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A habit tracker is only as useful as the habits on it. Put fifteen things on the list and half the rows stay empty by week two. Put three things on it that you care about, and the page starts to fill itself.
Good habit tracker ideas are small, daily and easy to record in a second: walk outside, drink water before coffee, phone out of the bedroom, write one line. Pick three to five from the list below, one or two from the areas you most want to change, and decide whether each one gets a tick, a number or minutes.
Build your shortlist
Pick up to 5 habits. Fewer is better.
Your tracker 0/5
- Tap a habit above, or “+ Add” on any card below.
That’s 5. Remove one to add another.
Copy your list, then paste it into the tracker builder or your journal. Nothing you pick is stored or sent.
Quick takeaways
- Track three to five habits at a time. A long list is easier to abandon than a short one.
- Choose habits you can do on a bad day. “Walk 10 minutes” survives a busy week; “run 5 miles” often doesn’t.
- Record each habit the simplest way that still tells you something: a tick, a number or minutes.
- Writing progress down helps. In a review of 138 studies, monitoring progress improved goal attainment, and more so when it was physically recorded.
- A missed day isn’t a reset. Carry on the next day.
What should you track in a habit tracker?
Track the few behaviors you want to repeat daily or weekly, that you control and that you can record in seconds. Start with one habit for your body, one for your mind and one that makes tomorrow easier. Leave out goals (like a weight or a savings total); track the daily action that leads to them instead.
There’s good evidence that tracking itself helps. A meta-analysis by Benjamin Harkin and colleagues pooled 138 studies with 19,951 participants and found that prompting people to monitor their progress improved goal attainment (d = 0.40). The effect was larger when the progress was physically recorded or reported to someone else.
A good habit for a tracker passes three tests:
- You do it, not someone else. “Call Mom” works. “Mom calls me” doesn’t.
- It fits in one box. A tick, a short number or a few minutes. If you need a sentence to record it, it belongs in your journal.
- It’s daily or weekly. Monthly habits get lost in a daily grid. Put them on a separate list.
What habits can you track? 100 ideas by area
The ideas below are grouped into ten areas of life, ten habits each. Each card says how to record it. Tap “+ Add to my tracker” on any card to add it to your shortlist at the top of the page.
Movement and body
Walk outside
Write the minutes. Ten counts. So does the long way to the store.
Steps
Copy the number from your phone at night. Watch the week, not the day.
Stretch for five minutes
After you get up or before bed. Tick it, don’t time it.
Workout
Any session counts. Write the type in the box (R for run, Y for yoga) if you like variety.
Take the stairs
At work, at home, at the station. One flight is a tick.
Stand up every hour at work
Tick the day if you managed most hours. Perfect isn’t the goal.
Floss
The classic small habit. Keep the floss next to your toothbrush.
Take your vitamins or medication
Tick straight after, so you never wonder whether you already did.
Skincare routine
Morning, evening or both. Split the box diagonally for two a day.
Get some daylight before noon
A walk, a coffee by the window, the school run. Outside is the point.
Food and water
Glasses of water
Draw small tallies in the box, or shade a quarter for each glass.
Water before coffee
One glass before the first coffee. A tiny cue with a clear yes or no.
Fruit and vegetable servings
Write the number each evening, even if it’s zero.
Cook dinner at home
Leftovers you cooked count. A frozen pizza is your call.
Pack lunch
Tick the evening you pack it, not the day you eat it.
No snacking after dinner
Pick a time the kitchen closes and tick if it stayed closed.
Eat breakfast
Anything counts. The habit is sitting down to it.
Alcohol-free day
Tick the days without. Shading the weekends shows the pattern fast.
Cups of coffee
Write the number. Useful when you’re trying to cut down, not up.
Eat without a screen
One meal a day with no phone or TV. Pick which meal before you start.
Sleep and rest
In bed by a set time
Write the time at the top of the row so you can’t move it quietly.
Hours slept
Write the number each morning. Rough is fine: 6.5, 7, 8.
Same wake-up time
Within half an hour of your target, weekends included.
No caffeine after 2pm
Tea and cola count. Tick if the afternoon stayed caffeine-free.
Wind down for 30 minutes
Lights low, phone away, something slow. Tick if you gave it the half hour.
Read before bed
A page counts. Paper beats a screen for this one.
Take a proper lunch break
Away from your desk, for at least 20 minutes.
One thing just for fun
Not productive, not improving. Tick it when you did something only because you enjoy it.
A rest day
For people who train or work hard. Schedule them, then tick them without guilt.
Energy out of 5
Write a number at lunchtime. Line it up against sleep a month later.
Mind and mood
Meditate
Write the minutes. Two minutes on a hard day beats a blank box.
Three good things
Write three things that went well today. Tick when done.
Mood out of 5
One number each evening. A month of them shows more than you’d guess.
Five slow breaths
Tie it to something: before opening email, at red lights, before meetings.
Time in nature
A park, a garden, the river path. Ten minutes is enough for a tick.
Name how you feel
One word, written down, once a day. Specific words beat “fine”.
No news before breakfast
Tick the mornings the news waited until after you’d eaten.
Say no to one thing
For people who agree to too much. Tick the days you protected your time.
Do one thing you’ve been avoiding
The email, the call, the form. Tick when the smallest one is done.
Go outside without your phone
Even five minutes. Notice what you notice.
Screens and focus
Screen time
Copy the hours from your phone each night. Circle your best day of the week.
Phone out of the bedroom
Charge it in another room. An old alarm clock helps.
No social media before 10am
Pick the time that’s realistic for you and write it on the row.
Focused work blocks
Count 25- or 50-minute blocks with no switching. Write the number.
Inbox checked twice, not all day
Two set times. Tick if you stuck to them.
Plan tomorrow tonight
Three tasks for tomorrow, written before you log off.
One screen-free evening a week
Shade the days you plan to do it, then tick the ones that happened.
Close all tabs when you log off
A tiny reset that makes the morning easier.
Notifications off during work
Tick the days you turned them off and left them off.
Deep work on one project
Write minutes spent on the thing that matters most right now.
Home and chores
Make the bed
The easiest win of the day. Good as a first habit to build on.
Empty sink by bedtime
Dishes washed or in the dishwasher. Tick if the sink is clear.
Ten-minute tidy
Set a timer. Stop when it rings, whatever state the room is in.
One load of laundry
Washed, dried and put away counts as one tick.
Water the plants
Only on the days they need it. Shade those days in advance.
Clear one surface
The table, the desk, the hallway shelf. One per day.
Declutter one item
Donate, sell, recycle. One a day is a lot by the end of the month.
Lay out tomorrow’s clothes
Two minutes at night that saves ten in the morning.
Walk the dog (the long walk)
The proper one, not the quick loop. Write the minutes if you prefer.
Meal plan for the week
A weekly tick, not daily. Shade Sundays and tick them off.
Money
No-spend day
Bills don’t count. Tick the days you bought nothing else.
Log what you spent
Write every purchase down each evening, even the small ones.
Check your bank balance
Once a day or once a week. Knowing is the habit.
Brought coffee from home
Tick the days the flask came with you.
Put money aside
Any amount into savings. Write the amount if a number keeps you going.
Wait 24 hours before buying
For anything you didn’t plan to buy. Tick when you waited.
Unsubscribe from one store email
Fewer offers, fewer temptations. Stop once the inbox is quiet.
Cook with what’s in the fridge
Tick the days you used up food before buying more.
Sell or return one thing
A weekly habit that clears space and adds a little back.
Review one subscription
Weekly. Keep it, pause it or cancel it.
People
Message a friend
Not a like or a reply. A message you started.
Call family
Pick who and how often, then shade those days in advance.
Real conversation with your partner
Ten minutes, phones down, about anything but logistics.
Screen-free time with your kids
Write the minutes if a tick feels too loose.
Say thank you properly
Out loud or in writing, to someone who’d like to hear it.
Say yes to a plan
For quieter months. Tick when you went instead of cancelling.
Write a card or letter
A weekly habit. Birthdays, thank-yous or just because.
Listen without fixing
Tick the times you let someone finish before offering advice.
Chat with a neighbor
More than a nod. A small habit that makes a street feel friendlier.
Put one date in the calendar
Weekly: one thing to look forward to with someone.
Learning and making things
Pages read
Write the number. It adds up faster than a “read daily” tick.
Language practice
Write the minutes, or tick if you kept the streak in your app.
Practice an instrument
Minutes, not perfection. Five on a busy day still counts.
Draw something
A doodle in the margin counts. So does a sketch of your mug.
Words written
For a novel, blog or thesis. Write the rough word count.
Take one photo on purpose
Something you actually looked at first. Great with a phone.
Watch or listen to something that teaches you
A lecture, a documentary, a podcast episode.
Cook a new recipe
Weekly works better than daily for this one.
Work on a side project
Tick any day you moved it forward, however little.
Look up one thing you wondered about
And write down the answer, so it sticks.
Journaling and reflection
Write one line
One sentence about today. The smallest journaling habit there is.
Morning pages
Three pages first thing. Tick when done, however messy.
Answer a journal prompt
One prompt, five minutes, a tick.
Brain dump before bed
Empty everything on your mind onto paper so it isn’t in your head.
Weekly review
What worked, what didn’t, one thing to change. Shade one day a week.
Write three priorities for the day
First thing, before email.
Note one thing you learned
A fact, a lesson, a thing someone said.
Gratitude list
Three things, specific ones. Tick when done.
Read back last week’s pages
A weekly habit that shows patterns you’d otherwise miss.
Track the tracker
Tick the days you filled in the tracker at all. It’s more useful than it sounds.
How do you choose which habits to track?
Pick the area of life you most want to change, choose the smallest habit in it that would make a difference, and tie it to something you already do each day. Then add one or two more from different areas. Stop at five.
- Start with the problem, not the list. Tired all the time? Look at sleep and screens. Money anxiety? Look at money. The list is a menu, not a to-do list.
- Shrink it. “Meditate 20 minutes” becomes “meditate 2 minutes.” You can always do more than the box asks.
- Anchor it. Tie each habit to something you already do: after coffee, after brushing your teeth, when you sit on the train.
- Write your why. The official Bullet Journal blog suggests tracking four or five habits a month and writing a short reason next to each one, so you remember why it’s on the page.
- Review at the end of the month. Keep what’s working, drop what isn’t, and swap in one new habit at most.
Should you track habits with ticks, numbers or minutes?
Use a tick for yes-or-no habits, a number for things you want more or less of, and minutes for practice you want to build up. A tick is fastest, so use it unless the number would change what you do.
| Record it as | Best for | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| A tick | Yes-or-no habits | Make the bed, phone out of the bedroom, write one line |
| A number | More-or-less habits | Glasses of water, pages read, screen time |
| Minutes | Practice that builds | Meditation, language practice, walking |
Numbers also let you see the week at a glance. Screen time that reads 4, 4, 5, 2, 4, 6, 6 tells you something a row of ticks never could.
How long should you track a habit?
Track a new habit for at least two months before judging it. In one UCL study, it took a median of 66 days for a daily habit to feel automatic, with a wide range between people. Once a habit feels automatic, take it off the tracker and add a new one.
The study, by Phillippa Lally and colleagues, followed 96 volunteers who each repeated one eating, drinking or exercise habit every day. Individual times ranged from 18 days to an estimated 254. Missing a single day didn’t make a measurable difference to how the habit formed.
So a month of tracking is a start. If you’re halfway through the second month and the box still feels like effort, the habit may be too big. Shrink it and keep going.
For other ways to plan your week and keep habits, the planning and habits hub compares bullet journals, printed planners and digital options.
Habit tracker questions
What are good habits to track for beginners?
Water before coffee, a 10-minute walk, phone out of the bedroom and one line in a journal. Each one is small, happens daily and takes a second to record, which is what you want while the tracking itself is still new.
How many habits should I put in my tracker?
Three to five. More than that and most rows go blank, which makes the whole tracker feel like a failure even when you’re doing well on the habits that count.
Can I track bad habits I want to stop?
Yes. Phrase them as something you did: “alcohol-free day” or “no phone in bed” gets a tick, rather than ticking the days you slipped. It’s more encouraging to fill a box than to mark a failure.
Should I track habits daily or weekly?
Daily for anything you want to do most days. Weekly for things like a meal plan, a weekly review or calling family. Keep weekly habits in their own short list so they don’t leave six empty boxes in every row.
What if I miss a day?
Leave the box empty and carry on the next day. One missed day doesn’t undo a habit. Two or three in a row is a sign to shrink the habit, not to start over.
Otis Fenn
Otis covers planning methods, notebooks, pens and apps, so you don't buy three of each. Otis is a pen name Mike writes under. About our writers