8 Tips For Your Habit TrackerApril 18, 2017December 17, 2019Sky

The first of the year is when most people make their resolutions and hopes for the New Year.   For some it’s a desire to break a habit such as smoking and others to make a new habit of drinking more water.  A habit is basically a pattern that becomes ingrained into our daily lives.

What is a Habit Tracker?

A Habit Tracker is a valuable tool that can be kept in your planner to assist you in recording and documenting your progress for the habit to be created or stopped.

What kind of Habits can you track?

Anything you can think of.  However, since I wouldn’t be me without creating a list.  I have provided a few suggestions to help you out.

  1. No Soda
  2. No Coffee
  3. No Alcohol
  4. No Fast Food
  5. No Junk Food
  6. No Deserts
  7. No Spend
  8. No Biting Nails
  9. No Smoking
  10. No Carbs
  11. No Sugar
  12. No Dairy
  13. No Gluten
  14. No Spend
  15. No Video Games
  16. No Binge Watching
  17. No Chewing Gum
  18. Eat Fruits
  19. Water Intake
  20. Step Goal
  21. Period
  22. Medicine
  23. Vitamins
  24. Sleep
  25. Weight
  26. Skin Care Routine
  27. Brushed Teeth
  28. Floss Teeth
  29. Bedtime Met
  30. Number of Hours of Sleep
  31. Woke Up On Time
  32. Emptying Email
  33. No Wasted Time On Computer
  34. Workout
  35. Walk the Dog
  36. Symptoms
  37. Read Before Bed
  38. Meditation
  39. Cleaning 15 Minutes
  40. Practice on Handwriting
  41. Declutter 15 Minutes
  42. Make the Bed
  43. Daily Goals Met
  44. Random Act of Kindness
  45. Chores
  46. Journal
  47. Social Media
  48. Study Bible
  49. Dish Free Sink
  50. Love Connection (Sex)

Changing a habit is not that complicated.  It can seem overwhelming when there is no plan.  Here are simple steps to help you get started:

  1. Write it down – Planners love to make lists and write things down and this is where a Habit Tracker makes it easier to do that.
  2. One habit at a time – Breaking or making new habits is difficult enough let alone trying to balance multiple habits. Trying to break or make more than one habit at a time is only setting you up for failure. Keep it simple and focus on one at a time.
  3. Identify your triggers – Be aware of what can make you want the bad habit you are breaking or what thing can help create the new habit.
  4. Set a realistic goal – Try giving yourself a full day first and then lengthen it by a week and then add another week to your goal. Start small and slow so that you can better measure your success when achieving the smaller goal.
  5. Know your motivations – Why are you making this change? Is it for you or your family? Why is it so important that there must be a change?
  6. Ask for help – Support is huge when you are making changes in your life. When your family and friends support what you are doing they can help you stay on track.
  7. Remove negative thoughts – Often we have little voices in our head that are negative. Those thoughts can sabotage your progress and success.  Instead of beating yourself up with the negative thoughts try acknowledging the positive light of things.  For example:  I cheated and drank soda today, but I have gone 2 weeks without having any.
  8. Rewards – Give yourself a mini reward for meeting your goals. If you made it a week without biting your nails, then buy yourself a new bottle of nail polish.  Mini rewards are important to acknowledge that you are succeeding and a great way to keep track of your milestones.  Write it in your planner and give yourself a sticker for meeting that goal.

While some experts claim that it takes twenty-one days to form a habit, others say this is just merely a myth. Although what is truly important for any habit to be made or broken is consistency and if you want change – you must put forth the effort.

To help you stay committed I am including a free Monthly Habit Tracker of all sizes of Happy Planners.

MHP (Active Habit Tracker)

To download the Big Happy Planner size insert (BHP). Please click here.

To download the Classic Happy Planner size insert (CHP). Please click here.

To download the Mini Happy Planner size Insert (MHP). Please click here.

Instructions for printing out your freebie Insert.  Please click here.

Enjoy and Happy Planning!