Almost everybody picks up habits through the course of their lives, from biting their nails to snacking at the same time every day. While some habits are harmless, many people have habits they dislike or would like to stop, and others strive to form good habits. The problem is, habits are difficult to start and just as hard to stop!

A habit tracker is a great way to gain control over your habits, whether that’s giving up bad ones or forming new ones. Find out all about habit trackers and how tracking habits can help you to develop better habits and stop bad ones for good.

Back: Time Management and Productivity in Your Small Business

Next: How to Increase Your Attention Span with Time Tracking

What is a Habit?

A habit is a repetitive action – whether conscious or unconscious – that people perform on reflex. Habits can be small actions a person makes or they can be daily routines stretching various activities.

How Many Days Does it Take to Form a Habit?

Of course, every individual is different when it comes to habit-forming or habit breaking, but one popular method that helps people in their habits is the 21/90 rule. This rule dictates that if a person can first commit to a personal or professional goal for 21 days straight, they are well on the way to it becoming a habit. Once established, you must then continue to do it for another ninety days.

The idea behind the 21/90 rule is that it takes 21 days to form a habit, but the additional 90 days help ensure it becomes a permanent lifestyle change. But how do you commit to the 21/90 rule and ensure you follow through with it? That’s where a habit tracker comes in!

What is a Habit Tracker?

A habit tracker is a way of recording and monitoring your habits to better understand the existing habits you’re trying to stop or alter. Using a habit tracker will help you integrate new habits into your daily schedule and keep you accountable so that you’re more likely to keep them up long term and make progress on your chosen tasks.

There are many different ways a person can track their habits, whether that’s using a journal or bullet journal, an agenda, computer software, an Excel sheet, or even just a loose sheet of paper. The idea behind this document is to get yourself to consciously go over your activities every night to determine if you took any steps towards your chosen habits. But what desired habits are those?

 Habit Tracker Ideas

People use this tool to track all kinds of habits, activities, and routines in all facets of their lives. Here are some ideas for weekly habits to track if you’re looking for some inspiration:

Does Habit Tracking Work?

Habit tracking can work, but the success or failure of the habit tracker is entirely dependent on how much effort you put in and how committed you are to seeing results! If you are honest with yourself each day and accurately track what you did, you’ll be able to monitor your progress using your habit tracker and learn where your successes and pitfalls are.

If you do this, you’re much more likely to achieve your desired outcome than someone who simply records their activities without using them to learn, reflect, and improve. Therefore, a continuous and consistent approach that allows individuals to move forward in their habit-forming consciously is the only way things will stick.

How Daily Tracking Improves Productivity

Tracking habits creates a sense of accountability in oneself. It gives people the reward of reaching small goals in the pursuit of a larger end goal. It also keeps you motivated, as it’s easier to see that one bad day isn’t the end of the road as you can always get back on track again tomorrow.

Using a daily habit tracker can also help to condition yourself to change one bad or negative habitual routine into a good and healthy one. The daily satisfaction of following through with your plans and in seeing the payoff on paper – as well as in your own self-development – is a great habit to keep in itself!

By incorporating the action of tracking habits into your daily schedule, you are essentially establishing a reflective period each day that keeps you accountable, boosts self-confidence, and improves your skills all at the same time.

Bullet Journal Habit Tracker

Habit trackers can take many forms, from a simple sheet of paper and a pen to a mobile app, but a popular method is the bullet journal. Bullet journals are just like regular journals, but more creative. These journals are laid out like square paper, only with rows of tiny dots instead of squares. They help you draw neat lines and write in a consistent size without hampering the page’s overall appearance.

You can use it to track your habits and add your own personality and flair to every page, making it much more engaging and exciting than a boring list or chart. You can use coloured pens, calligraphy, add sticky notes and glue in inspirational quotes or images from magazines that motivate you.

In short, a bullet journal can be as fun and inventive as you like, meaning you’re much more likely to stay motivated to keep using it as a simple habit tracker, and therefore more likely to achieve your goals! If you’re looking for inspiration, head to Instagram or Pinterest for ideas, or download this temple to help you get started.

Habit Tracker Templates

Feel free to download, modify, print off, and use this free habit tracker template to get you started. Fill in your habits to track and in just one month, you could be well on your way to improving, breaking, or replacing your habits.

It’s easy to see how daily tracking can help individuals cultivate their skills over time, upping productivity, and overall satisfaction in themselves. If you’re looking to implement a habit tracker in your personal life, why not consider doing the same thing for your career?

Time tracking software like QuickBooks Time can help increase productivity too, cementing good habits, and ensuring your work speaks for itself. Implement this handy tool, and good habit, today, and start your free trial now.

Back: Time Management and Productivity in Your Small Business

Next: How to Increase Your Attention Span with Time Tracking