Prior to the Non Compete Act (i.e., before October 1, 2018), which limits the length of a non compete to one year, there was no bright-line limit to the amount of time you could be restricted from competition after employment.
There are still many people working in Massachusetts who signed their non-competes before October 1, 2018. This means the 'old rules' are still important to understand, because those re the rules that will be applied to your non compete.
Before the Non Compete Act, courts analyzed on a case by case basis what amount of time was reasonably necessary to protect the employer's legitimate business interest.
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For example, if a sales representative left a job where the average sales cycle was a year or more, a court might allow a two year non compete to protect the employer's good will in these longer term relationships. In contrast, in a higher volume, higher turnover business, there might be an argument that even a year is longer than necessary.
Historically, Massachusetts courts typically would not enforce periods longer than two years, unless the non compete was signed in connection with the sale of a business. In most cases, a period of one year was considered reasonable.