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AnonTechie [soylentnews.org] writes:

A new review of the evidence shows that the 21-day rule isn't a rule after all.

A popular piece of self-help folklore might be more complicated than we thought. New research finds that it takes significantly more than a month for a new habit to form.

Scientists at the University of South Australia conducted the study, a review of the existing evidence on habit forming. They found that habits typically begin forming after about two months. For some unlucky people, though, it could even take up to a year.

To get at the root of this topic, the University of South Australia researchers analyzed data from 20 studies that examined the forming of healthy habits like routine exercise, drinking water, or flossing teeth; these studies collectively involved over 2,500 participants. One specific question these studies sought to answer was how long it took for a habit to reach something called “automaticity”—the point at which people perform it regularly and without too much thought being put into it.

The researchers found that habits formed around 106 to 154 days on average. The median length of a habit forming was roughly 59 to 66 days (the median is the midpoint in a group of numbers in case you forgot). That said, the study did reveal plenty of outliers. The shortest reported length of habit adoption was four days, while the longest was a whopping 335 days.

[Reference]: MDPI [mdpi.com]

PUBMED [nih.gov]

[Source]: University of South Australia [unisa.edu.au]

[Covered By]: Gizmodo [gizmodo.com]

Original Submission