or an emotion you relate to the habit — like my first sip of tea after I’ve cleaned the floor. Don’t forget the reward! It can be as simple as a high-five, a little happy dance, a glass of wine at the end of the day, or a favorite TV show.

Habit Stacking as a Long-Term Strategy (and a 90-Day Rhythm)

Habit stacking works wonderfully for small tasks, but it’s also a powerful tool for achieving long-term goals. This is where it pairs so naturally with our 90-Day Rhythms. At the start of each new season, rather than setting big, sweeping resolutions, ask yourself: what is one habit I can stack into my existing routine that will move me toward my bigger goal?

Whether your goal is to write a book, improve your fitness, or organize your home, Habit Stacking allows you to focus on small, incremental steps that lead to big progress over time. If you want to improve your writing, stack 10 minutes of writing every morning after your coffee. It might not seem like much, but those 10 minutes add up — and before you know it, you’ve written thousands of words.

By aligning your habit stacks with each 90-day season, you also give yourself permission to grow and evolve. What worked in spring might shift in fall. That’s not failure — that’s a growth mindset in action. You’re not abandoning your habits; you’re refining them as you learn more about yourself.

Final Thoughts: Celebrating Your Wins

Habit stacking teaches you how to develop new habits effectively. Remember to start small, build on your existing routines, and celebrate your progress along the way. Whether your goal is to work out more, keep your home tidy, or accomplish a bigger life goal, the principle remains the same: stack habits one tiny step at a time, and lasting change follows.

Schedule your stacks daily, weekly, and monthly — and revisit them each season through your 90-Day Rhythms. You don’t have to do everything at once. Build one routine, get it solid, then add another. With a growth mindset guiding you and small celebrations cheering you on, you can transform your life one little habit at a time.