There are dozen upon dozens of different things you can track in your planner or bullet journal. It can become incredibly overwhelming to decide what is worth tracking for you. For this reason, this post will walk you through habit tracking, its purpose, and what you can track in your journal!
Before we get started here is a list of my recommended supplies.
Recommended Products
Why Track in Your Bullet Journal?
The first question you may have when you begin preparing to track stuff in your bullet journal or planner is why do we track habits and more in our journals? There are countless reasons, most of which might be more specific to you and your needs. However, the biggest common reasons are to build habits, keep habits, and gain insight.
First, habit trackers help us to build habits. So, having a physical tracker that we have to check off regularly helps to keep us accountable in our journey. Habits are incredibly difficult to make and very easy to break. So not only do bullet journal trackers help us to build habits, they help us to keep the habits we have built.
Another reason we track things in our journals is to gain insights. Sometimes, it's impossible to know how we spend our time or to remember important events without writing them down and tracking them. Further, by keeping track of things like moods or sleep, we can better understand our habits and make positive changes if necessary!
How to Track in Your Bullet Journal
Now that we know why we are tracking, the next step is to figure out how to begin tracking. Here are a few bits of advice I have when you first begin tracking your habits.
The most important bit of advice I have is to start simple. If you start tracking every habit you have and every habit you hope to make all at once, you will fail. If you overload yourself, you are likely to quickly become overwhelmed, discouraged, and give up. However, if you instead, start with only one or two of the most important habits you want to build, you will be more likely to succeed. Once you've mastered those few habits, you can easily add more or increase frequency without feeling too overwhelmed.
In addition to taking it slow, it is important to create realistic goals and habits. One example is exercise tracking. If you are living a completed sedentary lifestyle, then suddenly you are expecting yourself to workout every single day AND track every workout you do, how long you do it, and the weights you've used, you will likely become overwhelmed. So, perhaps it would be more realistic to workout 4 times a week and simply check off whether or not you've done your workouts. Then, as working out becomes a habit you can track time, weight, and go more often. Learn more about creating effective goals with this article.
My last piece of advice is to check your journal every single day. Even if you are not tracking your habits daily, check your journal every day. This helps you build the habit and you will thus, be less likely to miss something important int he future!
Now, let's get into tracking ideas!
What to Track Daily
- Water consumption
- Exercise
- Steps
- Symptoms
- Medications
- Meals/food
- Mood
- Self-care
- Weather
- Spending
- Homework
- Home cleaning
- Social media
- Reading
- Writing
- Journaling
- Prayers
- Hygiene
- Making bed
- In bed by
- Wake up by
- No caffeine
- Sleep
- No spending
- No sugar
- Meditation
- Manicure or Pedicure
- Style Hair
- Wash and Moisturize Face
- Mental Health Check
- Makeup
- Hobbies
- No Phone Time
- Daily Journaling
- Compliment Myself
- Laugh Today
- Watch 1 Episode of Favorite Show
- Read
- Learn Something New
- Quality Time with Family
- Educational Play with Kids
- Compliment my Husband
- Call a Family Member
- Call a Friend
- No Cigarettes
- No Soda
- Veggie Servings
- No Alcohol
- Fruit Servings
- Walk Dogs
- Play With Cats
- Eat breakfast
- Pack lunch
What to Track Weekly
- Groceries
- Exercise
- Medications
- Habits
- Mood
- Gratitude
- Self-care
- Goals
- Weather
- Finances
- Spending
- Saving
- Homework
- Home cleaning
- Diet/food
- Social media
- Reading
- Writing
- Assignments
- Journaling
- Prayers
- Hygiene
- Household tasks
- Make bed
- In bed by
- Wake up by
- Cook at home
- No caffeine
- Sleep
- No spending
- No sugar
- Meditation
- Meal planning
- Manicure or Pedicure
- Style Hair
- Wash and Moisturize Face
- Mental Health Check
- Makeup
- Hobbies
- No Phone Time
- Daily Journaling
- Compliment Myself
- Learn Something New
- Quality Time with Family
- Educational Play with Kids
- Compliment my loved ones
- Call a Family Member
- Call a Friend
- No Cigarettes
- No Soda
- Veggie Servings
- Fruit Servings
- No Alcohol
- Walk Dogs
- Play With Cats
- Declutter
- Eat breakfast
- Pack lunch
What to Track Monthly
- Habits
- Mood
- Gratitude
- Goals
- Progress
- Weight
- Measurements
- Exercise
- Medications
- Self-care
- Finances
- Bills
- Saving
- Home maintenance
- Home cleaning
- Car maintenance
- Period/menstrual
- Child height
- Child weight
- Assignments
- Journaling
- Prayers
- Hygiene
- Laundry
- Household tasks
- In bed by
- Wake up by
- Lessons
- Cook at home
- Sleep
- No alcohol
- Meditation
- Meal planning
- Mental Health Check
- Hobbies
- Learn Something New
- No Cigarettes
- Walk Dogs
- Play With Cats
- No Soda
- No Alcohol
- Declutter
- Eat breakfast
- Pack lunch
What to Track Yearly
- Home maintenance
- Home cleaning
- Car maintenance
- Finances
- Goals
- Self-care
- Progress
- Period/menstrual
- Child height
- Child weight
Special Event Tracking
- Pregnancy
- Diet
- Symptoms
- Race preparation
- One-time exam preparation
- Baby milestones
- Baby teeth
- Child height
- Child weight
Recommended Products
Now that you've learned more about habit tracking and gained some inspiration, what do you plan to track in your journal? How frequently are you planning to track these habits? Let us know or check out some of our bullet journal hack ideas (yes, we have hacks for trackers!)
