Looking to increase your productivity or make better use of your mornings and evenings? Habit stacking could be the ultimate life hack for you.
Wellness trends come and go — and there’s been many a time where a fad has made waves across social media only to never be spoken about again.
This latest lifestyle hack, however, has piqued our intrigue at L360.
Popularised by personal growth author and podcast host Mel Robbins, habit stacking is all about timekeeping and — as we approach a new year — it’s come at the perfect time.
What is habit stacking?
Habit stacking is pairing new habits with tasks that we do robotically. Examples of this would be pairing brushing your teeth with listening to a podcast, drinking your morning coffee while engaging in a new habit like meditation or journaling, or taking your dog for a walk while listening to a self-improvement podcast.
The point of this is to help you build new, productive habits without having to think too hard about it.
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The term was first coined by James Clear in his book Atomic Habits. Content creator Olivia Tamborini says she began habit stacking in 2020 after reading James’s book. “Habit stacking has maximised my productivity and created a sense of flow in my daily routine,” she explains.
According to James, our brains are inclined to create routines and link actions together in familiar contexts, which is why a morning routine of brushing your teeth or drinking a morning coffee feels instinctive.
Now, if we attach a new habit to our instinctive rituals — such as supplementing collagen, protein powder or using that time to take our daily supplements — it makes creating that habit less mentally taxing.
@yourbigsisliv if you want to feel better than everyone else do this morning routine. @Mel Robbins #habitstacking #morningroutine #proteincoffee #morningsun #movement #consistency ♬ original sound – Liv Tamborini
How can I habit stack for wellness?
There are a multitude of habit stacking examples for all areas of life, particularly for health and wellness.
Olivia says she uses the trend to embrace wellness and has paired listening to a podcast with taking her morning walk, as well as taking five deep breaths immediately after she brushes her teeth.
Some of the L360 team’s favourite habit stacks for wellness include journaling or doing an at-home Pilates workout while wearing an LED red-light mask, as well as calling a loved one to catch up while folding the washing.
Read more: How to put yourself first — and stop feeling guilty about it
Does habit stacking really work?
If you ask me, it’s a great tool for getting on with a task that always slips your mind, or perhaps one that you don’t really want to do. It helps with feeling productive and — if you’re anything like me — you might enjoy the tedious task of washing up slightly more if you’re also listening to a wellness podcast.
By sandwiching tasks together, it can lessen the likelihood of procrastination — which is something that’s definitely on our New Year resolution lists for 2026.
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