People often say it takes 21 days to build a habit, but that hasn’t really been my experience.

Some habits have become second nature after a few weeks.

Others still feel like I have to convince myself to do them every single day, even months later.

For me, consistency has been much harder than starting.

I’m curious what everyone else’s experience has been.

What habit eventually became automatic? How long did it take? Was there anything that made it finally stick?

I’m always interested in hearing what actually works for real people rather than what self-help articles claim.

  • tyler@programming.devEnglish
    3·
    14 days ago

    Nothing has ever made habits automatic for me. Really only age has helped improve my consistency. Nothing else has worked. Tracking habits only works until you have one bad week.

    One thing that helped with my completion rate but not actually remembering is actually putting everything into a calendar. I did that for years, but it wasn’t everything. Now I just don’t trust myself to remember anything so it all goes in and I forget less. But I still struggle to remember to check the calendar even. Or I might miss putting something in it.

    • H1_To@lemmy.todayOPMEnglish
      1·
      14 days ago

      I can definitely relate to that. I think that’s why I’ve started moving away from the idea that habits should be “automatic.”

      For me, the goal is to make them easier to return to after life inevitably gets in the way. A bad week shouldn’t erase months of progress or make you feel like you’ve failed.

      The calendar point is interesting too. I wonder if the real challenge isn’t remembering the habit itself, but remembering to check whatever system you’re using to track it.