Habit tracker ideas: what to track
By 40585 Labs, makers of Corenk · Updated
The best things to track are small actions you can answer with yes or no at the end of the day. Below are lists by area. They are a menu, not a target: pick three to five, and keep the rest for later.
Health
- Walk for 20 minutes
- Stretch after waking up
- Drink water before coffee
- Cook one meal at home
- Eat a piece of fruit
- Train: gym, swim, yoga or a run
- Take your vitamins or medicine
Home
- Make the bed
- Clear the kitchen before sleep
- Put on one load of laundry
- Water the plants
- Plan the week's meals
- Ten-minute tidy of one room
Work and study
- Write down the day's top three tasks
- One hour of focus with the phone away
- Clear the inbox once
- Review class notes
- Practice a language for 15 minutes
- Stop work at the planned time
Money
- Write down what you spent today, for example in a weekly spending log
- No takeaway on weekdays
- Move a set amount to savings
- Check the bank account once a week
Mind and learning
- Read ten pages
- Write three lines in a journal
- Note one thing that went well
- Sit quietly for five minutes
- Practice an instrument or sketch
Rest and people
- Phone out of the bedroom
- In bed by a set time
- No screens for the last half hour
- Call or message a friend
- Time outside in daylight
- A meal together without phones
How to choose
- Pick the area that bothers you most this month. One or two areas are enough to begin with.
- Make it smaller than you want to. "Read ten pages" gets done on a tired Tuesday. "Read for an hour" does not.
- Attach it to something you already do. Vitamins with breakfast, stretching after waking up.
- Give it only the days it belongs on. Three training days a week is a plan, not three failures a week.
Questions
What makes a good habit to track?
You can answer it with yes or no at the end of the day, and you control it yourself. "Walk for 20 minutes" works; "be healthier" does not.
Should I track outcomes like weight or savings?
Track the action rather than the result. You can decide to go for a walk today, but you cannot decide what the scale says tomorrow.
How do I know when to stop tracking a habit?
When you do it without the reminder for a few weeks, take it off the page and give the space to something else. If you miss it, it can always come back.
Put them on a page
Write your choices on our free weekly habit tracker, or follow how to make a weekly habit tracker to draw your own.