#13 Habit Stacking for Creatives: How to Build Momentum Without Overwhelm

In this episode of The Jeweler's View, we delve into the effective strategy of habit stacking. Inspired by James Clear's Atomic Habits, we explore how pairing new habits with existing ones can lead to impactful changes. You'll learn what habit stacking is, why it works, and how you can apply it to your creative business to build momentum starting today. Through real-life examples and actionable tips, this episode provides a step-by-step guide to creating your own habit stacks. Tune in to discover how small, consistent changes can lead to significant results. Don’t forget to subscribe, leave a review, and share your habit stack journey with us!

Transcript

Episode #13 Habit Stacking for Creatives: How to Build Momentum Without Overwhelm [00:00:00] Hey friends, welcome back to the Jeweler's View. Last week, we kicked off a mini series inspired by Atomic Habits by James Clear. We talked about the power of systems over goals and the small, consistent changes that lead to big results. If you haven't episode yet, definitely check it out.

It sets the stage for today's topic. Habit stacking. So what if I told you that the easiest way to build new habits is to connect them to things you're already doing? Today, I'm sharing how habit stacking works, why it's such a game changer for creatives and how you can start using it to make real progress in your creative business starting right now.

So you'll learn is by the end of this short episode, you'll have a clear understanding of how. to stack habits to build momentum in your creative journey. Plus I'll share some real life examples and actionable tips to get started today. So what is [00:01:00] habit stacking? Let's dive right in.

The definition of habit stacking is the simple act of pairing a new habit with with an existing one. instead of trying to create a whole new routine from scratch, you build onto something you already do. This leverages what James Clear calls the cue and reward cycle. You're piggybacking off habits that are already ingrained.

So here's some backing. Research in behavioral science shows that cues trigger habits. By attaching a new habit to a reliable cue, like Brushing your teeth or making your coffee. You're creating a natural chain reaction that reinforces the new behavior. Okay, so for example, let's say you want to get better at posting on social media.

Dun, dun, dun. I know, we all love it, right? Some of us actually do love it. If you love social media, I want you to reach out and teach me your ways. Anyway, let's say that's your goal. You want to start to get better at posting on social [00:02:00] media to promote your jewelry business. You already check your emails every morning, right?

So stack the habit of posting right after you finished your coffee and email check in. The habit becomes after I check my email, I'll post on Instagram, for example. So Why does habit stacking work for creatives? It eliminates overwhelm.

As creatives, we often have so many ideas. swirling around that it's hard to know where to start. Habit stacking keeps things simple by anchoring new habits to habits that we're already doing. it's like an add on, right? You're just going to applique, right? You're going to layer another piece on top of something that's already beautiful.

That's already working. Number two, it builds momentum. Success is built on small wins. I talk about this a lot. Each habit you stack becomes part of a chain of progress that feels natural and attainable. It's about building momentum, not forcing it.

 [00:03:00] Little things on top of little things. Maybe do one a week. Okay, I'm going to add this habit today. I'm going to stack this new habit today. And I'm not talking about, Big, big changes here. Again, really tiny, small things. These will add up. you'll see progress. Number three is it reduces decision fatigue.

We've talked about this in a previous episode on decision fatigue for creatives. When habits are automatic, you don't have to waste time or energy deciding what to do next. It's already built into your day. For years I struggled with this, to find time to implement new ideas, to sketch out new projects, to build the new line I was dreaming of.

Then I started stacking. It was something I already did, like my morning coffee. Now I'm a tea drinker. I quit coffee, believe it or not. And so with my tea, for me, I'll read a new book. I'll read a new chapter in something I do it aligned with something I've already doing automatically. So every [00:04:00] morning I pour my tea, sit at my desk, maybe sketch for 10 minutes or read a chapter for 10 minutes before I knew it.

I had read a whole book or I had filled my entire notebook with ideas. That small habit became the foundation for so many things that I'm able to do now. Okay, how to create your own habit stacks. Let's dive into this for a minute. Step one. Identify your current habits. Start by listing the habits you already do every day.

These are your anchors. Think about things like brushing your teeth, checking email, or making dinner, walking the dog, exercising, the list could go on. Now step two, choose a new habit to add. So pick one small habit that you want to build. For example, if you want to practice more gratitude, decide to write down one thing you're grateful for.

Right? So you could do that from brush my teeth. And I write down one thing that I'm grateful for. I go to bed. I write [00:05:00] down one thing that I'm grateful for, wherever that fits in to your day. This can be catered. This is the good news. You're in control. You get to decide how you want to stack these habits and which ones to pair them with, start small, keep it simple.

Don't want to overwhelm you with a whole lot of new habits at one time. We want this to be a lifestyle shift, something that is longterm and attainable. as well as scalable, right? Step three, create a clear link. So you can use this formula after I X, Y, Z fill in the blank, I will. So for example, after I finish a jewelry order, I'll clean my bench and prep for the next project.

Another example, after I sit down to dinner, I'll write down my top priorities for tomorrow. I love doing this one. As soon as I started adding in that little one, the next day for me started feeling so much more clear and easy to approach. I didn't wake up [00:06:00] thinking, Okay, I've got this huge goal. I'm building this whole thing.

Where do I start? What do I do today? what do I do for the first half of the day? So checking my calendar each night it's kind of relaxing. Now I sit, I actually watch a little Netflix or something like that. And I literally just go through what is my plan for tomorrow? I write down any tasks or move them to the next day that I didn't get to tackle today.

It's really been helpful. I wake up and instead of worrying about creating a schedule or making the best of the day, it's already planned out for me. It can change, things will change, life will always steer you, but if you have a little system in place, like this, that doesn't take much time at all, less than 10 minutes, right, we can do that, you're going to start seeing that 1 percent change over time, and you'll start seeing real progress in a different way.

Guarantee it. So step four is keep it small and specific. The habit has to be so small that it feels doable. [00:07:00] For example, don't commit to organizing your whole studio in one go. Start with stacking. After I've finished a design, or after I've soldered this last piece, I'll put away one tool. Perhaps while something is in the ultrasonic.

 I'll go do this other thing while I'm waiting for it to get clean. Right? So think about implementing these tiny little new habits that are going to create progress for you into something you're already good at. Doing anyway, it makes it way easier to approach something new. We're not setting from scratch goal here.

We're just putting it into what we're already doing. Here's some examples of habit stacks for creatives. So for studio organization, after I finish a design, I'll clean one tool. For marketing consistency, after I check my email, I'll post one story on Instagram.

After I pour my coffee, I'll sketch for five minutes. For planning ahead, after I brush my teeth at night, I'll review my [00:08:00] schedule for the next day. Or wherever that fits into your life. So when I first started really implementing this into my life, and I still have a lot of work to do on this. There's a lot of habits I'd like to break that I'm not perfect I am routine driven and I am very, habit driven. So for me, this is game changing because I need strategies. I need tools. I to try to implement things into our, uh, life. world that work better for us now, for who we want to become, Who do we want to be and how do we practice getting there?

So when I first started stacking habits, I thought, how can five minutes of this or that really make a difference? I didn't get it, but the results were amazing. Sketching led to full collections, tidying my bench led to faster production, consistent marketing brought in new clients, consistent outreach for the school that I built led to over 6, 000 students a year coming through.

We were able to make such a huge impact. So here's some common mistakes to avoid. If you start too [00:09:00] big.

and your habit feels overwhelming, you are not going to stick to it. So start small and let it grow naturally, organically, like anything, Skipping the anchor habit is a big one. Your new habit depends on your anchor. So if you skip the anchor part, The stack falls apart. So be sure that you're anchoring

and that's why we're going to write it out in the beginning, what are those anchor habits that you already have in place that are already fueling your progress? How can we add one little thing onto that or stack it? . Number three is expecting instant results. This is a big one. Big one for me, and I know it's a big one for others that I talk to.

My clients always face this one. Remember, habits compound over time. You might not see immediate results. With most efforts, you don't. There's not that immediate gratification. Maybe like the final polish, you know, but that's still a final step. It's not the beginning, it's not the middle. It's that final step.

piece. So [00:10:00] remember, they compound over time. you're not going to see it right away. Instant gratification, sorry, doesn't really exist. So trust the process. Here's what I want you to do. This week, I want you to think about what we talked about. Habit stacking is a simple, powerful way to build momentum in your creative life.

Start by identifying current habits. So we're going to make the list of current habits, we'll use those as our anchor and we'll link a new habit to them. Keep it small. Keep it specific. Over time, these tiny changes, they're going to add up to big results. And I swear, let's touch base in six months.

I want to see and hear what has come from this new idea of habit stacking. So this week, I challenge you, create one habit stack. Write it down, try it for seven days, and see how it feels. If you loved this episode, if this is helpful for you, please don't forget to subscribe and leave me a review reach [00:11:00] out.

I want to hear from you. I want to hear how this is going and I want to hear what your habit stack is going to look like. Just your first one, seven days.

Next week, we're going to come back and we're going to tackle the other side of habits, how to break the ones that hold you back. You're not going to want to miss it. I hope you're enjoying this series. Again, too many good juicy topics in this one idea of habits and atomic habits from James Clear's book, The Tactics here have been very helpful for my journey and I hope they help you too.

until next week, tune in. I'm on YouTube now. You can actually see me while you listen to me that's at the jeweler's view. Be sure to subscribe and again, spread the word for me. It's a brand new baby YouTube channel until then, onward and upward, keep stacking those good habits.

Let's make some progress together. See you soon.

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