it's a bad habit because it reinforces a fear of stuttering and avoidance. Plus there are some words you cant avoid so you don't want to become dependent on escaping. Escaping isn't good and won't help you become more comfortable communicating. quite the opposite. See if you, at least in easy situations, can kind of embrace stuttering openly a little bit. It probably still wont be "fun", but you dont have to fight against it.