Starting out the new year many are trying to get into new and healthy habits. Habits are a regular tendency or practice, one that is typically done without any thinking. For most people habits can be bad— watching too much tv, snacking, lying, etc. Yet, some habits can be good. For example, good habits would be things like brushing your teeth twice a day, eating breakfast, and washing your hands. However, it can be extremely challenging to get into these healthy habits and out of the bad. And there are many beneficial ways to do so. Today we are going over two different ways of getting into healthy habits: Habit pairing and habit stacking
What is Habit Pairing?
Habit pairing is a way to establish a habit by putting two tasks together to make it easier to get into healthy habits. To do this you must add old habits onto new ones. The idea of habit pairing is to do something you enjoy while completing something you don’t like, for example, listening to music while cleaning your room or brushing your teeth. This can help motivate you and make it easier to look forward to these tasks rather than seeing them as a duty. Habit pairing can be very helpful for maintaining an organized schedule that is not so messy.
What is Habit Stacking?
Habit Stacking is often mistaken for Habit pairing which is similar but benefits you in a slightly different way. Habit Stacking is adding a new task to your schedule and stacking it onto a current habit in your daily routine. Unlike Habit pairing you are adding new habits onto old ones. For example, you take a task you do daily one that is engraved into your schedule like showering. Next take a habit that you are trying to add to your daily routine like eating more fruit. To stack this habit, immediately after showering you would eat your desired fruit.
Its not sure which system is more effective but can be very effective wether they are used together or separate. They help build patterns into your brain without having to start big but instead taking baby steps and they are much more likely to stick. But reminder Habit Stacking and Pairing are mainly about following a checklist.
