Habit technique · Cues & prompts · A few minutes
Anchor it to a routine
Level: Beginner · Free — no account needed to read
Attach a new habit to the end of something you already do every day: “After I [current habit], I will [new habit].”
Why it may help
The existing routine is a cue that already happens daily, in a consistent place, at a natural break — so the new habit borrows its reliability.
When to use it
- You keep forgetting a habit
- You have no free time slot
- Building a routine one piece at a time
How to apply it
- List routines you do daily without fail.
- Pick one that ends where the new habit could happen.
- Write the “After I…, I will…” sentence.
- Put what the new habit needs right where the routine ends.
An example
“After I pour my morning coffee, I will write my top priority for the day.”
The common mistake
Anchoring to something that doesn’t happen every day.
Practise it
Write one stacking sentence and put the materials in place tonight.
What the evidence says
Research-supported: Good studies support it, but there are fewer of them, the effects are modest, or they come from a narrow set of situations.
The principle — a stable routine as a cue — is supported by habit research, and a flossing study found attaching the habit after an existing routine helped. A trial found routine-based and time-based cues worked similarly.
Behaviour Change Technique Taxonomy (v1) codes: 7.1, 8.3.
Sources
- Judah, Gardner & Aunger (2013). Forming a flossing habit: An exploratory study of the psychological determinants of habit formation. British Journal of Health Psychology. doi:10.1111/j.2044-8287.2012.02086.x
- Keller, Kwasnicka, Klaiber, Sichert, Lally & Fleig (2021). Habit formation following routine-based versus time-based cue planning: A randomized controlled trial. British Journal of Health Psychology. doi:10.1111/bjhp.12504
- Atomic Habits — James Clear (2018)
Problems it helps with
- “I keep forgetting.” — You mean to do it, and then the moment slips past — you remember at night, or not at all.
Lessons behind it
- Anchor it to something you already do — An existing routine is a cue that already shows up every day. (6 min · Beginner)
- Habit stacking — After I [current habit], I will [new habit] — why it works and when it doesn’t. (6 min · Beginner)
- Sequences and chains — Link several small behaviours so finishing one starts the next. (6 min · Intermediate)