So, You Track Your Habits… Why?

Okay, that is admittedly a blunt title, but it got your attention, right?

Welcome to another blog post! I should try these titles more often. Right, let’s get back to it.

If I’m being honest, I ask myself the same question. Think about it. I’m quite happy to write out 31 numbers give or take for six or so habits each month when I could just, you know, do the habits. 

So why? Why do we do this each month? Why do we give ourselves cramp in our hands? Well in this post, I’ll tell you why so let’s get to it!

Tracking boring habits can make things interesting

We all have those really boring habits that we track each month. For me, that’s drinking water. I know I drink water because otherwise I wouldn’t be typing this right now. The problem is I don’t drink it everyday. I would much rather gravitate towards tea, coffee, or matcha. 

And yet, including boring habits means that I’m focused on doing them. It feels like a win if every day is coloured in even though it’s something as mundane as drinking water. If it helps me, I’m going to do it.

Empty boxes does not mean that you’ve failed

Is it satisfying to see every day filled in to show you’ve done a habit? Of course it is. Please know though it doesn’t mean that you’ve failed. Empty boxes are just useful pieces of information at the end of the day.

There may be a specific reason why you didn’t complete a ring on your apple watch. Perhaps you just wanted to binge on tea and coffee all day instead of drinking water. Use the empty boxes to understand why they’re there and what you can do to improve your habits. 

But there is something satisfying about colouring in the habits

I’m sure there’s a scientific thing to this. It’s almost like dopamine every time you fill in a box or colour over a number to say you’ve completed a habit. Sometimes that can be the motivation you need to complete a habit. 

I won’t lie and say that it hasn’t helped me complete a bunch of habits because it has. I was a nightmare for not doing my morning and evening skincare routines. Tracking them continuously and colouring the numbers each day has incorporated them into fully fledged habits that I do every day. I don’t have to track them anymore because I do them. That seems like a win to me!

Sometimes I track things purely because I want to

I can’t lie, I went through a stage where I was curious about how much I actually did something and just wanted to track it. I used to track things like whether I wore makeup, whether I left the house if I wasn’t working etc. I don’t track things like that now but if I want to, I will!

I like seeing what I’m doing

One of the biggest reasons why I like to track my habits is I like to see what I’m doing, particularly as I can completely forget what it is I’ve done. For example, I might like to think that I have been reading a lot, but my habit tracker can soon give me a true picture. Sometimes it’s not pretty. At least I know though!

So yes, there are a few reasons why I track habits. It genuinely does help, it’s like a stamp in time of what I’ve been up to and sometimes I just want to track things!

Beth