Welcome to a new series I’d like to start called the ‘How-to’ series. Not the most out-there name (I know)!

But basically, I wanted to create guides on topics where I have experience and essentially provide a beginner’s guide with advice, know-how, and tips.

For the first-ever post in this series, I want to present a How-to guide on habit trackers! I became interested in habit trackers after seeing it many times on social media like TikTok and Instagram. I guess my algorithm knew that I was trying to become more organised. I also knew there were lots of things I was trying to adopt into my daily lifestyle and was struggling to include, and so that’s where habit trackers were introduced.

what are habit trackers?

I would describe habit trackers as simply a record log of the frequency in which you exhibit/perform the desired ‘habit’ or activity. For example, if you are trying to not use your phone for one hour before bedtime, you would log every time that you actually are successful in doing so in your habit tracker. It’s designed to make you accountable for actually doing these things and sort of ‘remind’ you to do something, until it becomes, shockingly(?), a habit!

making a habit tracker

Making a habit tracker is super easy.

1. Just write a list of things you want to make sure that you are doing frequently. I personally use things that I want to do daily. (Scroll to the end of this post to see some of my examples.)

2. Then, create a table- either digital or physical- which has the desired habits and dates on the axes.

3. Record the times you do the habit and attempt to complete a table until you feel as though it is embedded into your lifestyle. I think they say that it takes 66 days of doing something to form a habit, so maybe it’s a good start to aim for that!

tips and tricks for habit trackers

Creating the habit tracker is quite easy to do, but following through can be what’s hard. These are 5 tips and tricks that I’ve personally learnt and also followed from other people’s advice, which can be really helpful if you’re starting out.

start with 1 or 2 habits.

I think when first starting out, it’s really important to be realistic and unfortunately, doing lots of new things at once can make it feel overwhelming to keep doing.

Maybe try one or two things that you want to make into habits first, and then add along newer things. You’ll probably be more successful this way!

include easy habits.

The feeling of success is a huge motivator when trying to accomplish something. If you include easy tasks in your habit tracker, you are more likely to want to complete it because it’s so easy, and it can also motivate you to want to complete other ones because you can get a fully completed list.

Easy tasks can be things like taking supplements or making your bed.

divide it into times of the day.

Sectioning the tasks into times of the day (for example, morning, midday and evening), can be a good idea to organise your habits in the tracker. Not all of the tasks are likely to be done at the same time so by sectioning them, you can essentially check yourself throughout the day to make sure you are completing what needs to be done.

One thing could be to include drinking a glass of water first thing in the morning and then making sure to remove your makeup in the evening.

habit stack!

Habit stacking is a cool concept I learnt about when looking at habit trackers. It’s essentially adding on newer habits by joining them/incorporating them with existing habits and routines that you may have.

An example I tried was to gua-sha my face while cleansing it, and something I did to make it easier for myself was to actually move my gua-sha from my room to the bathroom. It’s kind of small, but also surprising how much more likely you are to do something when it is in the exact location that you will do it in, so definitely try it out!

use colours and stickers

This tip is objective because it depends on the type of person you are. For me, I love colours and making something visually pleasing so this would definitely be motivating.

Stickers are also a great idea if you make a physical habit tracker (which I would personally recommend!). I think there is something about physically adding a sticker onto a table after completing a task that is much more motivating than simply tapping on an online checklist. But of course, choose whatever you find more convenient!

examples to use on habit trackers

These are just some examples that you could use, inspired by my own. You could really use anything though- the world is your oyster!

• Apply cuticle oil.
• Make your bed.
• Gua-sha.
• Do 25 squats a day.
• Take your supplements.
• Drink water.
• Use a face mask.
• Take the bin out.

---

That was my first ever ‘How-to’ guide! How was it? I hope you enjoyed it.

Til next time.

☽ 𝕡 ♡