Habit tracker ideas: 60 things worth tracking

The best habit tracker ideas are small, specific actions you can tick off without thinking twice: read ten pages, drink a glass of water after waking, walk for ten minutes after lunch. Below are 60 ideas across six areas of life. But start by tracking just one to three, and add more once those feel easy.

A list of 60 is a menu, not a to-do list. Skim it, notice the two or three that make you think “yes, I’d actually like that”, and leave the rest for later.

Yes/no, count or timer: which kind is your habit?

Before the list, one small idea that makes any tracker work better. Habits come in three shapes:

• Yes/no: done or not done. Make the bed, floss, message a friend.
• Count: a number you reach during the day. 8 glasses of water, 10 pages, 20 push-ups.
• Timer: a length of time. 10 minutes of stretching, a 25-minute focus block.

On paper, a count is a row of small boxes and a timer is a box you tick when the minutes are done. In an app you can log the amount directly. Each idea below is marked (count) or (timer) when that fits best; the rest are yes/no.

Health and body

1. Drink a glass of water when you wake up, then 8 over the day (count)
2. Walk for 10 minutes after lunch (timer)
3. Stretch for 5 minutes after getting up (timer)
4. Eat one portion of vegetables with dinner
5. Take the stairs instead of the lift
6. Lights out by 11 pm
7. Floss after brushing your teeth at night
8. Do 10 push-ups or squats (count)
9. Pack tomorrow’s lunch after dinner
10. Step outside for 5 minutes in the morning (timer)

Mind and learning

11. Read 10 pages (count)
12. Practise a language for 10 minutes (timer)
13. Write three lines in a journal
14. Sit and breathe quietly for 5 minutes (timer)
15. Learn one new word and use it once
16. Practise an instrument for 15 minutes (timer)
17. Listen to one chapter of an audiobook on the way home
18. Write down one thing that went well today
19. Do one crossword or logic puzzle
20. Plan tomorrow in three lines before bed

Work and focus

21. Do one 25-minute focus block before lunch (timer) (try the focus timer)
22. Write the day’s one important task before opening email
23. Check email at set times only, twice a day (count)
24. Close the laptop by 6 pm
25. Stand up and move once an hour (count)
26. Review the week on Friday afternoon
27. Clear your desk before you leave
28. Practise a work skill for 20 minutes (timer)
29. Leave your phone in another room during the first focus block
30. Write 200 words (count)

Home and money

31. Make the bed
32. Wash up before going to bed
33. Do a 10-minute tidy after dinner (timer)
34. Write down what you spent today
35. Move a set amount into savings on payday
36. Have one no-spend day a week
37. Water the plants every three days
38. Put one load of laundry on
39. Cook dinner at home
40. Check the budget on Sunday evening

Relationships

41. Send a message to one friend
42. Call a family member once a week
43. Eat dinner with phones out of reach
44. Thank someone for something specific
45. Ask someone close about their day, and just listen
46. Play with your kids for 15 minutes, no screens (timer)
47. Send a card or a note once a week
48. Go for a walk with someone
49. Plan one thing with a friend each week
50. Reply to friends’ messages the same day

Habits to quit

Tracking what you want to do less works best as a count of days you stayed clear of it, rather than a list of failures. A slip is one day, not a verdict.

51. Smoking
52. Vaping
53. Drinking alcohol on weeknights
54. Scrolling your phone in bed
55. Hitting snooze
56. Sugary drinks
57. Biting your nails
58. Snacking after 9 pm
59. Impulse shopping online
60. Checking your phone in the first 30 minutes of the day

For smoking, vaping or alcohol, a tracker can sit alongside real support, not replace it. The NHS has free quit smoking support and alcohol advice, and your doctor or pharmacist can help you find what suits you. If you’re curious what staying clear adds up to, the quit habit savings calculator does the sums.

How many habits should you track at first?

One to three. It’s tempting to fill a whole page on day one, but a new habit needs repetition in the same situation to become automatic, and every extra habit competes for the same attention.

The research points the same way. In their guide for GPs, Gardner, Lally and Wardle (2012) advise aiming “for small and manageable behaviour changes, because failure can be discouraging”, and suggest that “a simple ticksheet for self-monitoring performance may help.” In the study behind that advice, Lally and colleagues (2010) found that the time for a daily behaviour to reach its peak automaticity ranged from 18 to 254 days, and that doing it more consistently went with a clearer habit curve. Fewer habits, done more consistently, is the better bet. There’s more on those timelines in how long it really takes to build a habit.

Does tracking itself help?

Yes, on average. A meta-analysis by Harkin and colleagues (2016) pooled 138 experiments with nearly 20,000 people and found that interventions that got people to monitor their progress more often helped them reach their goals. The effect was larger when progress was physically recorded, or reported to others. A tick in a box counts.

When to add the next one

Add a habit when the current ones feel like part of your day rather than a task you remember. There’s no fixed date. If a habit still needs a push after a few weeks, shrink it before you add another.

How to turn an idea into a habit you can track

A good tracker idea passes three tests.

It’s specific. “Exercise more” can’t be ticked. “Walk for 10 minutes after lunch” can. Name the action and the amount.

It’s small. Pick a size you could manage on a tired day. You can always do more; the tick counts either way. It also helps to decide a minimum version in advance, like one page instead of ten.

It’s tied to a cue. Attach the habit to something that already happens every day: after coffee, after brushing your teeth, when you sit down on the train. A cue beats a clock time for most habits, and there’s a whole post on how to pick a cue. The free habit plan builder walks you through all three in a minute.

Paper or app?

Both work, because the recording is what matters. Paper is visible and satisfying: print a sheet with the free printable habit tracker and keep it where the habit happens. An app is with you all day, handles counts and timers for you and keeps your history when a week goes wrong. You can try one without installing anything using the online habit tracker, which saves on your device.

The short version

• Start with one to three habits, not sixty.
• Phrase each idea as a small, specific action you could do on a tired day.
• Decide whether it’s yes/no, a count or a timer, and track it that way.
• Tie it to a cue that already happens every day.
• Recording progress helps, on paper or in an app.
• Add the next habit once the first ones feel easy.