How Habit Stacking Makes Personal Change Easy

Good day. Welcome to Mindpilot. Today we're going to talk about habit stacking. So let's say you want to change the amount of time you sleep. Well, there's a number of things you can do, and we've talked a lot about that on this podcast. So things like start getting to bed or getting ready for bed about an hour before you want to be asleep. Your body decides when it's going to allow you to sleep based on what you're doing in real time. So if you want to be asleep at 10, at 9 o'clock, I don't know, what whatever you do, wash your face, brush your teeth, put your pajamas on, because that's going to give your brain information that in an hour we need to be to sleep. So it'll start releasing different chemicals that will help you sleep like melatonin. You could quit doing screen time about an hour before you go to sleep. You know, watching really intense movies at nighttime before you go to sleep. So there's a number of different things you can do. One of the most effective things that you can do is you can stack the habits. So you at if you want to go to bed and be asleep at 10, at nine o'clock you brush your teeth, you put on your pajamas, you turn off your screen, you you know, if you have supplements that you take in the evening, you take those, you know, so you stack several habits together and that are going to contribute to a change. Okay. So if you want to put yourself on a workout schedule, then you maybe elicit the help of a friend and you start working out with a friend and you work out in the morning so you don't have time to talk yourself out of working out. And you put your whatever workout clothes that you have, you put them beside the bed. So they're right there to remind you. And you make a specific time of when you're supposed to, you know, be ready for the walk or be ready, you know, to go to the gym or whatever it is, you know, and again, you start putting those little habits together. And and each one may be really small, but when you stack them, you're much more likely to be set successful for change. So one of the things you can do is you can begin taking five minutes, five minutes a week, and go, okay, where is someplace I really need to focus my attention? I need more sleep, or I need to work out more, or I need to eat better, or I need to spend more time with my significant other, or I need to do less screen time. So one of the things we do know about habits is a lot of times it's easier to change a habit that you don't like by replacing it with a new habit. That's why a lot of people, when they're getting off drugs and alcohol, they start chewing gum or they, you know, start doing other things that help them, you know, maybe not crave the drug as much. Now, if they're going to withdraw, it doesn't work. But later, if you're used to always having something in your hand, like a cigarette, maybe you replace that cigarette with a fidget toy. If you're used to drinking something that has a little bit of zinc to it, maybe you change from beer to non-alcoholic beer or you change to, you know, some kind of fizzing water that has a little bit of bite to it. So again, if you're going to change a habit, my suggestion is you figure out what you're going to replace it with, but also if you stack it with several other things that are going to reinforce it. The other thing that I tend to do, and I have seen in the literature here and there, is I will stack it with something that I like as well as the new habit. So let's say, I don't know, I wanted to work out more. So I might make that plan if I do it with a friend or I do it by myself, but then afterwards I would have something very pleasurable to do, whatever that is, you know, and it's different for each person. But maybe I, I don't know, sit and read a book that I'm really interested in for 15 minutes, or I call a friend, or I paint, or I, you know, play my guitar, or, you know, something that I enjoy. So you might want to think about, okay, if I'm going to change a habit that's a little bit difficult for me to change, what can I do to reward myself right after I've taken that action? And again, replace the habit with something else. And if you can add in habit stacking, you're going to be much more successful. But then the last part of that is check in with yourself at the end of the week and go, okay, did I do a good job or do it? Do I need to tweak this a little bit? Because I'm not quite there yet. Not to be mean to yourself, not to put yourself down, but to go, hmm, yeah, that didn't quite work. I wonder what I could do differently. You know, I could probably do this instead, and I'm going to try that because each one of us has a different brain. We're all wired differently. It's pretty amazing when you go to think about how many millions of people there are, and actually billions of people now, and we're all wired differently. So you really have to almost make yourself a research project and go, okay, yeah, that doesn't really work. But I wonder if I added that in, would that work? Or maybe I should remove that and maybe that would work. And you just keep chipping away at it until you get it to the point where you're successful. And then give yourself some kudos. Because that's the other thing. A lot of people will never say anything to themselves. They're just like, well, that's what I was supposed to do. Oh, yeah. But you know what? Sometimes it is really helpful to hear yourself say to yourself, hey, good job. I did a good job on that. You know, I put a lot of work in this and it has turned out well. Rather than just kind of almost ignore yourself in the process. And I know this one makes people feel uncomfortable, but it's really an important part of the process because if you can't give yourself kudos, you're not going to get them anywhere else. And I'm not saying you walk around and go, I am so great, and the rest of you suck. That is not what I'm talking about. I am talking about you giving yourself some recognition and saying, you know what? I did that. I got through that. I have changed that habit. I have changed my reaction. I have changed what I'm doing, and I'm more successful because of that. And check in. And you might, with a specific habit, check in a couple times a month for a while, just to make sure you're staying on point and you're going the direction you want to go. I hope this helps. Give it a try, see what you think, and let me know if you think it works. I hope you subscribed. This is Dr. Janna Pryce Sharps from Mindpilot. Have a great day.