Don’t Be Fooled, Habit Tracking
Habit Tracking Apps Don’t Work Anymore
Well, they do…
Habit tracking apps may not be magic, but their simplicity is what’s so liberating about them. At its most basic level, a habit tracker can be used for anything, from keeping track of how much soda you drink to how often you wash your hair. While these may not be life-changing habits to track and change, it’s easy to see how one could use the same method for more serious goals or targets.
How to track habits
I propose you make your own habit tracker by keeping a journal. I’m not talking about a planner that schedules out your daily agenda, or a diary where you write down your deepest fears and hopes; keep this separate from those.
What I want you to do is take some time each day to reflect on what you did over the last 24 hours. Set aside maybe 5–10 minutes for this. What did you work on? What was important? How did it go?
At the end of each day, write down what you focused on and what progress you made towards your goals. Think of it as a mini-review of your life: where have I been, and where am I going?
What we have learned
We get it. It’s hard to keep up with new habits — in fact, Harvard researchers say that 45% of our actions are habitual. And when we miss a day or two, we feel like failures because the apps and products haven’t done their job: they’re not helping us change our lives for good.
But why do we fail? What is it about trying to drink more water or meditate daily that seems so hard?
The answer is two-fold: 1) it takes time to integrate a new habit into your life, and 2) the products out there aren’t built for long-term change. They don’t understand the real reasons why you’re struggling — or how to help you break through them in a way that sticks.
Here are some of the biggest hurdles all habit-trackers face during their journey (and how best to overcome them).
These apps do what they are supposed to. Like most things that help us improve, they require a thoughtful approach.
If you’ve ever tried to create a new habit, you know how hard it is to keep yourself accountable. We’ve previously written about why the mind resists change, and how it’s difficult to overcome the impulses that are keeping us stuck in our old ways.
This is why habit tracking apps were so revolutionary when they first appeared in the App Store and Google Play. They created a simple way for us to track our progress and stay motivated by seeing our habits grow over time. As we focused on small improvements each day, we began noticing subtle changes in ourselves and our environment that helped keep us going towards better health, relationships with others or just more fulfilling workdays at work.”
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