Fact · Dictation
18 to 254days
In the 2010 habit study, the time to reach 95% of the automaticity ceiling ranged from 18 to 254 days between people.
Checked against its source on October 16, 2026
In the source's own words
“The time it took participants to reach 95% of their asymptote of automaticity ranged from 18 to 254 days”
How are habits formed: Modelling habit formation in the real world, Phillippa Lally et al., European Journal of Social Psychology, 2010, Abstract.
Open the original (DOI 10.1002/ejsp.674)- What it measures
- The asymptote is the highest automaticity level a person's curve levels off at. The range is a spread across individuals, not an average.
- What it does not show
- No single number is the habit length for everyone. The authors stress wide individual variation.