Finally cracked my habit tracker after 3 months of trying

I kept trying to track water intake with a simple dot grid, but I always forgot by lunchtime. Turns out I needed a separate mini tracker on my weekly spread instead of the monthly one. It took me about 3 months and 4 different layouts to figure that out. Now I fill in the little cups every time I refill my 24 oz bottle at my desk. Has anyone else had a simple habit that took way too many redesigns to actually stick?

2 comments

2 Comments

karen27518d ago

Oh man, water intake was my white whale for way too long. I had to stop trying to make it perfect and just tape a little paper strip to the side of my bottle with boxes I tick off with a pen. Putting it on the actual bottle instead of my planner was the only thing that finally worked for me. The key was making it impossible to ignore because it's literally attached to the thing I'm trying to track. For you, maybe slap a sticky note right on your desk where your bottle sits and draw those cups on it in permanent marker. Sometimes you gotta meet the habit where it lives instead of forcing it into your system.

nora_wells5818d ago

Actually I'm gonna push back a little here, @karen275 - keeping the tracker attached to the bottle sounds like a recipe for losing the whole setup when you wash it or toss the bottle in a bag. Maybe the reason it took 3 months is because your brain needed that monthly view to see the big picture instead of just daily cups at your desk.