Habit Stacking: 127 Small Changes to Improve Your Health, Wealth, and Happiness

by S.J. Scott

Want more time to work on important goals? Need to build a specific habit? Struggling to change your life?
Imagine what life would be like if you started every morning with small actions that created a chain reaction of positive benefits throughout your life.
You eat a healthy breakfast, have a great conversation with your loved ones, and then begin your workday focusing on the important tasks. Then, throughout the day, you complete other habits that positively impact your top goals. I guarantee you'd feel more fulfilled, get more accomplished, and have a better direction for your career.
All of this is possiple when you add DOZENS of small changes to your daily routine. These habits don't require much effort. In fact...
Most of These Habits ONLY Take Five Minutes or Less to Complete
And all this can be done when you follow a strategy known as "Habit Stacking (TM)."
One Routine + Multiple Habits = Habit Stacking
We all know it's not easy to add multiple new habits to your day. But what you might not realize is it's fairly easy to build a single new routine. The essence of habit stacking is to take a series of small changes and create a ritual that you follow on a daily basis.
Habit stacking works because you eliminate the stress of trying to change too many things at once. Your goal is to simply focus on a single routine that only takes about 15 to 30 minutes to complete. Within this routine is a series of actions (or small changes). All you have to do is to create a checklist and follow it every single day.
DOWNLOAD: Habit Stacking - 127 Small Changes to Improve Your Health, Wealth, and Happiness
In this completely and updated version of Habit Stacking you will discover:
A list of 127 small actions, with specific instructions (and resources) on how to make these changes.
How to build habits around important goal areas like your career, health, finances, and relationships.
13 steps to turn small, positive habits into a simple-to-complete sequence.
The three types of habits you need to build (and why each is important).
9 example routines that can skyrocket your success with productivity, weight loss, physical fitness, and energy in the morning.
6 challenges people experience when building habits -- and how to overcome them!

PLUS, You'll Also Get Free Instant Access to a Free Companion Website Full of Bonus Downloads, Checklists, and Videos to Help with Your Habit Stacking Efforts.
It is possible to add multiple changes to your life all at once. All you need to do is to add a habit stacking routine to your day.
Build Powerful Routines Into Your Day by Clicking the "Buy Now" Button at the Top of the Page.

Genres: Nonfiction, Self Help, Personal Development, Productivity, Psychology, Health, Business

330 pages, Paperback

First published April 10, 2017

About the author

Wall Street Journal bestselling author SJ Scott wanted to be Luke Skywalker when he grew up.

Unfortunately his complete lack of physical grace and introverted mannerism's kept the earth from having their own Jedi Knight to battle the Sith menace.

Steve “SJ” Scott was born and raised in New Jersey. After finishing college with a degree in psychology he knew he needed to further his education or work on his latte making skills.

During a short stint in US Air Force, Scott was able to get his Master’s in business and then moved on to conquer the business world.

Scott then spent a couple of years working for a company not unlike the company depicted in Mike Judge’s film, “Office Space”. After doing his share of “TPS” reports, Scott swore he would never work for anyone but himself.

He spent the next few years making this happen. Making a decent living online and eventually pivoting to writing books, blogging and even podcasting.

Scott has written over 30 books, most of them in the "self-improvement" genre. An area that he is personally passionate about.

His books have been published in 12 different languages. So he is well on his way to world domination. However, in his heart of hearts he knows he will soon have to venture out into the universe and defeat the Sith menace.

Reviews

[☘Misericordia☘ ⚡ϟ⚡⛈⚡☁ ❇️❤❣ · Rating 5 out of 5]

I seriously enjoyed how well-structured all this stuff was. Most of it wasn't breathtakingly new but a lot of things made sense. And the structure! I wish all the self-help lit was as easy as this book to look through and pick lovely shiny new useful things to try to improve my life!

Main takeouts:
- Automatising things
- Identifying and doing stuff I really enjoy
- Opportunities shopping
- Wishes maintenance
- Freebies
- Selfstudy
- New things
- Broken windows concept (very known but socially, turns out, it can be applied to personal life, huh!)
- Put 3 things in place (lovely!)
- Compliments, hugs, warm msgs
- Aromatherapy
- Volunteering
- Meditating in the shower (yep)
- Success builds success

[Melissa · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a hard book to review, mainly because some tips were very useful, and others… seemed geared towards robots trying to assimilate on Earth.

S.J. Scott is the author of around 30 books (rounded down because a few on Goodreads appear to be translated versions). Of those, 19 have the word ‘habit’ in the title. I find this interesting, given that Scott repeatedly stresses the value of quality over quantity.

I want to be clear that I’m not criticizing the book because some of the contents are very simplistic (think, reminders to drink more water or get enough sleep). Scott is right in that these are very basic things that a lot of people still struggle to remember to do, and so forming ingrained habits around them is a mighty sensible idea.

Other habits that I highlighted fell mainly in the career, health and finance sections, including unsubscribing from email and physical mailing lists, utilising LinkedIn, taking daily vitamins, and using a pedometer. Nothing mindblowing, but little bits and pieces that over time could lead to a more productive, healthier lifestyle. The best takeaway from the book was using a financial aggregator. Scott recommends Mint, which is a US and Canada-only service, but I found Money Dashboard which does the same thing for the UK. I’ve only been using it a week, and it’s already been eye-opening having an overview of all my accounts and expenditure in one place.

Towards the end of the book, I started highlighting things largely while imagining a short story in which aliens come to Earth and use this book’s tips to pass themselves off as human.The characters would practice their squats while stood in line browsing Facebook, walk around pretending to sneeze out loud to get into the habit of sneezing into their arms, hugging pillows to improve their hugging technique, and walking through stores handing out internet coupons to make friends.

There’s a fair amount of contradictory advice here, too. Scott is big on productivity, but recommends a staggering amount of apps to aid this, be it through background music, imposing financial penalties for unmet habits, logging time spent online etc. If you were to research and tailor even half of the recommended resources, it would still take up a heck of a lot of time better spent just cracking on with the task at hand.

Ultimately, Habit Stacking wasn’t for me, but the amount of highlighting I did tells me that at least I engaged with the text. Even if finding Money Dashboard is my only takeaway, it’ll be worth it just for that.

[Review originally published on my blog at Line After Line.]

[Javier Lorenzana · Rating 2 out of 5]

7/10

Having already read a couple of books on habits, this one was pretty refreshing. While I have already implemented several (intentional) habits, I find it hard to establish new ones.

Habit stacking is the art of accomplishing a chain of small habits rather than one giant keystone habit. The logic behind it is simple: start with something easy and use that momentum to propel you to the others.

Scott also gives some pretty insightful tips when establishing these new routines: to remember the underlying goals behind your habits, to complete each habit in less than 5 minutes to reduce perceived effort, and to attach this chain of habits into your preexisting routine.


--
Placing this at a 3 now and will update if I find success in the techniques.

[Sergei_kalinin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Очень хороший каталог полезных привычек по всем основным жизненным сферам (работа, здоровье, самоорганизация и т.д.). Ключевая идея книги - объединение привычек в блоки - не безупречна, но имеет право на существование. Написал на книгу подробную рецензию в моем блоге (+интеллект-карта по привычкам): http://s-kalinin.blogspot.com/2019/01...

[Bri Percha · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book started out fairly strong and I definitely have a few valuable take-aways that I will try to implement. However, as the list of small actions went on and on, I wish the book had been more about the process itself to use for my own habits, as opposed to those listed. Or that the list had just been shorter. I could have done without "squeeze a stress ball", "practice hugging a pillow", "color in a coloring book", "drink a smoothie".... While I agree some or most of the activities listed have some benefit, I wasn't seeking a list of activities to make me a better/happier person. I had had the impression the book was more about how to stack habits in order to become more productive, which is only about the first 1/4 of the book. Toward the end it became harder to read as it was just a rambling list of activities I either already do or am not interested in.

[Mttyd · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read the first 1/4

This book started well but quickly devolved into a list of pedestrian habits. I'd like to see less listing and more on the science of creating or breaking habits. Perhaps some hacks on how to make sure a habit sticks. You could even talk about how to find your habit or how to create and chill your list of potential habits.

Tim Ferris Is well known for stuffing his books with affiliate links but in return he includes science and depth. I appreciate this book but for me personally it felt a little half baked. I ended up skiing through pages of habits like, "try geocaching". Not hating but if the last 3/4 could be as good as the beginning this book would be on my top 10 list.

[May Ling · Rating 3 out of 5]

Summary: Read it if you need a framework or are trying to help others with this issue. The fact that you're reading it likely means that you don't need it.

This is a decent book to talk about how to get things done if you are conceptually finding that this is a problem. In general, I think that most people that would read this likely have a great deal of getting stuff done within them. That said, if one is looking for a way to describe this to someone else, this book does a good job of breaking big tasks into smaller ones.

[Christine Baptiste · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good tips on being more productive but nothing new or revolutionary...

[Gene Patterson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the first Habit Stacking book, but I was a bit skeptical about how much different this new version could be?

I am glad I took the chance. While the core concept remained the same, the version is a pretty drastic overhaul, and all for the better.

The initial version went through the list of habits to stack up front and went through the concepts of what habit stacking was all about in the end. Almost as an after-thought.

This book reverses that. It gives a detailed explanation up front. This explanation of how habits and habit stacking works is actually better than what I have found in my previously favorite habit book: Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg.

Really well done. The book is worthwhile for that alone. But then the 127 sample ideas on specific habits to potentially use in your habit stacks makes it even better.

A worthwhile rewrite. I would be happy if this book were split in two and I had to buy both at full price. Packed together this is certainly the best book on habit change available.

Thank you Mr. Scott!!

[Robert Sutherland · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's mostly common sense, but another word for "habit stacking" is a routine. When you string, or stack multiple habits together, you create a routine. This can make you more efficient and get more done.
While this book lays out habits in several areas of your life, most of which are common sense, they are listed, and you can become intentional about executing them.
The real strength of the book is in the hot links to the kindle version to various websites, apps, etc. that are very helpful in habit formation. That was worth the price of the book. The rest was bonus.

[Michael Milad · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some quite Novel insights about Habit forming

Decent book with some good insights into hasbit forming. I particularly liked it's categorization of habits as bring either Keystone (a habit that leads to a series of other habits); support (a habit with the primary hope of encouraging another habit); and elephant (large habits that require chipping at, and gradual change e.g. changing your bedtime). The concept of habit stacking makes good logical dense and should help redu e the resistance involved in forming a habit.

[Niño · Rating 3 out of 5]

A neat little read to help get you back on the productivity track. I picked up a few useful habits that I can apply in my life. Don't go into this book expecting revolutionary ideas or you'll be disappointed.

[Kenny Koh]

There are three types of habits that you should add to a routine:
1. Keystone habits
2. Support habits
3. Elephant habits
1. Keystone Habits
A keystone habit can have a positive impact on multiple areas
of your life—even if you’re not intentionally trying to improve
them.
2. Support Habits
Not every habit can be a priority. In fact, you can only focus on
a handful of keystone habits before you’ll feel overwhelmed,
which is why it’s important to form “support habits.” These
habits support the achievement of an important keystone
habit.
3. Elephant Habits
The idea here is that whenever you’re faced with a large,
complex goal, all you need to do is chip away at it in small
chunks using elephant habits.

1. Attach the stack to an existing habit.
The simplest way to remember a stack is to do it right before or after a habit. This should be something you do without fail, every single day—like eating, brushing your teeth, or checking your phone. This is important because you’re going to piggyback on this habit by creating what’s called an “if-then plan.”

2. Complete each habit in five minutes or less (usually).
I recommend five minutes because it’s a basic unit of time in which you can accomplish a surprising number of things, while being short enough that you can stack each action on top of another.

3. The entire routine should take under thirty minutes.
The “thirty-minute rule” is a sweet spot where you can complete many habits without it interfering with everything else in your life. You’d be surprised at many “little things” can be squeezed into a half hours’ time.

4. Build daily, weekly, and monthly stacks.
My advice is simple: not only should you build daily stacks, but you should also schedule time once a week and once a month to complete those important but not urgent activities. For the weekly review, you could schedule this activity late
Sunday night as a way to prepare for the work week. And for the monthly review, you could schedule it for the first Saturday of each month.
9 Rules to Build at Stacking Routine
5. Each small habit should be a complete action.
There should be an obvious starting and stopping point. You should avoid habits where you could easily do more of it if you had time (like exercising, writing, or anything related to your job). It’s better to schedule these activities for a different part of the day when you can devote more time. There is one major exception to this rule. You could add the occasional “elephant habit” to your daily stack to make forward progress on an unpleasant task.

6. Pick simple-to-complete activities.
Each small action should be easy to complete without requiring a lot of brainpower. Do it quickly and then immediately move on to the next action.

7. Map out a logical progression for each routine.
The entire routine should flow like a well-oiled machine. This is key because you want to avoid wasting time and moving from room to room.

8. Use a checklist to manage the process.
A stack should be a set of actions that you determine ahead of time that are personally important. This means putting each habit into a step-by-step checklist that you’ll refer to constantly. This checklist should be a set of actions done the same way, in the same order each day.
9 Rules to Build aHabit Stacking Routine
9. Include habits that relate to your priorities.
Remember, the benefit of habit stacking is to take action on your important, personal goals. These should be outcomes you want to achieve—not what others want from you. The simplest way to identify habits is to make sure they relate to a goal from one of these seven areas:
1. Career
2. Finance
3. Health
4. Organizing
5. Passions
6. Relationships
7. Spirituality
13 Steps for Building a
Habit Stacking Routine
Step 1: Start with a Five-Minute Block
Start with five minutes, picking one or two habits, and then add more as this routine becomes an automatic action.

Step 2: Focus on Small Wins
Build your routine around habits that don’t require a lot of effort and willpower. These are the small wins that will build “emotional momentum” because they’re easy to remember and complete.

Step 3: Pick a Time and Location
Every stack should be anchored to a trigger related to a location, time of day, or combination of both.

Step 4: Anchor Your Stack to a Trigger
There are two basic types of triggers.
1. External triggers (like a cell phone alarm, a push notification, or a Post-it note on your refrigerator) work because they create a Pavlovian response that when the alarm goes off, you complete a specific task.
2. Internal triggers are the feelings, thoughts, and emotions that you relate to an established habit. These are like a scratch that you must itch.
13 Steps for Building aHabit Stacking Routine
Step 5: Create a Logical Checklist
It should include the sequence of the actions, how long it takes to complete each one, and where you’ll do them.

Step 6: Be Accountable
You need accountability to stick to a major goal. It’s not enough to make a personal commitment.
1. Coach.me is a great tool for maintaining and sticking to new habits. It’s like having a coach in your pocket, both for better and worse.
2. Having an accountability partner with whom you share your breakthroughs, challenges, and future plans is a great way to get a kick in the butt whenever you feel a wane in motivation, and someone you can confide in whenever you have a challenge that requires a second opinion.

Step 7: Create Small, Enjoyable Rewards
Giving yourself a reward can be a great motivator to complete a daily routine. This can include anything, like watching your favorite TV show, eating a healthy snack, or even relaxing for a few minutes, but avoid any reward that eliminates the benefit of a specific habit.
Check out: 155 Ways to Reward Yourself
Step 8: Focus on Repetition
Repetition is key for the first few weeks when building a stack. It’s crucial that you stick to the routine—even if you must skip one or two small actions. Consistency is more important than anything else. Repetition builds muscle memory. And when you complete the routine often enough, it’ll become an ingrained part of your day.

Step 9: Don’t Break the Chain
Jerry Seinfeld’s advice: Set aside time every day to create new material. The key here is to never miss a day, even if you’re not in the mood. Create a doable daily goal that can be achieved no matter what happens, and don’t let yourself be talked out of it. Perhaps you’ll set a small goal where you only complete two or three actions. The important thing is to set a goal that can be achieved even when you have an off day.

Step 10: Expect Setbacks
Even the most consistent habits will experience the occasional setback or challenge. You should expect challenges to come up with this routine. When they do, you have one of two choices: give up or find a way to overcome them.
it Staking Routine
Step 11: Schedule the Frequency of a Stack
As we’ve discussed before, some stacks only need to be completed on an irregular basis:
I. Daily
II. Weekly
III. Monthly
At first, you should get started with a small daily habit stack. But as you become comfortable with the strategy, create a stack for each of the above three times.

Step 12: Scale Up Your Stack
Do this in an incremental manner. In the first week, your routine will last five minutes. The second week will be ten minutes, then up fifteen minutes for week three. Repeat this process until the routine is thirty minutes with a handful of small actions.

Step 13: Build One Routine at a Time
You shouldn’t try to build more than one habit at a time because each additional new action will make it increasingly difficult to stick with your stacks. When you feel that a stack has become a permanent behaviour that is when you can add a new habit to your daily routine.


Part I is the current section you’re reading, which provides an overview of habit stacking and why small actions matter.

Part II talks about goals. Specifically, why they are important, how to create ones that match what you want from life, and how they relate to the three types of habits we’ll cover in this book.

Part III briefly covers the psychology behind habit stacking and how you can use it to remember all those small life-changing actions.

Part IV shows you how to get started with habit stacking. Here, I provide nine rules for creating a stack and the thirteen-step process for building your first routine.

Part V is the beginning of the seven sections that cover the 127 habits. We’ll start with career goals, which will focus on improving your productivity, increasing your business revenue, and implementing the habits that help you do better at your job.

Part VI will cover the finance habits, which will include topics like saving for retirement, improving your credit score, eliminating your credit card debt, and investing to build long-term wealth.”


Part VII goes over the health habits that are important for maintaining a balance of physical fitness, eating the right foods, and practicing specific routines that ensure the safety of you and your family.

Part IIX discusses the leisure habits that might not seem immediately important but are vital for improving the quality of your life.

Part IX talks about the organizing habits that provide structure to your surroundings in a mindful way where you don’t feel overwhelmed by the “stuff” in your life.

Part X will cover the relationship goals that help you enhance interactions with the important individuals in your life, while encouraging you to meet new people.

Part XI includes spiritual habits, which covers a wide range of topics like meditation, prayer, yoga, helping others, or reciting affirmations.

Part XII provides nine examples of habit stacks you can build and how to overcome the six challenges you might encounter when building a routine, and then we’ll wrap up the book.”

[Mahite Rozo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Explica de manera simple como agregar y para que agregar nuevas rutinas, tiene muchas ideas de que apregregar y que beneficios traerá si se sigue constantemente cada uno de los pasos.

[Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

The habit types discussed (keystone, support, and elephant) are helpful in breaking down your goals and structuring.

You'll likely come across many sections, habits, or recommendations that don't apply to you, but the areas that do relate can make your routines much more efficient and productive. You can skip many of the habits/descriptions that don't apply to what you're looking for and speed the reading up quite a bit.

[Arti · Rating 2 out of 5]

The author is trying to achieve 2 goals - inspire readers to start to build positive habits (in any area of priority from health, relationships, career, leisure, finance, organising, spirituality), and to share his new technique and framework to build new habits (called habit stacking)... the intent is good...

All of us - at one point or another - have struggled to develop new habits or break old habits... and the idea that there is some method or technique or trick that can help us overcome this challenge is so appealing that we cannot resist from testing every claim - howsoever trivial or farfetched - that we come across...

I came across the book free on prime reading and decided to see if there was anything new... I have - through my own experiments - developed a way that works for me... it is no different from what many people have started to talk about - focusing on little things, building on small improvements... anchoring them to existing triggers... in essence this is exactly what this book talks about... it does not add much to existing books or discussions on Habit, except probably adding a dimension of stacking - it suggests that you can combine 4-5 new habits into a single stack and do it as a routine... and that you can have multiple such routines anchored to different triggers throughout the day...

While the idea may make sense for some, I personally feel that blocks of habits are more difficult to build into your routines and each such stack will become too big to manage... I prefer my own method, where I have tied one (or two) tasks to different triggers... yes you can argue that there is higher risk of missing out on a few tasks and that control is lost when the number of triggers increase, but the model cuts down the dependency of taking out a larger block of time... It also helps to anchor the habit closer to the tasks it’s directly related to... and the loose structure provides more flexibility and breaks the monotony of rigid routines... maybe I am being shortsighted, but I have seen it work for me where I have built small positive habits into my daily routine and seen noticeable impact on larger goals...

I can say that the book (so far) failed to convert me to the habit stacking methodology - I will stick to my current model of anchoring specific habits to different triggers... but maybe I have not yet reached that critical mass of new habits that becomes difficult to manage... but if that happens some day when the number of habits (and triggers) increases, and the success rate drops, then I will keep an open mind and test it out...

I found the book to be too long - and ended up skimming through some modules (like the sample list of habits)... I feel the habits that one picks need to be specific to individual needs, priorities and goals... and while i accept that the list in the book is so generic that it can apply to anyone, I still believe that everyone should start from their own goals and identify how best to break them into smaller pieces... for my own list - built around similar themes is very different from this list!

[Caro Anderson · Rating 3 out of 5]

As someone who often takes new ideas and tries to jump wholly into them, this book appeared at the right time.  I realized I’d been trying to do too much at once and needed this book’s reminder about moderation.

Despite the number of pages, this a relatively short book about figuring out your goals and how to realistically move towards those goals in small and sustainable ways.  The instructions are simple and remind the reader to keep the habits simple, too.

The majority of the book is a list of 100+ ideas for habits, in case you aren’t sure what habits you want to add, I guess.  The list includes whether it’s a Keystone, Support, or Elephant Habit; how often to do it; the ideal time of day to do it; the benefit; and the author’s views of how to do each one.  

Personally, I found the list of ideas to be fluffy -- my problem is having too long of a list of ideal habits, so I didn't need ideas or the author's detailed instructions for each idea.    If you need that level of detail, you may want to read the book or research the habit concept online.

I’m a big fan of keep what you need and leave the rest behind — there’s a lot to leave behind in this habit list.  Some habits are a little rigid — just because the author thinks budgeting is a necessary habit doesn’t make it so.  Budgets are definitely not the only way to manage spending.  Some habits and advice contradict other habits and advice.  Not a big deal for thinking individuals, and thinking is required here.

Conserving water and meditate in the shower are not both possible.
Don't contact someone on a dating web site if you’re learning your significant other’s likes.
Waking up early might interfere with the habits of improving the quantity/quality of sleep.
Some of the detail contradicts contemporary nutrition information, like replacing real eggs with highly processed and low fat egg substitute.

Some habits indicate the author has a very different life than I do.  I’m not going to plan my daily errands at all -- I figured out years ago how to avoid them all together.  I won’t be using the Beeminder app (because of my finance goals) or putting my cell phone close to my head all night to use the Sleep Cycle app (because of my health goals).  Some habits are just odd, like sneezing into your elbow and pausing when angry — I don’t get how you’d stack that with another habit (unless you always sneeze or get angry after you brush your teeth, maybe?).

For a summary of the book, check my blog at Self Help Book Reports.

[Yuvaraj kothandaraman · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is genuinely practical not like most self-help books that make you feel pumped for three days before you forget everything.
S.J. Scott's concept is brutally simple: chain small habits together into routines you'll actually stick with.

The spoiler?
Most people fail at habits not because they lack willpower, but because they forget to do them.
Scott's solution:
anchor five-minute habits to your existing routines so you can't forget them.

The Genius Bit
The book opens with Scott's real story: his long-distance girlfriend told him she didn't feel he was thinking about her when they weren't together. His fix was sending one text and making one phone call daily - fifteen minutes total. That seems obvious, but it transformed their relationship. From this, he realized people don't fail because they're lazy they fail because they're trying to remember too many disconnected things. Stack them together, and suddenly consistency becomes automatic.

The 127 habits are practical. Need to lose weight? Track your food intake daily.
Want to improve your career? Identify your three most important tasks before anything else.
Wanting better relationships? Send someone a meaningful message each morning.
None of this is rocket science, but the framework for actually doing it is solid.

The Annoying Parts
The book repeats itself constantly. Core ideas appear five, six, sometimes seven times across different chapters in slightly different ways. By the fourth time you're reading about how ego depletion weakens willpower throughout the day, you're ready to scream. Also, some of the 127 habits feel obvious or filler like "do the dishes" or "drink water"- which pads the count without adding much value. The book tries to cover too much ground (career, finance, health, relationships, spirituality) which means each section feels compressed.

Who Benefits
Perfect for people who have no system at all. If you're drowning in To-Do lists and starting fresh habits never sticks, this framework actually works. But if you've already built good habits or use apps like Todoist successfully, you'll find this feels remedial.

[Tonya Cornileus · Rating 3 out of 5]

Harder Than Necessary

First, let me say, there are several great tips on creating habits that help a person to make life changes. In that way, the book is very helpful. What I thought was a bit overdone was distinguishing habits (e.g., Keystone, Supportive, etc.). I also found myself getting tripped up by the actual stacks. Why one activity could be part of a habit forming stack, but another, if it took longer (I.e., 30 minutes), it could not be part of a habit forming stack. I read what S.J. Scott said about the “why” but still didn’t really agree with it. For example, if soaking in a bath at the end of the day with essential oils as a way to de-stress, is a great wind down habit, why shouldn’t that be a part of the habit stack? Anyway, I thought those complexities may actually make a person feel overwhelmed with habit stacking. I am going to try to habit stack my morning and evening routines and a couple of my goals (blogging and developing my Aha! Goals products). I’ll start first with morning and get that going, followed by the evening habit stack. Over the next 2-3 months, I hope to have 4 habit stacks that are a part of my day. Then, I will be able to tell whether the book really is a great guide to personal change (for me).
Lastly, what I think is excellent is that Scott added links to all the tools and resources, including a Facebook community. I commend him on his work and mission to help others realize their goals and master personal change. I read his other book, From Novice to Expert. That too is chock full of helpful advice and links to resources.

[Maia Coghlan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm giving this 3 stars because I guess it's not completely garbage. And I can't give 2.5 stars.

I think this book can be summarised with a single example:
"Dress for success" is one of the 127 habits recommended, and he puts it in the "Spirituality" section.

Several things in this book really annoyed me. Yes, a lot of the habits in here are common sense, but that's ok. Sometimes it takes pointing out the obvious in order to make someone realise they need to make a change. But the tone of this book is so overly simplistic it just grated on my nerves. Even when there was an underlying good point being made, it was often expressed in a way that I found completely unrelatable.

I read some other reviews that mentioned how there are too many links and app suggestions in this book and wow is that true. So so so many. Too many. It's ridiculous. Takes away from the seriousness of the advice he's giving and just turns it into a big gimmick.

It's not completely garbage though, like I said in the beginning. There were some good points (although common sense) and the occasional nugget of real insight.

Mostly though, I was bothered by his 32 ounce water bottle which he mentions numerous times. Is this a normal measurement in the US? That's 950ml, surely a more standard size is 1L, or 34 ounces. Where can you even buy a 950ml water bottle?? That's so randomly specific!!

The other thing that I couldn't get over is that he checks his investment portfolio daily!! What kind of psychopath would advocate that? Unless you're a day trader I guess. "Set and forget" is Investing 101 if you want to avoid the stress of watching the stock market bounce around like a yoyo.

[Lindsay · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book had a very good start, the first chapters were easy to read and use. But once I got to the list of habits, it was hard to keep my attention. Sometimes habits would meet their opposites a few pages later, for example "Install an app so you don't get distracted" and a few pages later "Allow yourself to get distracted in between goals".

He also motivates you to use apps for nearly everything: goal setting, financing, budgeting, pomodoro, to do lists.... yet he also suggests to put your phone away during work, use airplane mode and install another app so your browser is not available. So it's like "Use your phone, but also don't use your phone". Personally, if I don't want to get distracted, the easiest solution would be to put the phone away, instead of being in need of a dozen habit apps.

Time is important when it comes to creating habits because most people claim they have no time at all. And it's a good thing he talks about that. But it's also a bit contradictory when he adds habits to the list like "Find coupons", "Scan garage sales on Facebook", "Deskercise routine" or "Connect with celebrities in your scene" because those take much longer than 5 minutes.

In my opinion this was not his best book about habits.

[BeesReads · Rating 3 out of 5]

I haven't finished this yet and I'm not sure I'm going to.

It's ok, but nothing Flylady wasn't 'teaching' 20 years ago with her start with one task in your routine (in her case shining your kitchen sink every day) and gradually add other daily or near-daily tasks on to either a morning routine or an evening routine, and with weekly, monthly and one-off routines.

I'm about halfway through and into his list of 127 things and frankly getting bored. One of the things that is annoying me is how often he uses the phrase "you should ...." for things that seem to be very much personal to him but irrelevant to me.

And apps - he loves his apps. An app for this, an app for that. All anyone needs is a spreadsheet and a notebook for days offline so you're not compelled to have your computer or smartphone on every day. Apps. Pah!

[Corey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Summary:
This is a good book with a great structure. The habits are broken into various categories based on the area of life they improve and the concept of stacking habits that take 5 minutes or less to complete together to create a 30 minute stack is a great tool to get a lot of mileage out of seemingly small actions. The concept is good, but not necessarily original. We all know that what we do every day compounds over time and the list of 127 habits is a nice reference source, but due to how different everyone's lives and goals are, I thought it was a bit bold to make a full book out of it.

I would recommend this book to anyone looking to be more productive.

The main message I took from this book is that by grouping habits into a stack we create a daily routine that helps nudge us towards larger goals. The key is consistency.

Some notable points:
- Some questions to ask to determine what habits to put into your stacks:
1. Is there a small habit that can support a major habit?
2. Do I often end the day frustrated because I didn't complete the most important tasks? Identify the most important tasks for the next day and schedule them.
3. What quick activities make me feel inspired and happy?
4. What five goals are the most important to me right now? What can you do daily to support all five of these goals?
5. What are the activities that I love to do?
6. What areas of my financial life do I need to approve?
7. Can I improve the quality of my interpersonal relationships?
8. What makes me feel great about myself?
9. How can I become more spiritual in my daily life?
10. What's a new skill I've always wanted to master?
11. Is there anything that I can do to support my local community or an important cause?
12. Is there something that I can do to improve my job performance and get a raise?

- There are three types of habits to add to a routine:
1. Keystone habits - habits that have a positive, trickle down effect on multiple areas of your life.
2. Support habits - support the achievement of an important keystone habit.
3. Elephant habits - habits that chip away at large, daunting tasks.

- You can apply the broken windows theory to your daily life. The broken windows theory is a criminological theory that visible signs of crime, anti-social behaviour and civil disorder create an urban environment that encourages further crime and disorder, including serious crimes. By ensuring your life daily life is neat and orderly, you reduce the risk of disorganisation.

- It takes anywhere from 18 to 254 days to become a permanent habit, with the average being 66 days. Build one habit at a time.

- Criteria to assess how to done well:
1. Effectiveness
2. Cost-effectiveness
3. Transparency
4. Room for more funding

- Write down a list of 25 priorities that you want to accomplish in the next few years. Identify the top five that are important right now and the other twenty that might be a distraction. Focus on the the top five and ignore the other 20 until your top 5 are done.

[Cora · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was okay, the idea is great but the book itself is a bit boring. There is a lot of explaining before it gets to the 127 actions which does make sense because "habit stacking" isn't what I had thought it was but it does seem to take a while to get to the actions. Not all the actions are applicable and not all of them are even what I would consider an action, but there were a few good ideas in there and a few things I do want to start doing. As I got closer to the end of the book (after the 127 actions) it felt like the book was never going to end! It was like one more thing, and one reminder, and here's another last thing, etc. The concept is good and interesting but the book itself isn't that interesting.

[Mark Vil · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Game Changer for Daily Routines

Habit Stacking by S.J. Scott is a great read! It’s simple, practical, and easy to apply right away. I’ve already started stacking habits in my own life—like creating routines for when I wake up, during lunch, and in the evening—and I can really see the positive changes building up.

What I love most is how the book breaks things down into small, manageable steps that don’t feel overwhelming. It shows you how tiny actions, when linked together, can create powerful momentum over time.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to improve their daily routine, be more productive, or just make lasting changes without feeling stressed about it.

[Scott Wozniak · Rating 4 out of 5]

Changing habits is hard. That's why this book proposes to stack multiple new habits into one routine--that's triggered by a habit you already do all the time. He says to make them small (5 min max). Also, the best part of the book is that each chapter gives a detailed list of small but significant habits you could adopt. The idea is not to do them all, but to provide you will 127 habits to get you started making your own.

Mostly, he cites other great books for the big principles. Nothing new here, though he summarizes well. The value of this book is in the rich list of details. This is a practical recipe book, not a theory book.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not happy with something in your life? Want to improve the quality of your life? Then this book is for you! It's all about creating habits, that don't take much time, and applying them on a regular basis which will create consistency. The author separates habits into categories, and from their identifies their types, best time of day to complete, and the frequency they should be completed. Each habit stack requires steps or rules that are easy to follow (and remember).

It's a book that someone will want to purchase and not just borrow so you can review it often. I have definitely incorporated some of these habits into my daily routine!

[Monica Willyard Moen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has a short and extremely powerful message. The author shows us how to turn a group of small related habits into a habit stack that we do each day. A habit stack could be a morning routine, a way of managing diabetes, or something you do at work that gets little but important things done on a consistent basis. I have been performing a couple habit stacks over the last month, and I find that I am getting a lot more done on a consistent basis. This really is a boost to productivity that feels natural and comfortable so that I'm getting things done and feeling good about it.

[Holli Keel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was prepared to dislike this book, assuming it wouldn’t be very useful. I’m glad I was wrong. It’s a quick read and gives you ideas for habits you can work on acquiring, and gives you a blueprint for “stacking” them, so you can accomplish more in a day without feeling like you’re a robot doing chores and tasks nonstop. (I refuse to cram every minute of my day with productivity; it makes me feel not human.) Anyway, I get why this book is so popular. It will hopefully help me add some good habits to my life.

[Johnnysbookreviews · Rating 5 out of 5]

S.J. Scott provides people 127 habits for a better health, wealth, and happiness. One of the habits he gave me is to use Evernote to document my goals and to use this on regular basis. One of the other habits he gave me is to use Beeminder, which is a website that documents your goals. The catch is that you have to put money down, so you are motivated to accomplish the goals. If you do not accomplish the goal, the company will charge the amount of money that you put down. S.J. Scott gives many other habits to help you become more productive in your life.