Habits. We all have them. Some are good, and some are bad.
Whether making up your bed in the morning or counting steps, these activities form part of everyone’s daily routines.
If you want to start making good habits, breaking old ones, and sticking with them for good, one simple and effective thing you can do is keep a habit tracker.
What is a habit tracker?
A habit tracker helps build good habits, break bad ones, keep track of goals, and meet them.
Once you have established consistency in doing good habits or cutting back on bad ones, it will become a part of your daily routine, and it will be easy to accomplish tasks and meet goals.
Why use a habit tracker?
The main purpose of using a habit tracker is accountability. You keep yourself accountable to your goals by completing daily, weekly, or monthly actions that bring you closer to your goal.
A habit tracker makes goals feel more attainable. It also increases your productivity — less procrastination and more action. Plus, seeing the progress you are making helps to fuel you with motivation to keep going.
How to get started and how to use it?
There are a lot of different ways you can track your habits. Find a habit tracker that works for you and your lifestyle. It could be:
- Writing in a diary or journal
- Using a phone app
- Keeping track on Excel or Google Sheets
- Create your own tracking system
- Download and print a PDF
Choose the one that makes it easy for you to update, makes you feel comfortable without being pushed, and fits in with the way you usually do things.
The most basic format is to get a calendar and cross off each day you stick with your routine. For example, if you run for 30 minutes every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, each of those dates gets an X. As days, weeks, and months go by, the calendar becomes a record of your habit streak. You could use different colors or even stickers to make it more colorful, motivating, and interesting.
What are the benefits of habit tracking?
- Get in shape – increase your strength, mobility, energy, and immunity
- Feel happier – feel happier by befriending your thoughts and emotions
- Live longer – add years to your life as well as life to your years
- Sleep better – rest your mind, and wake up refreshed to a new day
- Improve relationships – be kind to yourself, and build genuine connections
- Find passions – find your strengths, and use them to pursue your passions.
Things to keep in mind in using a habit tracker:
- Track achievable, realistic habits.
- Plan your habits and stick to them.
- Don’t feel overwhelmed if you’re not perfectly consistent from day one.
What happens if you fall off track?
There are times that you might feel overwhelmed or lazy and may stop using your habit tracker.
Don’t get discouraged. It’s okay, life happens to everyone. There are things in life that take priority. Instead of giving up, decide when you want to start again. This could be this Friday, maybe next week, or even in the next two weeks. No pressure. In the meantime, allow yourself to rest and relax.
Choose new habits, something easy to start off. And as you get your rhythm, you will get back on track and achieve goals.
Try a new layout. Sometimes, it gets boring with the same look and structure. So try a new design, use different pen colors, or use a different way of shading. All it takes is to get inspired again.
In our Passion & Growth August box themed “You Got This, Babe”, we’ve included a Habit Tracker to help you get started.
Try it yourself. Start building healthy habits that will last!
