How to make a habit stick

It's nearly April, and let's face it, your New Year's Resolutions have fallen by the wayside. There's a reason that it feels so tempting to make them year after year — we all want to build good habits (and break bad ones). But it's often harder than we expect, and many new routines end up forgotten before spring has even sprung.

If you've faltered in your commitment, though, don't worry — a new study suggests that forming healthy routines might just take longer than we think. Analysing a number of studies on habits, Ben Singh and team found a huge variation in such habits take to form. And the time it takes, they say, depends not only on the type of habit, but also on how you approach it.

To better understand what makes habits stick, the team searched six major databases for studies on healthy habit formation. Eligible studies had to focus on adults, examine a new health-related habit, and track its development over time. From nearly 3,500 eligible records, they identified 20 studies with a total of 2,601 participants, on which they performed a systematic review.

Around half of the studies focused on single habits, while the others examined multiple behaviours, including exercise, drinking more water, taking vitamins, and flossing. The studies also tested different methods to support habit formation, such as mobile apps, counselling, and self-monitoring.

When it came to how long habits took to form, results varied significantly. Overall, habit formation took an average of 55 to 66 days, though some studies found it took significantly longer. For example, one reported that forming a daily stretching habit took a mean of 106 days for morning stretching and 154 days for evening stretching — figures that may bring a little comfort to those of us still working on getting those resolutions to stick.

Their analysis also revealed practical tips for forming a new habit. Firstly, and particularly crucial in early stages, is making a deliberate decision to act. People who chose their own habits formed them more successfully, with some of their selected studies showing that planning for a behavioural change helped people to develop better flossing and hydration routines. This suggests that having a clear, structured plan before starting could be essential for making lasting changes.

Multiple studies suggested that performing habits at the same time every day also strengthened them, with morning habits proving more resilient than evening ones. Repetition, the team notes, not only reinforces good habits but also helps them become second nature, eventually making them feel effortless.

Strategies designed to boost habit formation, such as structured planning and monitoring, also improved consistency. Taken together, this literature suggests that the best way to form a new healthy habit is to set a plan, make effort to carry it out regularly, and track your progress.

Overall, the study suggests that habits need at least two to five months to become automatic — a considerable time investment, but still a timeframe that allows you to feel alright about not having nailed your New Years' goal quite yet. Keeping this in mind could help people stay committed to their goal, and to approach new habits with patience and sustained motivation. Similarly, setting clear plans from the outset may help strengthen new routines — though there's always time to sure up goals if you didn't initially.

This particular analysis focused on health-related habits, so it's possible that other kinds of routines may vary; future research could explore how different strategies work for different types of habits. Discussing limitations, the team notes that simpler, repetitive behaviours like daily flossing were more likely to succeed than more complex ones, such as maintaining a healthy diet. Pinpointing which strategies work best for different habits could provide even more valuable insights for those looking to make lasting lifestyle changes     .
    
Read the paper in full:
Singh, B., Murphy, A., Maher, C., & Smith, A. E. (2024). Time to Form a Habit: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Health Behaviour Habit Formation and Its Determinants. Healthcare, 12(23), 2488. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare12232488

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