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The aspect of bullet journaling that I like the most is the fact that you can customize it to fit your needs exactly. Because of this, everyone’s bullet journal can (and should be) unique and different. One of the main sources of variation is the habit trackers that you choose to use.
What are habit trackers?
Habit trackers in bullet journaling is an integral part of the “tracking the past” aspect of the mission. When I started my journal one of the major things I wanted to get out of it was a better understanding of myself.
I used my habit tracker to get an understanding of what habits I had. I wanted to know how often I hit my daily work goals, how often I worked out, how often I read with my kids, how often I spent 15 minutes a day cleaning etc.
After I got an understanding of what I was doing then I could focus on changing habits I didn’t like. Filling out my habit tracker daily was an accountability tool that showed me when I was doing good things and when I was slacking. Because it was there I got better at following through on the habits I wanted to foster.
What should you track?
This should be a pretty personal question. You can track whatever you want to but I definitely have some suggestions. Before you start, I think you should sit down and figure out what your purpose in starting a habit tracker is.
- Are you looking for validation for good things you do?
- Do you want to build a new habit?
- Is there a priority you want to track?
The type of tracker that you make will depend on what the intention is behind what you’re tracking. I’ve written a whole post about how to figure out what to track for the lovely Jenniffer at Life is Messy and Brilliant so you can read that for some more help with figuring out what to include. After you do make sure to come back here in order to learn to build your tracker!
How to build your tracker
There are so many types of habit trackers. All you need to do is google it or go on Pinterest to see that there is no shortage of ideas. But that’s exactly why I think it’s so important that you think about what you want to track and WHY you want to track it before you dive too deep into your research.
Examples:
The Overview
A very common tracker is an overview of simple daily habits that you want to make sure you’re doing. These can be things like getting up at a certain time, flossing, reading or no screen time after 10pm.
Typically these habits are on one side of a grid with the days of the month down the other. That’s the type of tracker I usually do. Personally, I don’t track too many habits so I add my tracker onto my
Others like to have a mini calendar titled with each habit that they’re keeping track of. It can be a nice aesthetic but it takes too much time and space for my taste. Here is a beautiful example from my friend Masha from mashaplans.com
Monthly habit Trackers
Sometimes a habit is really important to you or encompasses a few different parts. For habits like that, you might need a whole spread just for those! Some examples are financial, fitness and chores
I’ve written a whole post with 8 different financial trackers for you to check out if that’s something you want to include. I highly suggest you do. But here is an example of one to get you started.
If you’ve been following my blog then you know that I have a chores tracker that I’m obsessed with. It’s really helped me keep my house neat without making me feel overwhelmed with all the stuff I need to do.
Fitness is another habit tracker that I think can definitely warrant its own page. Your physical health is super important and if you have big goals surrounding your health and fitness a tracker is a great way to hold yourself accountable.
This one from @doaabujo incorporates everything from workouts to water intake so has no shortage of inspiration.
Yearly Habit Trackers
Some habits are best checked in on a monthly basis. These are things like social media trackers, budgeting (like how much you’re spending on certain things every month) or big goals. A little bigger picture if you will.
These types of trackers are often part of an annual set up but, of course, you can add them in at any point.
Here is my 2019 spread for annual goals. I can write in my big goals and my progress throughout the year on the corresponding page.
Updating social stats or income on a daily basis is more hurtful than helpful so if you have a side hustle tracking your progress on a monthly basis on a yearly tracker is probably the way to go.
Another common bullet journal spread is “a year in pixels”. It’s like a huge mood tracker where you fill in each day with your predominant mood.
What do habit trackers tell you?
Once you’ve made your trackers according to your needs, fill them out! You spent all that time making it, you might as well at least do that. But it should do one step further.
At the beginning of this post I said that habit trackers are supposed to help you get to know yourself. With that said, I always try to look at my trackers and see what they are telling me.
Did I add a new habit to my tracker and become more likely to do another related habit since I was focusing on doing the new one? Was my mood better on days that I completed more of my habits? Did I find out where all my extra money was going?
By noticing patterns or keeping yourself accountable through the use of your trackers you can really start to create the days you want and from that your life in total. The habits you
