Key takeaways
- Track one simple action tied to a cue you meet every day, such as 'after I brush my teeth, I drink a glass of water'.
- In the research Gardner, Lally and Wardle summarise, automaticity plateaued after an average of 66 days, with wide variation; Wikipedia gives a range of 18 to 254.
- Their article traces the popular '21 days' figure to anecdotes about plastic surgery patients adjusting to their new appearance.
- Missing one day did not seriously set habit formation back, so carry on rather than restart.
- Their sample tick-sheet runs for 10 weeks, with a weekly check of whether the habit was done on more than 5 days and how automatic it feels.
A habit tracker is a grid of boxes you tick each day you do something. It is simple to make and easy to abandon, and two avoidable ways to sink one are tracking too much and tracking something that has no clear moment in the day. This guide builds a tracker around what research says about how habits actually form, so the boxes help the habit along rather than just recording it.
What a habit is
Wikipedia defines a habit as a routine of behaviour that is repeated regularly and tends to occur subconsciously, and cites a 2002 study by Wendy Wood and colleagues finding that about 43% of daily behaviours are performed out of habit. The key mechanism, it notes, is context: when a behaviour is repeated in a consistent context, the link between the context and the action strengthens, and the behaviour becomes more automatic in that context. A good tracker is built around that context.
How long it takes
The popular figure is 21 days. A 2012 article in the British Journal of General Practice by Benjamin Gardner, Phillippa Lally and Jane Wardle traces that myth to anecdotes about plastic surgery patients, who typically adjusted to their new appearance within 21 days. In the habit-formation study they cite, automaticity rose quickly at first and then levelled off after an average of 66 days, with considerable variation; Wikipedia gives the range as 18 to 254 days. The authors suggest expecting around 10 weeks of daily repetition. They also note that simple actions, such as drinking water, became automatic faster than elaborate routines, such as doing 50 sit-ups.
Step 1: choose one simple action and a cue
The authors' advice for patients is plain: choose a simple action you can do daily, and plan when and where you will do it, using a time and place you encounter every day. Their example plan reads: "after I have lunch at home I will have a piece of fruit".
Write yours the same way: after [cue], I will [action].
- After I brush my teeth in the morning, I will drink a glass of water.
- After I sit down on the train, I will read one page.
- After I close my laptop for the day, I will write one line in my journal.
Step 2: draw the tracker
Their sample tick-sheet has ten columns, one per week, and seven rows, one per day: 70 boxes in all. Under each week it asks two questions:
- Done on more than 5 days? Yes or no.
- How automatic does it feel? A rating from 1 (not at all) to 10 (completely).
The weekly rating is the clever part. A box records that you did something; the rating shows whether it is getting easier, which is the whole point of a habit.
A worked example: the first four weeks
The habit: a glass of water after brushing teeth each morning.
| Week | Days done | More than 5? | How automatic (1–10) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | No | 2 |
| 2 | 6 | Yes | 3 |
| 3 | 7 | Yes | 5 |
| 4 | 6 | Yes | 6 |
That is 24 of 28 days, about 86%, with the rating rising from 2 to 6. Week 1 missed the target, and it did not matter: the trend is what counts. Six more weeks will show whether the rating levels off near the top.
Step 3: handle missed days
Expect to miss some days. Gardner and colleagues report that missing the occasional opportunity did not seriously impair habit formation: gains resumed soon after one missed performance. So leave the box empty and do the habit at the next cue. Starting over after a miss throws away the progress you have already made.
Four ways a tracker stops helping
- Too many habits. Each needs its own cue and repetition. Start with one.
- No cue. "Exercise more" has no moment attached; "after work, I will walk round the block" does.
- Streaks as the goal. Wikipedia notes that a review of digital habit tools found most poorly designed with respect to theory, failing to support the development of automaticity. Ticking boxes is not the habit; repetition at the cue is.
- Tracking forever. The tick-sheet is scaffolding. When the weekly rating stays high, you can stop.
When to stop tracking
The authors describe a final stability phase, in which the habit has formed and persists with minimal effort or deliberation. Their tick-sheet is meant to be used until the habit becomes automatic. When the rating has stayed near the top for a few weeks, retire the tracker and start a new one for the next habit.
Keeping a habit tracker on your phone
Kawaii Cute Notes Journal Plan does not need a special template for this. A recurring task in its planner can stand for the daily tick, a reminder can fire at your cue time, and any note can become a checklist. Its journal adds streaks and goals, and a home screen widget can show a journal streak. The app guide covers each feature; it sits among our video and utility apps. Trackers sit naturally inside a bullet journal, and if you want to see how a habit affects how you feel, pair it with a mood tracker.
Good to know
Frequently asked questions
Does it take 21 days to form a habit?
Does missing a day ruin a habit?
How many habits should I track at once?
When can I stop tracking a habit?
Sources
About the author
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