Putting It All Together: Two Sample Routines
Theory is useful, but seeing these principles in action can make them much clearer. Let’s walk through how to design two simple but powerful routines using the concepts of identity, cues, minimum viable actions, and habit stacking. These are just examples; the goal is for you to use the same thinking to build routines that fit your own life and goals.
The Evening Wind-Down: A Routine for Better Sleep
Let’s say your goal is to improve your sleep. The identity you want to embody is: “I am a person who rests well and values my health.” Your current habit loop might be: feeling tired after dinner (cue) leads to scrolling on your phone or watching TV in bed (action), which provides a reward of easy entertainment but ultimately harms your sleep quality. We need to design a new routine.
First, we’ll use habit stacking. The anchor habit will be finishing the dinner dishes. The stack will look like this: After I put the last dish away, I will immediately change into my pajamas. This simple act is a powerful cue that signals the transition from the busy part of the day to the relaxation phase. Next, we apply a minimum viable action. Instead of a vague goal like “read more,” the action is: After I change into my pajamas, I will sit in my reading chair and read one page of a physical book. Just one page. It’s so easy you can’t say no. Finally, we manage friction. We increase friction for the bad habit by leaving the phone charger in the living room overnight, far from the bedroom. We decrease friction for the good habit by placing the book and a cup of herbal tea on the nightstand in the afternoon, making the new routine inviting and easy to start. This new loop replaces mindless scrolling with a calming ritual that directly supports your identity as someone who rests well.
The Morning Focus Primer: A Routine for a Productive Day
Now, let’s design a routine to start the day with intention. The identity here is: “I am a focused and proactive person who controls my day; my day does not control me.” The common, reactive habit loop is: the alarm goes off (cue), you grab your phone (action), and you are immediately flooded with emails, news, and notifications (a stressful reward that hijacks your attention). We want to build a better system.
Our anchor habit will be turning off the alarm. The habit stack begins: After I turn off my alarm, I will not look at my phone. I will immediately walk to the kitchen and drink a full glass of water. This first step rehydrates you and gives you a moment to wake up. Next, another stack: After I drink my glass of water, I will sit down at the kitchen table with a notebook and pen. Here comes the minimum viable action: I will write down one priority for the day. Just one. This simple act shifts your brain from a reactive mode to a proactive one. You have defined your own agenda before the world has had a chance to define it for you. To make this work, we manage friction. The night before, you place the glass, notebook, and pen on the kitchen table. You also enable a “do not disturb” mode on your phone that lasts until 30 minutes after you wake up, adding a layer of friction to the habit of checking it first thing.
These routines aren’t about adding more to your plate. They are about using small, intelligent changes to a few key moments to set a positive trajectory for the rest of your day or night, reinforcing your desired identity every step of the way.
