A method for operating a motor vehicle which drives or is able to be driven at least partially automatically includes: detecting a gaze direction of a driver of the motor vehicle; inferring a driver distraction if the detected gaze direction deviates from a setpoint gaze direction beyond a predefinable measure; monitoring the driver for a secondary activity if a distracted driver was detected; and ascertaining a time period that the driver would require to take over the at least partial control of the motor vehicle, as a function of a detected secondary activity.