Getting started with habit tracking: 10 essential habits to build each day
If you’re interested in growth and self-improvement—which you probably are, if you’re reading this—then chances are you’ve come across James Clear’s advice on setting systems, not goals.
“I’ve found that goals are good for planning your progress and systems are good for actually making progress.”
This piece of advice was a game changer in my experience. I was instantly transformed from an avid goal setter to a habit tracker. After years of setting the same goals and doing very little to make them happen, I finally feel like I’m making progress towards the things I want.
I still set goals for myself. At the start of each year and month, I take the time to think about the things I want to achieve, and properly visualize them.
The difference now is that as soon as I decide on my goals, I immediately shift my focus to the habits I need to build to help me achieve those goals.
This year, I want to become a blogger. But I’ve also wanted that the year before, and the year before that. If I want to finally become a blogger, I need to embed this goal in my day to day. I need to decide on actual tasks to repeat each day that’ll help me become a blogger by the end of the year; for example, “write each day for one hour”.
Here’s what I learned about habit tracking over the past few years, as well as some of the best habits to start tracking today.
Build good habits without putting yourself down
Here’s one important thing to remember: habit tracking isn’t about punishing yourself. It shouldn’t be done from a place of self criticism, but from a place of kindness and self love.
A habit is something you do most of the time. Missing a day or two does not mean that you’ve failed. It means you’re succeeding in keeping up with your habit in a way that’s sustainable and realistic. Your aim should be to try and check off each day, and still be proud of your progress if you don’t, because it’s probably more progress than you would have achieved if you weren’t tracking your habit to begin with.
Give yourself a fresh start every week
When I first started habit tracking in 2018, I used to keep monthly trackers. Eventually, I switched to weekly tracking, which worked much better for me. For one, I get to choose different habits to focus on each week depending on my schedule and circumstances. As a bonus, I don’t feel as bad if I miss my habit for a day or two, because I know I’ll get a fresh start the following week.
If you’re using a journal rather than an app to track your habits, I strongly recommend tracking weekly, rather than monthly or annually.
Let an app take care of everything
If you’re not into journaling and want to get started with habit tracking without hassle, I strongly recommend using an app that’s minimal, user-friendly, and has a widget for your phone’s home screen that allows you to track your habits in one click.
I’m a huge fan of Habit. Habit is sleek, minimal, and easy to use. It’s only available on iPhone, which is pretty much its only downside in my opinion.
The best thing about Habit is that it gives you a score of how well you’re doing on the habit you’re tracking, and your score doesn’t get affected so much by missing one day or two, but by missing enough days in a row. This allows you to focus on consistency, not perfection.
Know when to be specific, and when to give yourself room
For a long time, I used to try to track each of my several hobbies separately, to make sure I make progress and improve in each of them. I always ended up with long lists of habits that were impossible to achieve: “read a chapter each day”, “practice piano for one hour each day”, “write for one hour each day”, “finish two Duolingo lessons each day”, and so on. Most days, I felt like doing only one of these things. Some days, I didn’t feel like doing any. I would end up giving up on my habits altogether and feeling like a failure.
Eventually, I realized that the thing I’m actually trying to achieve each day is simply to grow, either by learning something new, or creating something new. Whether that’s done by reading, writing, or playing piano is less important.
Sure, there are times when I need to focus on one specific thing, such as language learning, and this means I need to track habits specific to language learning. But generally speaking, giving yourself daily credit for (a) learning something new and (b) creating something new will get you a long way.
Start with these 10 attainable habits
Here’s my own personal list of habits that I find useful for a healthy, happy, and productive life.
Wake up by a certain time each day
Morning skin and body care
Call family
See or talk to a friend
Spiritual time
Learn something
Create something
Go outdoors
Evening skin and body care
Get to bed by a certain time each day
Of course, your mileage may vary. I’ve worded the habits on this list to allow a lot of flexibility. You should tailor the wording to fit your lifestyle and your needs. You may find some habits on this list more useful than others, but I hope they’ll give you a good starting point to your habit tracking journey.
