Morning or night: when should you build a habit?

Should you build your new habit in the morning or at night? It is a useful question if it helps you choose a time. It becomes less useful if you keep searching for the perfect hour instead of trying a routine.

The research in this episode gives you a reason to consider mornings, but also a reason to focus on a cue you can repeat.

A morning hint, with limits

In one small study, 48 students tried to build a stretching habit. Researchers projected that the morning stretch would become automatic sooner than the evening stretch: about 106 days compared with 154 days.

Those were modelled estimates from one small study. They are early evidence, not a deadline for your own habit or proof that every activity belongs in the morning. Notice that even the morning estimate was well beyond a few weeks.

A larger trial with 192 adults compared clock-time cues with cues tied to an existing routine. Both worked equally well. Repeating the action after the chosen cue was what mattered for how automatic it became.

For participants who successfully formed a habit, the median estimated time was 59 days, with a range from 4 to 335 days. That range leaves plenty of room for different experiences. It is not a promise that your action will feel automatic by day 59.

1. Pick a time you will repeat

Look at the habit you want to practise and choose a place for it in your real day. If you want to stretch, decide whether you would rather do it after waking or before bed. Choose the option you are willing to return to.

Write down what that moment looks like. You could choose a clock time, such as 7am, if it fits your schedule. Use a clear cue instead of leaving the action at “sometime tomorrow.”

2. Anchor it to a routine

You can also use an action you already do. “Right after I wake, I will stretch” is a routine cue. So is “After I brush my teeth, I will read.” Choose the routine that gives your new action a clear starting point.

The larger trial gives you no reason to treat a clock cue as automatically better than a routine cue. Pick one you can recognise, then practise doing the action after it. Leave yourself a sentence you can follow.

3. Try mornings if they fit

If you are undecided, you could try a morning stretch. Keep the small study’s limits in view while you do. You are testing a possible place for your habit, not committing yourself to a rule that mornings suit everyone.

If you prefer the evening, choose a clear evening cue. The practical question is whether you will repeat the action there. Give yourself an actual plan rather than treating the time of day as the whole plan.

4. Give it time

Plan for about two months and allow for longer. The estimates in these studies vary widely. You can keep practising even when the action still takes thought.

Keep your attention on repeating it after the cue you chose. Do not turn the median into a test you pass or fail. A small action you are willing to do again gives you a concrete next step while you wait for it to feel more familiar.

Choose the cue tonight

Write a sentence with your cue and your action. Put what you need in the place you intend to use it. Morning or evening, you now have a moment to return to and something specific to practise when it arrives.

Sources

• Fournier, M., d’Arripe-Longueville, F., Rovere, C., Easthope, C. S., Schwabe, L., El Methni, J., & Radel, R. (2017). Effects of circadian cortisol on the development of a health habit. Health Psychology, 36(11), 1059–1064.

• Keller, J., Kwasnicka, D., Klaiber, P., Sichert, L., Lally, P., & Fleig, L. (2021). Habit formation following routine-based versus time-based cue planning: A randomized controlled trial. British Journal of Health Psychology, 26(3), 807–824.