Up to 45% of what we do daily is driven by habit.[1]
Those small, everyday choices might seem trivial, but over time, they shape your direction and define your outcomes. That’s why building healthy, productive habits isn’t just helpful—it’s essential for achieving long-term goals.
You’ve probably heard it takes just 21 days to form a habit. That idea is everywhere, but it’s misleading. And when a habit doesn’t stick after three weeks, it’s easy to feel like you’ve failed.
In reality, forming new habits takes longer. It’s a gradual process that requires consistency, patience, and the right approach.
What it Means to Build a Habit
A habit is a behavior that becomes automatic over time through regular repetition in the same context.
Research suggests that learning how to build habits generally follows four key stages:[2]
- Deciding to take action
- Turning that decision into a behavior
- Repeating the behavior consistently
- Reaching a state of automaticity
For example, brushing your teeth every morning clearly illustrates this process. You’ve done this action in the same context so often that your brain now recognizes the pattern.
This is known as automaticity, which is a sign that a habit has stuck. It describes behaviors that happen smoothly, often unintentionally, and with minimal mental effort.[2]
How Long Does It Take to Form a Habit?
It’s said that it takes 21 days to build a habit. For many people, that isn’t realistic.
Research indicates habit formation may start after two months. But on average, it takes around 106 to 154 days, or three to five months, for a behavior to become automatic.[2]
It’s important to remember there’s no one-size-fits-all timeline. Several factors influence how long the process might take, such as:
- The complexity of the habit
- Your personal motivation
- How frequently it’s performed in a stable setting
In fact, studies have shown that how long it takes to create a habit varies widely, ranging from 4 to 335 days.[2]
Why Building Habits is Harder Than It Seems
Building a habit might sound straightforward—just repeat the action until it sticks. But in reality, habit-forming can be more challenging than expected.
Here are a few reasons why:
- Preference for familiarity: Our brains naturally prefer what feels familiar, making new habits uncomfortable at first.
- Lack of immediate rewards: Many healthy habits don’t offer quick payoffs. Without instant gratification, it’s easy to lose motivation early on.
- Environmental triggers: Frequent distractions or temptations in your environment can derail progress. For example, eating healthier becomes much harder when your home is stocked with junk food.
- Perfectionism and all-or-nothing thinking: Expecting perfection leaves no space for mistakes. This encourages people to give up at the first setback.
For adults with ADHD, these challenges are often compounded by how the ADHD brain is wired.
How ADHD Can Impact Habit Formation
If you have ADHD, understanding how it affects habit formation can help you develop strategies that work with your brain, not against it.
Executive Dysfunction and Routine Breakdown
One of the biggest challenges for people with ADHD is executive dysfunction.[3] Executive dysfunction occurs when ADHD disrupts the brain’s ability to manage thoughts, emotions, and actions.
When you have executive dysfunction, you might be easily distracted, forgetful, or quickly overwhelmed. For instance, you might set a goal to exercise every morning but find it hard to stick to because of interruptions or forgetting. This makes it tricky to stick to a new routine.
Practical workarounds can help you reduce the impact of executive dysfunction. These include:
- Visual tools: Tools like visual schedules and habit trackers provide structure and serve as visual cues to stay on task.
- Body doubling: This technique involves completing a task alongside another person, whether in person or virtually, to help keep you motivated and accountable.
Time Blindness and Inconsistency
ADHD is often linked to time blindness, which is difficulty in estimating and sensing the passing of time.[4]
Think about following a recipe with no time guidelines for each step—it’s chaotic and frustrating. That confusion is a lot like time blindness.
With time blindness, you might know what needs doing but struggle to estimate how long tasks will take or how to fit them into your day.
These strategies may help with time blindness:
- Set timers or alarms to stay aware of how much time has passed during tasks.
- Use analog clocks or hourglasses to make the passage of time more tangible and easier to track.
- Try time-blocking apps or visual planners to break your day into clear segments for each task.
For example, if scheduling work meetings or doctor’s appointments feels overwhelming, setting reminders and using digital calendars can help you stay on track.
Overcoming Task Paralysis
Another common challenge with ADHD is task paralysis. This refers to feeling stuck or resistant when facing a task or decision. It often happens when your brain feels overwhelmed or the task seems boring, repetitive, or unclear.
Building habits demands repetition, but if beginning feels intimidating or unexciting, staying consistent can be tough.
To combat task paralysis, here are some strategies you can try:
- Implement the “Five-Minute Rule.” You’ll commit to carrying out the habit for just five minutes, then, when the time is up, reevaluate your willingness to carry on.
- Break the habit down into micro-steps: Make it more approachable. For instance, instead of cleaning the room, list smaller tasks like making the bed or clearing a single surface.
- Use ADHD-friendly habit apps: Gamified tools like Habitica transform habit tracking into an engaging experience.
For example, if you feel stuck trying to complete a big report at work, break it into smaller actions like brainstorming ideas, writing just the introduction, or reviewing one section at a time.
How to Create a Habit Successfully
Building habits doesn’t mean being perfect. It’s about being consistent, flexible, and creative.
Here are strategies that may be helpful for adult ADHDers who want to build new, healthy habits.
Habit Stacking: The Easiest Way to Add New Behaviors
Habit stacking involves attaching a new habit to a current routine. The habit you already have serves as an anchor to stabilize and remind you of the new one.
For example, you might fold laundry while your coffee brews or perform simple stretching exercises while watching your favorite TV show.
By linking new habits to established routines, you make them easier to maintain without much extra mental effort.
The 1% Rule: Tiny Gains, Big Wins
Many people give up too soon because they attempt to overhaul their habits all at once, which is challenging to maintain. Instead, you can try the 1% rule. This concept focuses on small, consistent improvements to achieve meaningful progress.
For example, if you want to eat healthier, you don’t need to change drastically overnight. In fact, doing so might be counterproductive because it’s such an overwhelming task. Rather, start by prepping just one healthy dinner each week. Once you get the hang of it, you can move on to two, then three meals.
It’s common to overlook the significance of small changes. But imagine turning a ship’s wheel by just 1 degree. Over time, the ship will end up in a completely different place. In the same way, small daily actions can lead to significant change.
Anchor Habits to an Existing Routine
Similar to habit stacking, anchoring habits means linking a new behavior to something stable in your day, such as a particular place or time.
For instance, you might pack the dishwasher right after dinner instead of turning on the TV or journaling before bed.
These contextual cues allow your brain to latch onto a habit more firmly, making remembering and following through on a behavior easier.
Use Visuals and Reminders to Stay on Track
Out of sight often means out of mind for ADHDers.
Making your habit goals visible lets you keep them at the top of your mind. For instance, you might:
- Paste sticky notes in frequently viewed places like your mirror.
- Write down your goals on a whiteboard.
- Use app reminders or phone widgets on your home screen.
These visual cues reduce the need to rely on willpower or mental lists alone.
Reward Yourself (Even in Small Ways)
ADHD affects how the brain responds to rewards. It often favors immediate gratification over long-term goals.
You can build small, satisfying rewards into your routine after completing a habit to work with this tendency. Think of things like enjoying a small snack, ordering your go-to takeout, or unwinding with a hot bath.
The key is to celebrate consistency, not perfection. Even if the task didn’t go as planned, showing up and making the effort is still progress.
Build a Friction-Free Environment
Design your surroundings to make good habits easier and bad habits harder. Shaping your environment is a powerful way to promote habit-building.
Some examples include:
- Laying out your gym clothes the night before
- Stocking your kitchen with healthy snacks
- Putting your phone away when you need to focus
How to Restart When You Slip
Mistakes and slip-ups are a normal part of building habits. What matters most is how you respond when things don’t go as planned. Instead of giving up or being hard on yourself, take a moment to reflect and reassess.
You can ask yourself questions like:
- What got in the way of following through on my habit?
- How could I have responded differently?
- What changes can I make to my approach or environment to support this habit better next time?
- How can I track my progress to stay motivated?
By learning from mistakes, you can create better strategies to avoid the same setbacks in the future.
The Importance of Self-Compassion
Shame, guilt, and all-or-nothing thinking are common psychological roadblocks when building new habits. When your inner dialogue is filled with self-criticism, you’ll likely want to give up after a mistake or setback.
Shifting this mindset takes time, but begins with recognizing the pattern. Pay attention to how you speak to yourself. Respond with kindness instead of judgment when things don’t go as planned. Remind yourself that progress isn’t linear and that every slip-up is a chance to learn and grow.
Habit Building Isn’t a Sprint, It’s a Marathon
Forming a new habit takes patience, consistency, and endurance to build a strong foundation for lasting change. Instead of focusing on speed, focus on steady progress. Tools like visual reminders, habit trackers, and personalized reward systems can make the process more manageable, especially if you face additional challenges like ADHD.
If that’s you, ADDA+ offers expert-led courses and a supportive community of adults with ADHD working on the same goals. Their resources are designed to help you build sustainable habits in a way that actually works for your brain.
References
[1] McCloskey, K., & Johnson, B. T. (2021). You are what you repeatedly do: Links between personality and habit. Personality and Individual Differences, 181, 111000. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2021.111000
[2] 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
[3] Rincón, C. F., Morales, L. B., & Sandoval, S. T. (2024). Executive functioning in adults with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: A systematic review. Acta Neurológica Colombiana, 40(3). https://doi.org/10.22379/anc.v40i3.1208
[4] Weissenberger, S., Schonova, K., Büttiker, P., Fazio, R., Vnukova, M., Stefano, G. B., & Ptacek, R. (2021). Time Perception is a Focal Symptom of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder in Adults. Medical Science Monitor: international medical journal of experimental and clinical research, 27, e933766. https://doi.org/10.12659/MSM.933766
