The hardest part of a habit tracker is often the first question: what should I track? Here are 60 ideas, grouped by what you want more of. Don't pick 60. Pick one to three, and add more once they stick.
Health
- Drink 8 glasses of water
- Walk 8,000 steps
- Stretch for 5 minutes
- Eat a portion of vegetables with lunch
- No snacks after 9pm
- Take your vitamins
- Floss
- Go to bed by 11pm
- No caffeine after 2pm
- Do 10 push-ups
Fitness
- Work out for 30 minutes
- Run 3 times a week
- Yoga in the morning
- Take the stairs
- A 10-minute walk after lunch
- Plank for one minute
- Cycle to work
- Mobility routine
- Stand up every hour
- Sports practice
Mind and calm
- Meditate for 10 minutes
- Journal three lines
- Write down one good thing
- No phone for the first hour
- Breathing exercise
- Spend time outside
- Screen-free evening
- Read for pleasure
- Digital sunset at 10pm
- Call a friend or family member
Learning
- Read 20 pages
- Practise a language for 15 minutes
- Review flashcards
- Practise an instrument
- Watch one lecture
- Write 300 words
- Learn one new word
- Do a coding exercise
- Listen to a podcast episode
- Summarise what you learned today
Focus and work
- Plan tomorrow tonight
- One deep-work block
- Inbox to zero
- Tidy your desk
- Write your top three tasks
- No social media before noon
- Weekly review on Sunday
- Single-task for an hour
- Update your budget
- Clear one small annoying task
Home and life
- Make your bed
- Ten-minute tidy
- Water the plants
- Cook at home
- Do the dishes before bed
- Laundry on Sundays
- Pack your bag the night before
- Walk the dog
- Spend no money today
- Put your phone away at dinner
How to choose
- Pick a keystone. Some habits make others easier: sleep, exercise and planning tomorrow tend to help everything else.
- Make it specific and checkable. "Read 20 pages" can be ticked. "Read more" can't.
- Give it a cue. Decide when it happens. Habit stacking is the easiest way.
- Start with fewer than you want. Three habits done every day beat ten done some days. Here's how many habits to track at once.