A new habit does not need to be formed in 21 days. According to recent research, habit formation does not have a certain time frame linked with it, as was reported earlier this year in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
Although it’s widely accepted that it takes three weeks, or 21 days, to form a habit, there are a number of variables that can affect how long it takes.
According to a news release from The California Institute of Technology’s Colin Camerer, Ph.D., a behavioral economist and research author, you may have heard that it takes 21 days to create a habit, but there is no scientific basis for that estimate.
Our findings provide credence to the hypothesis that the rate at which habits emerge varies depending on the activity in issue and numerous other circumstances.
Here are some variations in habit-forming timelines as well as professional advice on maintaining newly acquired behaviors.
There Isn’t a Single, Appropriate Time Frame for Habit Formation, Camerer et al. employed machine learning techniques and huge, objective datasets comprising thousands of participants to estimate the average habit formation time.
Specifically, they gathered data on over 30,000 gym-goers and 3,000 hospital staff members who cleaned their hands while working. They then employed machine learning to ascertain how long it took for those actions to develop into habits.
The study team discovered that establishing a new workout regimen could take up to six months on average. However, it only took a few weeks for hospital employees who washed their hands during their shifts to form a habit.
Having said that, they concluded that habit-building does not have a set timeline.
For the creation of habits, there is no magic number. In a press release, Anastasia Buyalskaya, Ph.D., co-author of the study and assistant professor of marketing at HEC Paris, stated.
Instead, the study discovered that the length of time needed to develop a habit varies depending on the person, the type of habit they’re attempting to acquire, and their surroundings.
However, despite these factors—which can undoubtedly lengthen the time it takes to build a habit—people could theoretically develop new habits extremely fast, psychologist Ernesto Lira de la Rosa, PhD, media advisor for the Hope for Depression Research Foundation, told Health.
A new habit might take up to 30 days to form, but throughout that period, the activity needs to be constantly practiced, according to him. While some people can develop a new habit in less than a month, others might take up to three or six months.
A Variety of Factors Affect the Formation of Habits
A person’s capacity to form and sustain a new habit depends on a number of factors, according to psychologist Nicholas Crimarco, PhD, of NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center, who spoke with Health.
According to him, the difficulty of the new behavior or habit and its potential for reward are some of the crucial variables.
For example, a habit that is more difficult to break could need greater drive and persistence. People may find it difficult to stick with a new habit over time if it is too challenging.
Moreover, it may be difficult for someone to maintain motivation or carry out the behavior regularly if it is not linked to a reward.
Crimarco went on to say that a person’s capacity to adopt a new behavior may also be impacted by external elements like social support. If an individual lacks a robust network of friends and family, it may impede their efforts to form new habits.
One further important component in creating and sustaining new behaviors is personal drive. Lira de la Rosa clarified that while motivation can come from both sources, developing new habits frequently requires personal motivation.
This is because, according to him, we have put effort into creating this new habit, and internal motivation endures longer than external motivations like creating a new habit to appease someone else.
Consistency is another element that might influence the development of habits, according to Aimee Keith, PsyD, Clinical Manager at Pathlight Mood & Anxiety Center and Eating Recovery Center, who spoke with Health.
Consistency affects habits and all learning practices, according to her. A habit will form faster if I am more consistent with it. The behavior will be weaker the more inconsistent it is.
By being aware of and taking action against these elements, people can improve their chances of long-term success and consistency, set more achievable goals, and create plans to deal with any obstacles that may arise.
According to Lira de la Rosa, it is crucial to assess how easy the new habit will be to adopt, how you learn best, and whether you are accounting for any potential obstacles.
Be Patient and Kind to Yourself
According to Lira de la Rosa, it’s also critical to practice self-compassion and patience with oneself when establishing new habits.
He emphasized that developing a new habit is a good thing, and it’s acceptable to be gentle with yourself during this period.
For instance, if you skip a day of your workout regimen, remember that failures are a normal part of developing new habits. This will help you to practice self-compassion. Use such an opportunity to modify your plan and keep going on with an optimistic and forgiving attitude.