20 Tiny Habits Examples That Actually Stick

20 Tiny Habits Examples That Actually Stick

Every Tiny Habit follows the same recipe: "After I [anchor], I will [tiny behavior]," then you celebrate the instant you finish. The behavior is small enough to do in under 30 seconds, and the anchor is a routine you already do — the reliable cue you never have to remember. Below are 20 examples you can copy and use today.

These come from BJ Fogg's [Tiny Habits method](/blog/tiny-habits-method-complete-guide), laid out in full in his book Tiny Habits: The Small Changes That Change Everything. If you're deciding between this approach and the other big name in habit science, [Tiny Habits vs. Atomic Habits](/blog/tiny-habits-vs-atomic-habits) breaks down where the two agree and where Fogg's anchor-and-celebration recipe pulls ahead. For now, pick one or two examples that fit your day. Resist the urge to grab all twenty at once — a single habit that sticks beats a long list you drop by Friday.

How to Read These Examples

Each example is written in the recipe format, and each one ends with a celebration you should actually do — a smile, a fist pump, a quiet "Yes!" The celebration isn't optional decoration. Fogg's core claim is that emotions create habits, so the flash of good feeling right after the behavior is what wires it in. If you skip it, you're just doing reps and hoping.

One rule for all twenty: keep the behavior tiny on purpose. "Read one page" quietly becomes "read a chapter," and now you need motivation again. Do the tiny version. You can always do more once it's automatic.

Morning Tiny Habits

The morning is full of strong anchors because your routine is already on rails.

1. After I put my feet on the floor, I will take one deep breath. Then celebrate.
2. After I start my coffee maker, I will do two push-ups. In the same spirit as Fogg's own coffee-anchored example from his TEDx talk. Then celebrate.
3. After I brush my teeth, I will floss one tooth. One. Then celebrate.
4. After I pour my first glass of water, I will drink half of it before anything else. Then celebrate.
5. After I sit down for breakfast, I will name one thing I'm looking forward to. Then celebrate.

Work and Focus Tiny Habits

Anchor these to the concrete actions that bookend your work, not to vague times of day.

1. After I sit at my desk, I will write one sentence of the hardest task. Then celebrate.
2. After I open my laptop, I will close every tab I don't need right now. Then celebrate.
3. After I send my first email, I will write down my single most important task for the day. Then celebrate.
4. After I finish a meeting, I will stand up and stretch for five seconds. Then celebrate.
5. After I feel the urge to check my phone, I will take one slow breath first. Then celebrate.

That last one is a strong fit for anyone whose focus fragments easily, including [people building habits with ADHD](/blog/tiny-habits-for-adhd), because it inserts a tiny pause exactly where attention tends to slip.

Health and Movement Tiny Habits

1. After I take off my work shoes, I will put on my running shoes. That's the whole habit. Then celebrate.
2. After I walk into the kitchen, I will fill a glass of water. Then celebrate.
3. After I sit on the couch, I will do one shoulder roll. Then celebrate.
4. After I put my lunch plate down, I will add one vegetable to it. Then celebrate.
5. After I climb into bed, I will stretch my legs for ten seconds. Then celebrate.

Calm and Mindset Tiny Habits

1. After I close my laptop for the day, I will name one thing that went well. Then celebrate.
2. After I lock my front door, I will take one grounding breath. Then celebrate.
3. After I set my phone to charge at night, I will write one line in a notebook. Then celebrate.
4. After I turn off my bedroom light, I will relax my jaw and shoulders. Then celebrate.
5. After I hear my alarm, I will smile before I do anything else. A tiny mood anchor. Then celebrate.

Build Your Own: The Recipe Behind the List

Once you see the pattern across all twenty, you can write new ones for anything you want to start. The formula never changes: find an anchor, shrink the behavior, add a celebration.

Start with the anchor, not the behavior. Walk through your day and list five things you do without fail: pouring coffee, parking your car, hanging up your keys, closing your laptop, brushing your teeth. Any of those is a candidate anchor. This is the same move James Clear calls [habit stacking](/blog/habit-stacking) — chaining a new behavior onto one you already do on autopilot. Tiny Habits uses the identical structure and adds two extra requirements: the behavior has to be small enough that motivation is nearly beside the point, and it has to end in a real celebration, not just a mental checkmark.

Then shrink whatever you're picturing. If your instinct is "meditate for ten minutes," shrink it to "sit down and take one breath." If it's "write in a journal," shrink it to "write one word." The tiny version should feel almost too easy to count — that's exactly the point, because too-easy is what survives a bad day.

Finally, decide your celebration before you need it. Pick something you'll actually do — a fist pump, a quiet "nice," a genuine smile — so you're not inventing it in the moment. Write your new recipe down in the same format as the list above: "After I [anchor], I will [tiny behavior]." Then celebrate.

When an Anchor Isn't Working

Notice what every example above shares: a specific, already-automatic routine on the front end. That's deliberate. A vague anchor like "sometime in the morning" has no trigger, so the habit never fires. A concrete anchor — after I start my coffee maker — has a clear finish line that hands off directly to the new behavior.

If a habit isn't sticking after a week or two, the behavior is usually fine and the anchor is the problem. Three common fixes:

• The anchor doesn't happen every day. Swap it for something that genuinely never skips — brushing your teeth beats "my morning workout," because the workout is exactly the kind of thing that gets skipped on a bad day.
• The anchor is too far in time from the new behavior. "After I wake up" is vaguer than "after my feet hit the floor." Move the anchor as close to the trigger moment as you can.
• You picked an anchor you don't consciously notice. If a routine is so automatic you don't register doing it, your brain won't register the new behavior attached to it either. Choose one you're at least a little aware of completing.

Swap the anchor for a more reliable one, and the same tiny behavior usually holds. How quickly it becomes automatic will still vary — [the real research on how long it takes to form a habit](/blog/how-long-does-it-take-to-form-a-habit) shows a wide range, [a median of about 66 days in Lally's study](/sources/how-are-habits-formed-modelling-habit-formation-in-the-real-world-6eadadb6) — so judge the recipe by whether you keep doing it, not by a calendar.

From Twenty Examples to Who You're Becoming

A single tiny habit looks small in isolation, and it is — that's the design. But each one you keep is also a small piece of evidence about who you are: the kind of person who moves in the morning, who writes daily, who follows through. That's the deeper mechanism behind [identity-based habits](/blog/identity-based-habits-behavior-change): each rep isn't just a repetition, it's a vote for a version of yourself. Twenty examples is a lot of votes waiting to be cast. You only need to start casting them one at a time.

Start With Just One

Twenty examples is a menu, not a to-do list. The most common mistake with a list like this is to grab five habits on Monday and lose all five by Wednesday. Pick one — the one whose anchor already fires like clockwork in your day — and let it become genuinely automatic before you add another.

There's a reason for the restraint. Each new habit spends a little of your attention while it's still forming. Stack too many at once and each gets a thin, unreliable slice, so none of them roots. Give a single habit your full focus and it locks in faster, which then frees you to add the next one on solid ground. One habit that sticks is worth more than ten you started and dropped.

When you're ready to choose, favor the examples tied to your strongest daily anchors. If you never miss your morning coffee, the coffee-anchored habits will hold. If your evenings are chaotic but your commute is fixed, anchor there instead. Match the recipe to the most reliable moment you've got, and the behavior comes along for the ride.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are some examples of tiny habits? Examples include: "After I start my coffee maker, I will do two push-ups," "After I sit at my desk, I will write one sentence," and "After I brush my teeth, I will floss one tooth." Each pairs an existing routine (the anchor) with a behavior small enough to finish in seconds, followed by a celebration.

How small should a tiny habit be? Small enough to do in under 30 seconds and easy enough that motivation is almost irrelevant. One push-up, one page, one calm breath. If it feels too small to matter, it's the right size — you can always do more once the habit is rooted.

What is a good anchor for a tiny habit? A good anchor is a specific routine you already do automatically every day, like starting your coffee maker, sitting at your desk, or putting your feet on the floor when you wake up. The more specific the anchor, the more reliably it triggers the new behavior.

How many tiny habits should I start at once? Start with one to three. A single anchored habit that you actually keep beats a long list you abandon. Once one is automatic, add another.

What's the difference between a tiny habit and habit stacking? They're close cousins. Habit stacking, popularized by James Clear, chains a new behavior onto an existing one ("after X, I will Y"). Tiny Habits uses the same anchor structure but adds two more requirements: the behavior must be tiny enough to do without motivation, and it must end in a deliberate celebration. The anchor gets you the cue; the celebration is what actually wires the habit in.

What if none of these examples fit my routine? Keep the behavior from an example you like and swap only the anchor. If "after my coffee maker" doesn't apply to you, find whatever you do just as reliably — locking your car, opening your laptop, hanging up your keys — and attach the same tiny behavior there instead.

How GetMotivated.ai Can Help

A list of examples is a great start; keeping one going day after day is the part that decides everything. GetMotivated.ai takes any recipe you pick and gives it a home — a daily structure built on anchor, behavior, and celebration — plus a buddy who's genuinely glad you did your two push-ups. That shared moment amplifies the celebration Fogg says does the real work, and it turns a copied example into a habit that becomes part of who you are.