Ideas on how to use a Habit Tracker
plus free Printable Habit Tracker

Update – 10 December 2018: As the 80 Ideas for your Tracker Pin has proved popular, I’ve created a printable download listing all of the ideas. Scroll down to the end of the list to download a copy.

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A habit tracker is a handy checklist chart that allows you to keep track of – wait for it – habits! It’s awesome as a reminder to complete those tasks that you don’t want to forget but are not yet ingrained so you don’t automatically complete them.

The Pure Inner Bliss habit tracker can be used every month and is editable so you can type in your task and tick it off without ever having to print it. If you like to write things out though, you will find the design, simple and easy to use.

Scroll to the end and download the habit tracker.

Creating Habits

The start of a New Year is a traditional time when we seek to intentionally change our behaviour for the better and create new habits. However, we don’t have to wait until a new year to decide to improve our lives and it doesn’t have to be a huge gesture. There are many areas of our lives that could be improved and made easier if we create new habits.

One of the hardest things about creating a new habit can be to simply remembering to complete it. The first few days are usually easy as your motivation is at its highest and you’re eager to stick with it. But after a while it can become easy to slip up. This is when using a habit tracker can be a helpful reminder.

Choosing a habit

When deciding on a habit, be specific as possible. Instead of “I will exercise more” choose “I will walk 30 minutes every day”. If relevant, decide on the duration or amount, choose how often you want to complete the habit, whether it’s daily, every other day, weekly etc. It’s also helpful if you can link it to an activity that you already automatically do. In this walking example, you could decide to complete this task after dinner as it is an activity which you will be doing every day.

If you piggyback off an existing habit you’ll be much more likely to stick with the new habit. It’s much easier to amend an existing habit or ritual than create an entirely new one.

When deciding, use the following steps to help you create your habit.

1. Choose subject (exercise)
2. Be specific (walk)
3. Duration or Amount (30 minutes)
4. Frequency (daily)
5. When (after dinner)

Listed below are ideas for new habits. Use the steps above to flesh out your habit for a better chance of success.

Health / Self-care

1. Walk 30 minutes daily
2. Walk a minimum of 10,000 steps daily
3. Drink 8 glasses of water daily
4. Track symptoms/mood
5. Record your period
6. Floss
7. Read
8. Journal
9. Take medication/vitamins
10. Have a healthy breakfast
11. Be creative
12. Meditate
13. Complete face cleansing routine
14. Stretch
15. Focus on deep breathing for 2 minutes
16. Affirmations
17. Gratitude log
18. Listen to music
19. Spend time outside to get natural light
20. Eat more fruit & veg

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Household

1. Make the bed
2. Wash dishes
3. Hoover
4. Change sheets
5. Laundry
6. Ironing
7. Put clothes away
8. Water plants
9. Pay bills
10. Grocery shopping
11. Meal plan
12. Meal prep/cook
13. Keep on top of paperwork
14. Dust
15. Declutter – Recycle, repurpose, donate or throw away unwanted items

 General

1. Contact a friend or loved one
2. Walk the dog
3. Try no money spent days
4. Pray
5. Learn something new
6. Take time to enjoy a hobby
7. Perform a random act of kindness
8. Wake up early
9. Make lists and prioritise – use a planner to help you
10. Smile more
11. Spend time reflecting on your day
12. Be early for appointments/events
13. Update your calendar with key events
14. Focus on one task at a time
15. Perform a task that will lead you to one of your big goals

Breaking Bad Habits

You don’t only have to use your tracker to help create new habits. You can also use it to break bad ones.

What we consider a bad habit will vary from person to person. For example, a vegetarian might consider eating meat a bad habit, however, obviously a meat eater won’t.

There are many different conditions that could define a bad habit, such as:

• wastes your time and impacts productivity;
• is unhealthy;
• bad grooming;
• impacts finances; or
• offends others.

Generally a bad habit is anything that negatively affects you.

Stopping bad habits

Penalise yourself if you slip up. It could be something as simple as using a swear jar. Put in place a punishment system so there are consequences if you don’t stick to your plans. Don’t forget to also set up a reward system but ensure the reward isn’t something bad!

As with creating good habits, wherever possible, try to be as specific as possible and if  you don’t think you can stop it all at once or you just want to lessen the activity. Build in targets to achieve every month.

If your bad habit is triggered by places, social setting or emotions, have a good habit in place to respond to each trigger.

Once you start taking action to stop or reduce your bad actions, you’ll find you have more time to focus on your goals and other activities.

You can use the following steps to help you.

1. Bad habit (having too many takeaways)
2. Current Duration or Amount (5 days a week)
3. Target Duration of Amount (3 days a week)
4. Replace with (meal prep/cook for 4 days a week)

Below are a few bad habits you might want to break. Use the above steps to flesh out what actions you will take instead of performing the bad habit.

Unhealthy

1. Having too many takeaways
2. Stop smoking
3. Eating unhealthy snacks
4. Drinking too much alcohol
5. Not flossing
6. Never brushing your tongue
7. Drinking too many fizzy drinks
8. Eating too much sugar
9. Drinking too much caffeine
10. Not eating enough fruit and veg

Productivity

1. Reduce social media time
2. Limit online activity in general
3. Don’t hit the snooze button
4. Reduce time checking inbox
5. Reduce TV viewing
6. Stop saying “yes” too easily
7. No sleeping in after the alarm has gone off
8. No skipping breakfast
9. Stop being late
10. Stop leaving your keys in random places

General

1. Don’t buy lunch every day
2. No emotional shopping
3. Biting fingernails
4. Stick to a budget and don’t overspend
5. Not taking off makeup/washing face before bedtime
6. Don’t leave mobile plugged in after it has been charged
7. No staying up late
8. Swearing
9. Not moisturising
10. Popping/picking spots

Download the above list of ideas in a convenient printable below.

Ideas on what to put in a habit tracker

To-do List

You could also use the habit tracker as a simple to-do checklist. If you have tasks that need completing every day and you don’t want to be constantly writing them out. Fill out the habit tracker once a month and simply tick them off each day they are completed.

Goals

If you have certain goals you want to complete during the month. Add them to the tracker and tick them off once complete. If you have more long-term goals you can download a goal setting planner pack here.

Habit Tracker