You can’t stop thinking about them at work. When they’re not around, everything reminds you of them, and you count down the hours until you’ll see them again. Frankly, your friends are getting a little tired of hearing you talk about them all the time. If any of this sounds familiar, you definitely know what it feels like to fall in love — and what a joyful, complex rollercoaster ride it is! But how long does it take to fall in love? Do you need to get to know someone for weeks or months at a time, or can you fall head over heels in a mere matter of days — or even hours? I’ll get to the answer later, but I’ll tell you this much: you may be surprised at just how long it takes.

Factors for Falling in Love

Here’s the thing. There’s no exact formula for how long it takes, because no two people are the same, nor are any two relationships. The pace at which you fall for someone might depend on the nature of how you met — for example, if you already knew each other through work or were childhood friends, you already had a baseline connection, which might allow you to emotionally bond much faster.