How Much of Your Life Is Running on Autopilot?
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STORY AT-A-GLANCE
Recent research found that about 90% of your daily actions happen automatically, without conscious thought
Two-thirds of behaviors are triggered by cues in your environment, meaning your surroundings silently direct most of what you do each day
Nearly half of daily actions align with your goals, showing that your brain’s autopilot can actually support healthy habits when used intentionally
Building new habits takes consistent repetition, with research showing it typically takes between two and six months for a behavior to become automatic
Restructuring your environment, anchoring new behaviors to existing routines, and tracking progress will help reprogram your brain’s autopilot to work in your favor
You wake up every day, brush your teeth, take a shower, have breakfast, check your phone, and then head off to work or school — but are any of these actions a conscious choice you’re making? Or are these activities driven by habit, meaning you’re running on autopilot?
A groundbreaking international study recently explored this and found that most of the actions you do each day aren’t a conscious decision at all; rather, they’re a result of habit formation and can be triggered automatically by the environment around you.
However, this setup can have drawbacks, as your brain does not distinguish between habits that serve you and those that don’t. It’s programmed to repeat what’s familiar — even when that familiarity holds you back.
Recent Study Reveals How Your Brain Runs on a Hidden Autopilot
A recent international study conducted by researchers from the University of Surrey, University of South Carolina, and Central Queensland University investigated one of the most overlooked forces shaping everyday life — habit formation.1
Published in Psychology & Health, the study’s goal was to determine and understand how much of human behavior is consciously chosen and how much operates on autopilot driven by the habits you do every day.2
The study participants — The researchers recruited 105 adult participants from the U.K. and Australia, with an average age of 35. They were sourced through targeted social media advertisements posted on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter.
Conducting the study — The researchers used a method called ecological momentary assessment (EMA). Basically, they collected data from the people in the moment, as they went about their daily routines. This approach helps capture genuine, real-world behavior rather than relying on memory or guesses after the fact.
Gathering the data — For a week, the participants received random text messages on their phones asking to describe what they were currently doing and whether it was habitual or intentional. The researchers then grouped the responses into 10 categories, mainly:
Employment/education/volunteering
Domestic or childcare
Screen time
Consumption of food/drink/substances
Relaxing
Transportation
Exercise
Social/community services
Hobbies/leisure
Personal self care
The results of the study — After analyzing the data, the researchers found that majority of the activities you do every day are done without conscious control. Amanda Rebar, an associate professor at the University of South Carolina and the study’s lead author, said:
<label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false">Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when published</label>“People like to think of themselves as rational decision makers, who think carefully about what to do before they do it. However, much of our repetitive behavior is undertaken with minimal forethought and is instead generated automatically, by habit.”3
How Everyday Habits Rewire the Brain for Better (or Worse) Behavior
Interestingly, personal traits like age, gender, or marital status didn’t matter. Everyone, from busy professionals to students to parents, displayed similar levels of automatic behavior. This means habits are not tied to personality; they’re a universal part of how the human brain operates.4
To better understand the results of this study, it’s important to distinguish between “habitual instigation” and “habitual execution” — Habitual instigation happens when an environmental cue, like a sound, smell, or visual reminder, automatically triggers the desire to do something, such as picking up your phone when it buzzes. The study found that 65% of the actions reported were habitually instigated.5
<label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false">Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when published</label>On the other hand, habitual execution occurs when the behavior itself unfolds smoothly without conscious effort, like driving a familiar route, brushing your teeth, or pouring your morning coffee. According to the study results, 88% of daily behaviors were habitually executed.6
Knowing the difference helps you understand why some habits feel easy to start but harder to maintain — For example, exercise was one of the few behaviors that was habitually instigated but not habitually executed. In other words, you might feel the urge to go to the gym at the same time each day, but once you get there, you still need focus and conscious effort to follow through.
The findings of this featured study have powerful implications for anyone trying to change their health behaviors — It shows that simply “trying harder” doesn’t work because willpower isn’t what drives most daily actions. Instead, long-term change depends on recognizing and reshaping the automatic patterns already guiding behavior.
<label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false">Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when published</label>For example, if you want to start exercising more, the key isn’t motivation — it’s consistency. Linking the behavior to a specific cue, like walking right after lunch or going to the gym after work, helps your brain connect that time and place with the action until it becomes automatic.
They also found that 46% of actions were both habitual and aligned with conscious goals — This is
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