Life Hack: What is habit stacking, and how can it help with household chores and more?

Housework can feel overwhelming — here's how habit stacking can help

Some days it’s not the massive must-dos that wear us down but the seemingly endless tiny tasks that pile up around us. 

The straw that breaks the camel’s back is never a time-consuming, labour-intensive job but rather the one extra plate added to the washing-up pile or the overflowing recycling that should have been tipped into the wheelie bin a day ago.

It can seem endless but there are some techniques that allow us to chip away at the chores without even noticing. The best example of this is habit stacking.

What is habit stacking?

Habit stacking is an increasingly popular productivity method where you link a new habit with an already existing one. It was created by BJ Fogg as part of his Tiny Habits programme and has reached a wider audience thanks to James Clear’s bestselling book Atomic Habits.

“When it comes to building new habits, you can use the connectedness of behaviour to your advantage. One of the best ways to build a new habit is to identify a current habit you already do each day and then stack your new behaviour on top. This is called habit stacking,” Clear writes.

“Habit stacking is a special form of an implementation intention. Rather than pairing your new habit with a particular time and location, you pair it with a current habit.” 

 With this method, people are encouraged to tack on a habit to an already existing one. The habit stacking formula is: After/Before [CURRENT HABIT], I will [NEW HABIT] and it can be as simple as ensuring you floss every time you brush your teeth.

Why does habit stacking work?

Its beauty is in its simplicity, by anchoring something to a current routine it takes away the need to make decisions and factor extra time for establishing new habits. As anyone who tried and failed to implement a new year’s resolution will tell you, sticking to a new habit is the hardest job of all. This method ‘hacks’ your brain to make following a new routine much more natural.

"Your current habits are already built into your brain. You have patterns and behaviors that have been strengthened over years. By linking your new habits to a cycle that is already built into your brain, you make it more likely that you’ll stick to the new behavior,” Clear explains.

“Once you have mastered this basic structure, you can begin to create larger stacks by chaining small habits together. This allows you to take advantage of the natural momentum that comes from one behavior leading into the next.” 

 With this in mind, here are some common areas where many people use habit stacking.

Chores 

Housework can feel overwhelming. How often have you cleaned the kitchen only for it to become overrun with dirty dishes and grime in what feels like no time? Habit stacking can help make housework feel less relentless, turning your downtime into essential productivity.

We’ll start small with this one. If you start your day with a cup of tea or coffee, there are a couple of minutes here where you are waiting around and have time to spare. Using the habit stacking formula, you simply add a step to an already existing pattern. For example: ‘After I start the coffee machine, I’ll unload the dishwasher.’ This extra task only takes a couple of minutes, so the time you’re in the kitchen waiting anyway can be put to good use.

Later in the day if you’re hungry, you might decide to reheat leftovers from yesterday’s dinner for today’s lunch. We can use another formula here: ‘While waiting for the microwave to finish heating my food, I’ll wipe the counter.’ 

Self-care

While useful in household management, we can use habit stacking for personal wellness too, helping to establish anything from a better skincare regimen to dedicated meditation time.

For this area, think of something you have been meaning to start doing. Perhaps your skin is dry but you always forget to moisturise. Habit stacking for this as simple as: ‘After I shower, I’ll apply moisturiser'

Your existing practices can benefit from habit stacking too. Meditation, for example, is lauded for reducing stress and anxiety, improving focus and concentration, better sleep, and increasing emotional resilience. Again, however, it can feel impossible to find extra time for it. Habit stacking just layers it on an existing task, in this case also ensuring you spend the recommended two minutes brushing your teeth: ‘While brushing my teeth, I’ll listen to a two-minute meditation.’