--- title: Advice: 5 Things You Need to Know About Habits description: Give yourself 66 days to establish a new habit canonical: https://time.com/3971743/habits-research/ author: Eric Barker article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-07-30T04:01:24.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T04:49:33.870Z article:section: Ideas og:title: 5 Things You Need to Know About Habits og:description: Give yourself 66 days to establish a new habit og:url: https://time.com/3971743/habits-research/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt34166622f0fa1739/69885c65524fc0a75cdf3bbf/hand-strapped-smartphone.jpg?branch=production&width=750&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: hand-strapped-smartphone og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 5 Things You Need to Know About Habits twitter:description: Give yourself 66 days to establish a new habit twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt34166622f0fa1739/69885c65524fc0a75cdf3bbf/hand-strapped-smartphone.jpg?branch=production&width=750&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 5 Things You Need to Know About Habits by [Eric Barker](https://time.com/author/eric-barker/) ## Eric Barker Jul 30, 2015 4:01 AM UTC  Smart phone atached to hand Smart phone atached to handGetty Images by [Eric Barker](https://time.com/author/eric-barker/) ## Eric Barker Jul 30, 2015 4:01 AM UTC 5 tips with links to the research that backs them up: * You spend [40% of every day on autopilot](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/how-much-of-the-day-do-we-spend-on-autopilot), just performing habits. * The secret to breaking bad habits is to not try to eliminate them but [to replace them](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/whats-the-secret-to-breaking-bad-habits-forev). * You can resist bad habits by [avoiding the triggers](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/how-can-we-resist-our-bad-habits) that make you want to do them. [Context is key](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/what-did-heroin-addiction-during-the-vietnam). * The key to new good habits is to [do the minimum and be consistent](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/how-can-you-easily-start-good-habits). * To make good habits stick, [create “if-then” plans and get support from friends.](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/what-are-two-tricks-to-making-good-habits-sti) It takes an average of [66 days](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/how-long-does-it-take-to-establish-good-habit) to establish a new good habit. For more on the scientific way to build good habits, click [here](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2013/12/new-years-resolutions/). **_This piece originally appeared on_** [**_Barking Up the Wrong Tree_**](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2012/03/5-things-you-didnt-know-about-habits/)**_._** **Join over 195,000 readers. Get a free weekly update via email** [**here**](http://eepurl.com/o6uAD)**.** Related posts: [How To Stop Being Lazy And Get More Done – 5 Expert Tips](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2014/08/how-to-stop-being-lazy/) [How To Get People To Like You: 7 Ways From An FBI Behavior Expert](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2014/10/how-to-get-people-to-like-you/) [New Harvard Research Reveals A Fun Way To Be More Successful](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2014/09/be-more-successful/) ### 5 Horrible Habits You Need to Stop Right Now  Do Not Email First Thing in the Morning or Last Thing at Night “The former scrambles your priorities and all your plans for the day and the latter just gives you insomnia,” says Ferriss, who insists “email can wait until 10am” or after you check off at least one substantive to-do list item. Chris Pecoraro—Getty Images  Do Not Agree to Meetings or Calls With No Clear Agenda or End Time “If the desired outcome is defined clearly… and there’s an agenda listing topics–questions to cover–no meeting or call should last more than 30 minutes,” claims Ferriss, so “request them in advance so you can ‘best prepare and make good use of our time together.'” Sam Edwards—Getty Images/Caiaimage  Do Not Check Email Constantly Batch it and check it only periodically at set times (Ferriss goes for twice a day). Your inbox is analogous to a cocaine pellet dispenser, says Ferriss. Don’t be an addict. Tools like strategic use of the auto responder and Boomerang can help. Jetta Productions—Getty Images  Do Not Carry a Digital Leash 24/7 At least one day a week leave you smartphone somewhere where you can’t get easy access to it. If you’re gasping, you’re probably the type of person that most needs to do kick this particular habit. by nacoki ( MEDIA ARC )—Getty Images/Flickr RF  Do Not Let People Ramble Sounds harsh, but it’s necessary, Ferriss believes. “Small talk takes up big time,” he says, so when people start to tell you about their weekends, cut them off politely with something like “I’m in the middle of something, but what’s up?” But be aware, not everyone agrees with this one (and certainly not in every situation), and you may want to pay particularly close attention to norms around chit chat when traveling internationally. 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