Habit Stacking: 127 Small Actions That Take Five Minutes or Less

by S.J. Scott

respond to any text messages that have gone unanswered—again in the order received.

share something positive every day, then you can help others a little by making them laugh or smile.

Pause Before Discussing Sensitive Topics

“10% of conflicts are due to difference of opinion and 90% are due to wrong tone of voice.”

pause (for at least a few seconds) before engaging in a sensitive conversation.

Whenever you feel anger, the first thing to do is immediately remove yourself from the situation.

Give the person in this conversation 100% of your attention and focus.

Make eye contact.

Don’t interrupt, give your opinions, or attempt to fix their problems.

Wait for a natural pause to ask clarifying questions.

Be empathetic. Try to feel what the speaker is feeling.

make a point of documenting your life on a regular basis.

“What we think, we become.”

Create “I am” statements.

Keep it positive.

Say affirmations in the present tense.

Don’t worry about how.

do the daily examination of conscience.

ask yourself how you’re feeling. Even if you aren’t worried or depressed, it’s important to have regular conferences with yourself

create a goal that might seem too easy to complete but is also so easy that you can do it on a consistent basis.

Build a Habit Stack Around Important Goals

Write down a list of twenty-five priorities that you want to accomplish in the next few years. Identify the top five that are important right now.

Identify the other twenty that might be a distraction from your five priorities. Make a mental commitment to avoid these activities at all costs.

take responsibility for slipping up, but also forgive yourself.

Identify an area of your life you want to improve, and start with a five-minute block of habits.

Focus on small wins by picking simple habits that don’t require much willpower,

Pick a time, location, or combination of both for when you’ll complete this routine.

Anchor your stack to a trigger, which is an existing habit that you automatically do every day,

Create a logical checklist,

sequence of the actions, how long it takes to complete each item, and where you’ll do them.

Be accou...

Create small enjoyable rewards

Focus on repetition by never missing a day.

Avoid breaking the chain by eliminating any excuse for missing a day.

Expect the occasional challenge or setback.

Schedule the frequency of a stack by committing to this routine as a daily, weekly, or monthly series of actions.

Scale up your stack by adding more habits and increasing the total time of the routine.

Build one routine at a time

If you want to improve your life, take a close look at your goals and find the one area where you need the most help.

the habit-stacking framework is flexible and can easily fit into any busy schedule.