Habit Stacking — Atomic Habits

Introduction

In 2001, Researchers from Britain conducted a test on individuals regarding cues and what makes them want to do the habit. People were assigned to different groups. The end result led to what researchers call the Implementation Intention. This became the base for another popular term called Habit Stacking.

Implementation Intention

The researchers tasked people into three groups and gave them same goals, however there were some variations to how they started it out.

The first group was Control Group and were told to simply track their habits

The second group was the Motivation Group and were given motivation every time before they did the habit.

The third group was the Intention group, they were told to make plans or intentions ahead of time for a habit. For example, I will EXERCISE for 30 MINUTES after WORK on EVERY TWO DAYS.

Researchers found a double increase in people who did their habits in the third group compared to the other groups.

According to Implementation Intention, their equation for formulating a habit was simple,

“When Situation A arrives at B time, I will do C task or habit”.

Some examples for reference are:

When work is over at 5 PM, I will go take a cold shower and meditate.

When Dinner is over at 8 PM, I will clean the dishes and prepare food and dress for tomorrow.

When Weekend arrives on Saturday, I will go out to bicycle for 20 Kms.

Habit Stacking Formula

The formula for habit stacking was derived from Implementation Intention. The formula for Habit Stacking is as follows:

After Current Habit, I will do Next Habit.

Some examples for reference are:

After I exercise, I will take a cold bath

After I eat Dinner, I clean the dishes

After I wake up, I will meditate for 5 minutes

The difference between Implementation Intention and Habit Stacking is that Implementation Intention revolves around setting a time and location but Habit stacking refers to doing a new habit after another one ( Hence the word “Stacking”)

The first law of Behavior Change is Make it Obvious. Habit Stacking and Implementation Intention are one of few methods that are scientifically proven to help increase chances of a person doing the habit. Make the Cues obvious and interesting. Make sure your cue is easy to understand and can be done anytime.