Why And How To Track Your Habits?

Occasionally, as humans, we try to develop healthy habits that will impact our lives positively. But only after a few days into the routine, we discover that it takes a little more than just a vision to succeed.

For most of us, sustaining the routine is usually the problem. This is because we tend to think that we act better than we do — we lie to ourselves. If you find this to be true about you, don't worry, there is a way out. It is through tracking your habits.

Habit tracking is a simple activity that lets you know if you carried out an activity. It typically involves marking out days on a calendar so that at a glance you can tell if you're making progress or whether you need to switch things up.

But before going into the details of how to track your habits, it is essential to know why you should do it in the first place.

Let's take a look.

• It will help you to remain honest to yourself. Tracking your habits will help you escape lying to yourself about your day-to-day behavior and how well you're following your plans. It will help you look past "assumed" measurements of your actions and act based on evidence. Work with these measurements a little while longer, and your habits will wax stronger and stronger until they become more automatic.

• It will motivate you. Tracking serves as a motivating factor when the achievements from the previous day or week are considered. Since it requires that you break down your routines into small chunks, it will enable you to identify what habits are more difficult to sustain. This will help you make adjustments in the critical areas.

• It is suitable for your mental health. Tracking enables you to identify what every minute of your day or week was dedicated to. It is beneficial to your mental health as you will be able to state what you did or didn't do through the course of a particular period.

• It provides satisfaction. There is a certain type of joy and happiness that comes with crossing something off your list of accomplishments, and tracking your habits will afford you with it. It will help you stay focused on the course and unperturbed by the result.

• It builds your confidence. Tracking your habits will keep you aware of any changes or growth in your life. It will help you create a mental belief system that will enable you to take on new habits or just about any challenge without fretting. In the long run, this will help you to develop more healthy habits.
  

Despite understanding why you should track your habits, not knowing how to go about it will do you no good. So, here's how.

Shortly, you will discover that there are several tools you can use to track habits. Do not bother yourself so much about which one to use. The most important thing is that you find it convenient and it tells you at a glance whether you're making progress or not.

• Paper: you can adopt the old traditional way of keeping track of your routine using a planner or a diary. Simply list out the habits you're looking to build and then place dots beside them anytime you make the habit. This is an excellent way of keeping track if you don't have a journal as it motivates you to continue.

• Spreadsheets (a habit journal): the use of spreadsheets may be more complicated than using a plain sheet. However, it makes your tracking process visual and more useful as you can tell your progress from a single glance. You can place a "✔" or an "X" mark depending on whether you complete a habit.

• Mobile Phones: the world has evolved into something many people like to refer to as the internet age, and with this time comes increased technological innovations. There are many apps for your mobile you can use to track your habits, and all you need to do is plug and play. If you spend a lot of time with your phone, it may be more beneficial to you since reminders can be set to prompt you.

Even with a habit tracker, building your habits can still get tricky. The best way to go is to get in the habit of using your tracker. You can do this by limiting the number of routines you track to a few — just the most important ones. Also, always fill the tracker immediately after completing the habit.


Healthy habits are essential, and the only way to adopt them into your routine is to be intentional about them until they become automatic.