There’s conflicting information about how long it takes to make a lasting habit change. Many people believe it takes 21 days, but a study by Phillippa Lally and her research team showed it takes 66 days to create a brand-new routine.
My opinion is it takes a least a month to break a bad habit, so a great way to get started is to commit to a 30-day habit challenge (30DHC).
The 30DHC doesn’t come from a specific scientific study. Instead, it’s something I picked up from Steve Pavlina’s website. He compares this concept to a trial version of software. You don’t actually “buy into” the habit change until the end of the test period. Only then will you decide to keep it or ditch it.
As Pavlina says, it’s hard to get through those first few weeks of a habit change. That’s the time when most people succumb to their impulses. Once you get past this critical period, it becomes easier to stick to a new routine.
In a way, the 30DHC tricks your mind into forming a new habit. It’s easy to do something unpleasant if you think it’s only for a month. And when the time expires, you’ll be close to making a permanent change.
The 30DHC also gives you an “out” if the new habit isn’t working. At the end of the month, you can decide if it’s worth continuing. That said, what usually happens is you want to maintain that momentum and keep going, even at the end of the 30-day period.
What I really like about the 30DHC is the confidence you gain. You know what it’s like to follow a habit on a day-to-day basis, so you develop an intuitive understanding of both your positive and negative triggers. This information is important when you focus on improving your results.
To get started with the 30DHC, I recommend the following action plan:
(1*) Have a Reason Why
Start by journaling about this habit. Give a specific reason why it matters. What you write is irrelevant. The important thing is to know why you want to make this change and what result you expect from this experience.
(2*) Obstacles
Every habit has a trigger. This is a thought, cue or action that makes you want to do the bad habit. Your job is to identify any trigger that pops up.
Use your journal to track triggers by writing them as they occur. Include the following important information: Where are you? Who is with you? What are you doing? What thoughts are in your head?
This data is very important for eliminating the bad habit and replacing it with something positive. (We’ll talk more about this in a later step.)
(3*) Action Plan
Write down an overview of the habit, along with the step-by-step actions you’ll take. Be sure to include any tools or environmental cues that will help or hinder your completion of this new routine.
(4*) Results
Track your success with a daily metric. The tool I use is Lift.do, which tracks all my current habits.
You can track a habit in a variety of ways:
• Yes or No (Did you do it today or not?)
• Quantity (How many times did you complete the habit?)
• Number (Are you over or under the set “quota”?)
• Time (How long did you spend on this habit every day?)
Using the daily metric is the key to forming a permanent habit. There will be days where you’ll fall off the wagon. The important thing is to track these lapses and carry on.
(5*) Verdict
You’ll need to make a decision at the end of the month: Should it stay or should it go?
Analyze this habit. Did it help your life? Can you improve the process? Did you have time to complete it? Should you keep it, or should you eliminate it? Should you try it for another 30 days and see what happens?
It’s important to make a decision after 30 days.
I recommend doing one of three things: (1) Keep It: Continue to track this habit on a daily basis. Try to turn it into a permanent change. (2) Ditch It: The habit didn’t work for some reason, so stop doing it. (3) Tweak It: Some habit changes won’t work because you created a bad process. Change the routine and try it again.
CASE STUDY
In June 2014, I made the decision to reduce (not eliminate) the amount of time I spent on my cellphone. Here’s how I initiated this habit change with a 30DHC:
#1. Reason Why: Improving my quality of life was the primary motivator for reducing the amount of time spent on my cellphone. I’m good about not looking at my cellphone while I’m working, but I had a tendency to slip early in the morning and late in the evening. These were the times I was supposed to relaxing, yet I’d spend time browsing websites and looking at things that didn’t truly matter to me. By reducing time spent on my cellphone, I hoped to have more free time for the fun things in life.
#2. Obstacles: Early on, I realized that my main trigger was boredom. In the morning, I wasn’t ready to start the day, so I’d procrastinate by spending time on my cellphone. In the evening, I’d use my cellphone if I was bored by a TV show or particular activity. Instead of finding an engaging activity to do, I used my cellphone as a crutch to break the monotony.
#3. Action Plan: My solution was a simple, but very effective. At the end of my workday, I would put my phone on the charger in my office, then close the door and refuse to touch it until the morning. In essence, this created a block of time (generally from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m.) where I would have a 12-hour cellphone sabbatical.
When starting out, there were a few “what ifs” that went through my mind:
What if I wanted to read an ebook?
The solution was to buy a Kindle Paperwhite and use it do all my reading. I chose this low-tech approach because you can’t surf the Internet with this device.
What if I had to check something important online?
The solution was to use my laptop if I really had to look something up. I chose this option because it was a hassle—I’d have to turn my computer on and then a wait a few minutes for it to load up. This helped me quickly determine whether I really needed to look up something right then and there, or if it was just an impulse.
What if I needed to wake up early in the morning?
The solution was to use an amazing piece of technology called an “alarm clock.” Yes, they still make these devices.
What if someone called (or texted) me with an emergency?
My phone has a loud ringer, and I’m a light sleeper. And honestly, who really texts someone when there’s a legitimate emergency?
Ultimately, I discovered these excuses were nothing more than that—excuses. We often trick ourselves into not taking action because we think the obstacles are insurmountable. But when you apply a bit of logic, you’ll discover simple solutions to pretty much any problem.
#4. Results: I used a simple “yes or no” metric to track this habit. In June, I successfully completed the cellphone sabbatical habit 29 out of 30 times.
More importantly, I got more out of my life in that month. I wasn’t stressed by looking at email or my to-do list. I was more engaged in conversations with the people around me. Finally, I was able to read more books and get more exercise.
#5. Verdict: Keep it! While I haven’t been 100 percent consistent with this habit since June, I still know that at the end of the workday, my cellphone goes in the office and I don’t touch it until the morning.