Frequently Asked Questions About Habit Building
As you begin to apply the habit loop to your own life, questions will naturally arise. Here are answers to some of the most common queries we hear from people working to build new skills and routines.
How long does it really take to form a new habit?
You may have heard the popular myth that it takes 21 days to form a habit. While a nice, simple number, research shows that this is a significant oversimplification. A landmark study published in the European Journal of Social Psychology found that the time it took for a behavior to become automatic ranged from 18 to a staggering 254 days. The average was 66 days. The truth is, there is no magic number. The time it takes depends on the complexity of the habit, the person, and their environment. A simple habit like drinking a glass of water after waking up might become automatic in a few weeks. A more complex skill, like a daily 30-minute coding practice, will take much longer. The goal shouldn’t be to hit a specific number of days. The goal is to focus on the process. Stop worrying about the finish line and concentrate on not breaking the chain today. Automaticity will arrive when it arrives.
What should I do when I travel or my routine is severely disrupted?
This is a major challenge for everyone. The key is to have a “disruption plan” that prioritizes consistency over intensity. When your normal environment and cues disappear, fall back on your minimum viable action (MVA). If your daily habit is a 30-minute run, your travel MVA might be doing 20 jumping jacks in your hotel room. If you write 1,000 words a day, your travel MVA might be writing just one paragraph on your phone. The goal is not to make significant progress; the goal is to cast a vote for your identity and keep the habit alive. It sends a powerful signal to your brain that “this is who I am, even when I’m away from home.” Maintaining the rhythm, even in a tiny way, makes it infinitely easier to ramp back up to your normal routine when you return.
I’ve been consistent for a while but have hit a plateau. How do I stay motivated?
Plateaus are a normal and expected part of any skill-building journey. Motivation naturally ebbs and flows. When you hit a plateau, it’s a good time to review your habit loop. First, reconnect with your “why”—your identity. Remind yourself of the person you are becoming through this process. Second, consider if the action has become too easy or monotonous. It might be time for a small, incremental increase in difficulty, a concept known as progressive overload. If you’ve been meditating for five minutes, try for six. If you’ve been doing 10 push-ups, try for 11. Third, you can vary the reward to keep it fresh and exciting. If you’ve been rewarding yourself with the same podcast, try a new one, or switch to listening to a chapter of an audiobook. Plateaus are not signs of failure; they are signals that it’s time to introduce a new, small challenge to keep the process engaging.
Is it a good idea to try to build multiple new habits at once?
While it can be tempting to overhaul your entire life when motivation is high, this is almost always a recipe for burnout. Each new habit requires a significant amount of cognitive resources—attention, planning, and self-control—to get started. Trying to build several at once divides your focus and depletes your willpower reserves far too quickly. The most effective and sustainable approach is to focus on one single habit at a time. Pour all your energy into making that one behavior as automatic as possible. Once it feels effortless and integrated into your daily life (which, as noted above, could take two months or more), you can then use that new, stable routine as a foundation to begin designing your next habit loop.
