Here’s How Long It Really Takes to Form a New Habit.

Habit formation is a powerful tool. You incorporate something new into your daily routine, and pretty soon it becomes automatic. At least, that’s the dream—in reality , it takes work . But how long does it take to fully form a habit? Contrary to popular belief, it doesn’t have to be just 21 days.

The number of days it takes to form a new habit depends on the habit itself, on you, and on the strategies you use to form and maintain it. Scientific estimates range from 21 days to eight months or more. Let’s explore why this range is so wide and what you can do to form habits faster.

The 21-Day Habit Myth

The idea that a habit is formed in 21 days comes from surgeon Maxwell Maltz. He observed that it seems to take about three weeks for a person to get used to their new body after surgeries like amputation or plastic surgery, writes James Clear. (Having undergone several minor surgeries, I remember that it takes two to three weeks for the pain and swelling to subside enough that you stop constantly thinking about the fact that you just had surgery; I wonder if this is somehow related.)

The surgeon’s idea was that it takes a person 21 days to dissolve and re-form a “mental image” of themselves. This isn’t supported by research; it’s simply one person’s intuitive guess. But I think the idea has caught on because it resonates with many of our experiences.

Let’s say you want to wake up early in the morning so you can start exercising right away. Sure , you can do that once. But how do you turn it into a habit? When I found myself in this situation—when I started exercising in the morning despite not being a morning person—I forced myself to stick to it for a whole week before I allowed myself to complain or adjust my plan. I had to wake up at 6 a.m. every day, five days in a row; it was an absolute rule. I enjoyed taking the weekend off, and the second week was much easier. By the end of the third week, it truly had become my new norm. I continued this for at least a year after that.

While the 21-day rule isn’t based on science, it’s a good time frame for a “test run” of a new habit. After all, one day might be a fluke. One or two weeks is a long time, and we can tolerate disruption to our normal routine for that long (think vacation or a busy week before a deadline at work). But by the time you get to three weeks, or even better, a full month, you’ll have learned something about your new habit and how it fits into your life. Even the simplest habits are never easy; the process of forming almost any habit requires mastering and practicing many small skills .

So, by day 21, you’ve done this many times. Importantly, you’ve likely experienced a few interruptions or setbacks (like weekends) and gotten back on track. This is probably a good rule of thumb for a period of time long enough to feel like “real life.” But that doesn’t mean it’s enough.

Research shows that it takes months for a habit to become automatic.

Scientific studies have attempted to measure how long it takes for a habit to truly become automatic. For example, in this study, participants were asked to choose a habit and associate it with something they did once a day (e.g., “eat fruit with lunch”). The study lasted 12 weeks. Some participants felt their new habit had become automatic after just a few weeks; many others had not yet reached this state by the end of the study. The researchers concluded that most people will develop an automatic habit within two to eight months… according to a model they calculated that only 62 (about 75%) of the participants applied.

This is quite a wide range, and we don’t know whether other people would ever reach the level where this habit becomes automatic. The researchers also found that simpler habits (like drinking water) became automatic faster than more complex ones (like doing 50 squats).

A 2012 review of several other studies concluded that it’s more logical to tell people that it will take at least 10 weeks to form a new habit, but also that recognizing that any habit gets easier the more you do it is very helpful. The authors note that expecting a habit to form in 21 days can be discouraging, and instead, it’s better to focus on the results of “diligently working on a new behavior for 2-3 months.”

How to Form Habits Faster

Setting time limits can be a helpful tool, such as getting through the first week before changing a plan, or using a new moisturizer every day until the bottle runs out. But another school of thought holds that long-term behavioral changes are better described by “stages of change” rather than calendar dates. There’s a “contemplation” stage, when you consider how you’ll practice the new behavior, and a “preparation” stage, when you gather the necessary materials and try out different options—for example, buying new running shoes or taking a fitness class to see if you enjoy it.

Sometimes, forming a habit takes longer than you hope. But you can ensure that the habit sticks faster than expected if you take a purposeful approach to its formation. Consciously working on a new habit can also prolong its sustainability, as we see in the maintenance phase.

What should you do at the initial stage to ensure that the new habit takes hold?

The initial period of habit formation—whether it’s 21 days, 66 days, or, at worst, eight months—is what behavior change psychologists call the action stage. You’ve started forming a habit, but it hasn’t yet become automatic, and you may not be confident you’ll actually stick with it. During this stage, you can increase the likelihood of the habit sticking by doing the following:

• Remind yourself of your motivation to do it . For example, put a reminder card for your next dentist appointment on your bathroom mirror so you remember not only the need to floss but also why you want to do it.

• Change your environment to provide cues and support . For example, if you want to run every morning, set out your shoes the night before and ask your spouse to ask you how your run went when you get back.

• Build self-confidence by celebrating your small victories . This could mean marking the days you complete a task on your calendar, working toward milestones (like total miles walked), or setting milestones for your progress (like if you used to do daily push-ups with your hands on a chair, you can now do them on the floor).

• Think ahead about how you will maintain your habit even if you are interrupted (more on this later).

How to Maintain a Habit Beyond the First 21 Days

Once you’ve established a certain pace, you’ll enter the maintenance phase. You’ll develop a habit, and perhaps it will begin to feel automatic or at least become a bigger part of your life than before. At this stage, you may need to do the following:

• Review your plan . Is daily running still suitable for you? Perhaps you should increase the duration of some runs and allocate other days for rest, yoga, or strength training.

• Think through potential obstacles in advance . If you go on vacation, will you continue using drugs? If for some reason you relapse, how will you return to the habit?

• Make sure your motivation continues to work for you . For example, if you’re truly motivated to maintain a regular workout routine, the real test will come when you inevitably break it . At that point, you need something beyond the routine itself to keep you going. Often, it’s something internal: you enjoy flossing every day. You look forward to signing up for a race with your running buddy. You’re happy that your cholesterol has dropped thanks to your diet.

Forming a habit isn’t a grueling wait for a certain number of days. It’s a process that requires consistent effort, even after five years. Habits take work, but those that feel worth the effort are the ones that stick.

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