ANSWER: Almost

THE EXPERIMENT

According to the research, habits take on average 66 days to form. But that varies considerably - in the study, some took 18 days and more complicated ones took an estimated 254 days. In my own research I’ve found that the more techniques I used and the more tiny the habit, the quicker they formed.

What if I used the average and discharged the trigger and response 66 times in one day?

Using my regular exercise trigger (finishing a glass of matcha) and a new exercise response (riding on a stationary assault bike), I took the Self Report Habit Index (SRHI) before, after, and the next few days.

The SRHI is the go-to scale for habit research, where 12 is the lowest score, the highest is 84, and 70 is considered a habit.

THE RESULTS

Before (Day 0): SRHI = 12

After 66 Reps (Day 1): SRHI = 35

Morning (Day 2): SRHI = 38

After workout (Day 2): SRHI = 65

Morning (Day 3): SRHI = 67

After Workout (Day 3): SRHI = 64

After weekend (no habits on weekends) (Day 5): SRHI = 71

On Day 1 the difference was significant, but unsurprising.

On day 2 I was distracted working on something, but before I knew it I had finished my glass of matcha and almost panicked as the overwhelming urge took over to immediately get on the bike. It was an incredibly strong automatic response, more powerful than a lot of my other, older habits.

I was worried that the effect would fade, but it hovered at roughly the same score after a day, then shot up after a weekend of not doing it.

While not a complete habit after one day at 65-67, it was quite a jump. For comparison, my old habits reached a 65 on the SRHI between 27-48 days. My recent streamlined habits – rowing, planning, and flossing – all reached a 65 on the SRHI on day 15.

And a habit in 5 days is incredible, assuming it continues to hold steady.

BACKGROUND

Over the last few months I’ve been experimenting with transitioning between two habits in a lifestyle (I’m defining a “lifestyle” here as a sequence of related habits across a year). Unfortunately for my exercise lifestyle, I injured my foot badly during the transition from rowing to walking/running.

After healing, I was stuck in a weird spot - detrained from rowing, yet not fully on walking/running. We got a stationary assault bike, which is great for recovery, but I was frustrated because I’d have to start a new habit from scratch.

But it gave me the opportunity to test out this attempt to “hack” the SRHI.

My exercise habit was always triggered by finishing my afternoon cup of matcha. So, I decided to make it simple and splash a bit of matcha in my usual glass, knock it back as the trigger, and peddle on the bike a few times as the response.

HYPOTHESIS

The SRHI assesses a few vectors: automaticity, length of time, routine, and identity.

My theory was that repeating something 66 times with a clear trigger and response was only going to change the “automaticity” angle.

In an old post I theorized on manipulating facets of the SRHI. I actually got a response from Dr. Bas Verplanken, one of the creators of the scale. He said that habits are ALL angles of the SRHI, so manipulating one was unlikely to make a habit. Nevertheless, I thought this might at least give me a leg up on the process.

I’m also interested as to if habit formation is a type of learning. In accelerated learning research, quality sleep appears to have a huge effect on integrating skills and information. My theory was that testing the SRHI after a night of sleep would also result in a boost as the practice was integrated.

WHAT HAPPENED

66 repetitions took a long time. I focused more on the end of my trigger (drinking a bit of matcha) and made the peddling response even smaller just for time’s sake. I went out on a break and got a couple of drinks before returning. The whole process took until around midnight. I was also distracted, watching a tv show through the entire process. All of those peripheral actions may have influenced the process.

WHY IT MIGHT HAVE WORKED

I’ve always felt that zooming in on the trigger and response was key to automaticity. But I’ve never zoomed in this much, especially with the end of the trigger, which is why I believe it was so powerfully automatic on Day 2.

But the gains in my habit score suggest that more than just automaticity was improving.

Based on a few studies, we know that identity can become permeable. In one test, children were able to regenerate or borrow self control by pretending to act as fictional characters (known as the Batman Effect). But this “borrowing” phenomenon worked better for those who were already depleted.

We also know that lowered executive functioning results in greater creativity. Distracting the mind through small tasks, occupying it with difficult problems, or imbibing alcohol all contribute to this.

By happenstance, I fulfilled several of these permeability inducing behaviors. I was:

pretty tired, finishing the test late
distracted, watching a tv show
had a few drinks

Is it possible that this effected the identity vector of habit formation?

Lastly, while a night of sleep improved scores twice, I don’t think they were significant increases.

FUTURE TESTS

As I said above, finishing my cup of matcha is my already established cue for an exercise habit. While I covered for this by initially taking the SRHI for the habit of riding my stationary bike - and getting the lowest possible score - I’d like to test this accelerated method on an entirely new trigger and response.

But what surprised me was how taking a weekend off changed my scores. In the past I’ve noticed my SRHI strength consistently increase by NOT doing a habit once in a while. That makes sense with regards to a specific question on the scale - “Does it feel weird NOT doing the habit” - something you can’t really ascertain if you’re TOO consistent.

It also makes sense in relation to improving in skills, where it seems learning occurs more efficiently when we are exposed to differing relationships – like how shooting hoops at different distances makes one more skilled at gauging force, and angles.

The weekend off also messed with my perception of time. Which leads me to wonder if the time vector of habits can also be manipulated more. According to a quick Wikipedia scan, the subjective perception of time can be dilated through experiencing cold, fear, or awe. Could using icepacks, watching horror movies, or maybe viewing amazing photography of landscapes help build a habit faster?

And what about other accelerated learning techniques? According to one study, students who had a scent present while studying AND while asleep later that night had a 30 percent boost in memorized vocabulary. If automaticity is a learned behavior, could this accelerate habit formation as well?

MY BIGGEST TAKEAWAY

Learning a complex skill in a day may just be the ultimate Holy Grail of self development. But a habit in a day is a pretty close second.

The biggest application from this experiment wasn’t just that 66 repetitions effects habit formation. Rather, it was that zooming in to the very point of contact between the end of triggers and the beginning of responses created such a dramatic automatic behavior. That’s something I want to to apply to every habit.

And the potential for other methods of accelerated habit formation opens the door to new experiments, the results of which could change the entire productivity game.