Looking to add positive habits to your daily routine and make meaningful changes in your life? You’re in the right place! Today, we’re sharing a list of 225 habits you can track, plus offering a free printable habit tracker to help you kickstart your journey.
WHY USE A HABIT TRACKER?
Tracking your habits offers powerful benefits that can keep you motivated, help you see your progress, and inspire you to build new routines.
BOOSTS MOTIVATION
Keeping a daily or weekly record of your habits can give you the motivation to stay on track. The “don’t break the chain” method popularized by Seinfeld is a great example of this—watching your progress build up day by day can drive you to keep going.
It also makes it easier to track tasks that you may not love but still need to do.
VISUALIZES YOUR JOURNEY
Tracking habits lets you see your growth over time, from where you started to where you are now. If you don’t hit 10,000 steps every day at first, that’s okay! Start with a goal that feels doable, like 6,000 steps, or aim to reach 10,000 steps just a few days a week. The focus is on consistency, not perfection.
HELPS YOU BUILD A ROUTINE
Filling in your habit tracker each day is a great way to establish a new routine. It serves as a daily reminder to stick with the habits you’re trying to adopt and gives you a visual cue to stay on track.
BREAKS DOWN BIG GOALS
Achieving big goals can feel daunting, but a habit tracker helps you break them down into manageable steps. By focusing on one habit at a time, you’re steadily moving toward your larger goal, one small action at a time.
225 HEALTHY HABITS TO TRACK
MENTAL HEALTH HABITS TO TRACK
- Practice positive affirmations
- Get fresh air outside
- Track your mood
- Spend time on a hobby
- Write in a gratitude journal
- Talk to a friend
- Release feelings – journaling or talking to someone
- Therapy
- CBT exercises from a book like Mind Over Mood
- Do something you love
- Practice self-care
- Practice saying no
- Get physical activity
- Have a shower
- Get dressed
- Eat healthy meals
- No social media days
- Self-Love journaling
- Listen to happy music
- Work on a personal goal
- Find ways to laugh – funny videos, stand-up comedy on Netflix, etc
- Follow a healthy morning or bedtime routine
- Give yourself downtime to rest and rejuvenate
- Practice mindfulness
- Be kind to yourself – focus on positive inner dialogue
PHYSICAL HEALTH HABITS
- Track your water intake
- Use a food journal
- Walk daily – set a step or time-based goal
- Meal prep
- Cooked at home
- Drink a glass of water first thing in the morning
- Stretch (morning or evening)
- Get 7-9 hours sleep
- Eat a healthy breakfast
- Take medication
- Take vitamins
- Exercised for at least 30 minutes
- Eat 5 servings of vegetables
- Eat 4 servings of fruit
- No alcohol
- Drink water and lemon first thing in the morning
- Have one fully plant-based meal a day
- No added sugar
- No caffeine
- Take the stairs, park further from your destination or get off the bus one stop early
- Walk your dog
- Go for a run
- Track symptoms – headaches, joint pain, etc
- Floss daily
- No sweets
- Bring lunch to work
- Lift weights
- Use sunscreen
SPIRITUAL GROWTH HABITS
- Yoga
- Meditation
- Daily prayer
- Write in a prayer journal
- Study religious texts
- Attend a religious service (church, temple, mosque, etc)
- Daily acts of kindness
- Be humble
- Serve and show your love to others
- Show your gratitude to others
- Look for the kindness in others
- Practice patience
- Share your faith
- Act with Filotimo – popular Greek word and way of living, hard to properly translate but loosely means…
WORK AND CAREER HABITS
- Wake up early – aim for 30 mins to 1 hour earlier than your normal time
- Get to work 10 minutes early
- Create a concrete agenda for every meeting you set
- Ask co-workers how they are – be friendly, have a chat
- Complete your most important task for the day first
- Add value to every meeting you attend – ask questions, share thoughts
- Network
- Set weekly, monthly goals and quarterly goals
- Create a daily to-do list (that you actually follow)
- Respond to emails in the same day
- Prep for 10 minutes before every meeting
- Clean your desk at the end of each day
- Take a course to strengthen skills – work on it throughout the week
- Get outside for a conference call – walk and talk
- Talk to your boss – share wins, ask questions, and get to know what they want from you
- Learn a new skill
- Ask for feedback
- Ask what skills you need for a promotion – then work towards this everyday
- Close down your work by 5 or 6 pm every night
- Dress for the job your want (not the one you have)
- Look for ways to help others
- Read an industry article every morning
- Meet your deadlines – always
- Coffee with coworker
- Decline meetings you don’t need to attend
- Social media posting
PRODUCTIVITY HABITS
- Use the Pomodoro technique
- Stop multitasking
- Plan your day the night before
- Take a 5-minute break every hour
- Batch task – do similar habits in the same work session, i.e. graphic design
- Don’t hit snooze in the morning
- Snooze your phone calls during work sessions
- Organize your tasks based on the Eisenhower Matrix – which helps you identify tasks to focus on first based on importance and urgency
- Add tasks to your calendar to block off the time – giving yourself permission to focus on that specific task
- Plan your week every Sunday or Monday morning (and follow that plan)
- Write your top 3 goals/tasks in your calendar or planner every day (this will help you focus on what matters most)
- Use an app like toggl to track your time on projects (especially if you have to track your hours for clients
- Use a distractions list – anytime something off topic pops into your mind throughout the day, simply add it to the list to deal with later
- Start the day with your hardest task first – known as ‘Eat The Frog’
HOUSEHOLD HABITS TO TRACK
- Sweep/vacuum the floor
- 10-minute tidy-up every night
- Made the bed
- Rinsed/cleaned the shower
- Followed chore schedule
- One load of laundry a day
- Unload dishwasher
- Tidy/clean fridge
- Clean toilet
- Clean sink
- Tidy daily clutter
- Water plants
- Make dinner
- Tackle in-coming paperwork every day (junk mail, bills)
- Declutter
- Regularly donate stuff you don’t need
- Fix one small thing every day/week, etc that’s been bothering you at home
- Gardening
- Walk the dog
FINANCIAL HABITS
- Track daily expenses
- Track income – If self-employed review every day or week
- Follow a daily/weekly budget
- Pay bills right away
- Research new ways to increase income
- Worked on side hustle
- No online spending
- Zero spend month (other than essentials – food, bills)
- Put money into savings
- Reduce the amount spent on home utilities (gas, water, hydro) – turn lights off, use appliances during off-peak, etc
- Learn something new every day based on your financial goals – read articles, listen to podcasts, etc
- Set up automatic money transfers to your savings account and check it weekly or monthly for encouragement
- Look for ways to save every day and track new ideas and hacks you’ve discovered
- Use cash for all purchases
- Make healthy budget meals (that doesn’t sacrifice flavour)
PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT HABITS
- Read everyday
- Learn from a podcast – The Diary of a CEO is my new favourite
- Follow a healthy morning routine
- Take a course
- Write one line a day every day
- Create a SMART goal and track your daily progress
- Volunteer
- Leave a space better than you found it – especially in public
- Say YES, especially if you’re in the habit of saying no – especially to things that can help you grow as a person
- Use ‘The 5 Second Rule’ from Mel Robbins – count back from 5-4-3-2-1 and then take action (great for you procrastinators out there)
- Completed or worked towards something from bucket list
- Listen to a podcast
- Learn from a TED Talk
SELF-CARE HABITS TO TRACK
- Quality alone time
- Practice positive self-talk
- Go on a date with yourself
- Write down one thing a day you love about yourself
- Unplug from technology every night 1 hour earlier – then fill your time with something else you’ve been wanting to do
- Practice deep breathing
- Create a ‘feel better’ list and use is daily (when needed)
- Do something that physically feels good – hot bath, using essential oils, getting a massage, etc
- Ask for a hug
- Spend time in nature
- Do something creative
- Stay true to your personal boundaries
- Wash face and moisturize nightly
CREATIVE HABITS TO TRACK
- Brainstorm creative ideas every day
- Write for 30 minutes a day
- Spend time learning about artists, writers
- Work from a different location every day – new locales spark creativity and new ideas
- Read poetry
- Write poetry
- Try new creative outlets – like social media – try Youtube, love sketching – try watercolor
- Creative reflection and journaling
- Network with other creatives
- Allocate time to regular daydreaming (doing nothing and seeing where your mind travels)
- Use an adult coloring book
- Work on a puzzle
- Take a meaningful photo every day
- Learn a creative skill like brush lettering
- Make a new recipe – aim for something new a few times a week
- Work on a craft
SOCIAL / RELATIONSHIP HABITS TO TRACK
- Call your mom/dad/sister/brother
- Say I love you to your partner
- Kiss your spouse
- Family dinners
- Date night
- Be a good listener
- Do something kind for someone
- Don’t use your phone when talking to someone
- Stay in contact with people that matter to you
- Sex with your partner – especially great if you’re trying to conceive
- Stop texting and start calling people
- Have a weekly girl’s brunch or night out
- Talk to someone you don’t know
- Don’t complain
- Look for things you have in common with someone – especially if you don’t get along
- Reply to text messages
- Send a handwritten letter (or postcard) to a friend or family member
BAD HABITS TO QUIT
- Reduce screentime to less than 1 hour
- Getting takeout
- Eating fried food
- Smoking
- Drinking
- Mindless eating / binge-eating
- Buying coffee out
- Biting nails
- Drinking soda
- Mindlessly scrolling
- Being late
- Negative self-talk
- Using screens before bed
- Staying up too late
- Skipping meals
- Procrastination
- Buying things you don’t need – overspending
- Too much social media
- Being rude/angry to the people you love
- Leaving things to the last minute
- Dwelling on the negative
- No phone at the dinner table
- Any other negative habit you have – focus on ending it and keep track of that!
- Interrupting people
- Gossiping
DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE PRINTABLE HABIT TRACKER TO GET STARTED
Once you download the free habit tracker, you can start by choosing one or a few of these habit ideas to focus on. Before long, you’ll be on your way to building better habits across different areas of your life. This daily habit tracker provides space to monitor your weekly habits, and soon enough, your new routines will become second nature.
TIPS FOR USING A HABIT TRACKER
Set the Right Goal with the SMART Method: Make sure your goal aligns with what you truly want to achieve. If you’re not invested in it, your habit tracker will end up with more empty spaces than you’d like.
Be Honest: Tracking your habits only works if you’re truthful with yourself. Remember, this tracker is for you and no one else.
Have Fun & Get Creative: Use colorful pens, markers, or try different habit trackers to keep things exciting and engaging.
If You Miss a Day, Don’t Worry: Missing a day is no big deal! Just pick up where you left off the next day.
Don’t Track Habits You Already Do: For example, there’s no need to track brushing your teeth (unless you’re teaching this habit to a child). Focus on habits you’re actively working on.
Try Habit Stacking: Add a new habit onto an existing one. For instance, if you already drink a cup of coffee every morning, try using that time to meditate for 5 minutes.
Start Small: Begin with simple habits and build from there. Once you’re comfortable with your routine, you can tackle more complex habits.
Create Time for Reflection: Take a moment to reflect on what you accomplished. What would you change for the following week or month based on what you’ve learned?
Be Kind to Yourself: Habit trackers aren’t about measuring your worth. If you don’t hit all your goals, avoid negative self-talk. Instead, look at what worked, what didn’t, and apply those insights to improve in the future.
HOW MANY HABITS SHOULD YOU TRACK?
I believe it’s not about the quantity of habits, but rather selecting the right ones to track.
Personally, I recommend keeping it to a manageable number—ideally no more than 5 at a time. Tracking too many can become overwhelming and may make it harder to stick to any new habits. But ultimately, you know yourself best, so choose what works for you.
If you’re just starting out with habit tracking, I suggest beginning with one important habit you’d like to introduce into your routine.
CONCLUSION
Incorporating positive habits into your daily routine is a powerful tool for personal growth and development. By tracking your progress and celebrating your achievements, you can build momentum and create lasting change. With the 225 habit ideas and free printable habit tracker provided, you have the resources to embark on a journey of self-improvement. Remember, small steps lead to big results. Start today and unlock your full potential.
