Habit Tracking 101

There are three different ways to track your habits: spreadsheets, apps, and good old pen and paper. I will shed light on each method separately and highlight the pros and cons. I personally use a combination of spreadsheets and apps.

Before we get to the different methods, let’s have a look at the commonalities of each method. Habit Tracking—just like habits—must be fast, simple, and consistent. If your Tracking method does not feature these characteristics, it will not work in the long run.

Before I successfully implemented my HabitSystem, I tried an approach that did not meet the above requirements. I used a spreadsheet, but it was cumbersome—not simple and fast.

Let me say it again once more: the Simplicity of your system is important—believe me. Especially when you start, you must keep Entropy and Resistance in mind. If you make things too complicated and not easy and simple to do, the level of Resistance will go up and Entropy will show its ugly face.

The more complex your system, the harder it will be to stick to it. Sure, over time your habits can become more sophisticated—that is, your skills will be better. However, the very low bar for daily completion (the Completion Threshold) and the Simplicity of the Tracking are both permanent elements. Even when you reach higher levels of habit mastery, there will be days when you truly appreciate that your system is simple and easy. Remember: even a behemoth of a tree requires stable roots, just like your HabitSystem, no matter how mature, requires Action and Simplicity.

Three Different Tools for Habit Tracking

Spreadsheets

If you want to have a lot of control over how you implement your Tracking System, spreadsheets are the right choice. There are three main alternatives: Microsoft Excel, Apple Numbers, and Google Docs. Each has advantages and disadvantages which I will sum up here. If spreadsheets are not your tool of choice, you can just skip this chapter and move on to the next. I would assume that only a small fraction of people—mainly those with technical backgrounds—are going to use the spreadsheet method. I happen to be one of these people.

Spreadsheets give you the highest level of control and customization over how exactly you track your habits. You can create a design that works perfectly for you. The risk here, however, lies in over-engineering your spreadsheet. That is, it may become too complex. This is very dangerous because when the Tracking is too complex, you stop doing it—which means ending your habits overall.

It is of the utmost importance that you start with a very simple approach. Tracking has to be very easy and straightforward. If that is not the case, the approach is a bad one. It’s as simple as that.

Before we get to the details of each specific software option, I will show you what a simple system looks like and how you can set up your Tracking.

You set up a table. In the column headers, you write your habits. Each row represents a day. When you achieve your habit on a day, you put a “1” (one) in the cell. If you fail, you put in a “0” (zero). If you skip, you can put in a “–” (dash). The next step is to use conditional formatting to color successful cells green, the skipped ones yellow, and the failed ones red. That’s all.

Over time, you can implement features such as Tracking the length of streaks, your percentage of success, and stuff like that.

Apple Numbers

If you want your table to look good, and you happen to own an Apple device, Numbers is your choice. It is quite easy to create a nice-looking table, and a pleasing interface is an aspect you should not underestimate. You’ll enjoy entering your habit successes in a table that is visually appealing. I personally use Numbers because tables look very sleek. As Numbers is available on iPhones and iPads, as well as online, you can track your habits from everywhere.

Microsoft Excel

Excel tables often look less graphically pleasing to the eye compared to Numbers’ tables. However, I consider Excel the better tool for analysis. As a part of your Habit Journey, you can implement Pivot tables and charts to analyze patterns. Some of these things are not possible with Numbers.

Google Docs

Google Docs is a free tool and can be accessed with every web browser. It also features conditional formatting. It is closer to Excel than it is to Numbers, but features less analysis options than Excel does.

Apps

There is a plethora of apps, and I am unable to test all of them. Most share a simple set of functionalities and the majority are perfectly compatible to the HabitSystem. My personal favorites are Momentum and Today, both iPhone exclusive. There are also many similar apps on Android but I have not had an opportunity to use them. A friend of mine uses an app called Loop Habit, and it may be a good starting point.

Momentum

Momentum is my Habit Tracking tool of choice on the iPhone. It offers a very minimalistic user interface and allows for fast Tracking. There is also a Mac app and an Apple Watch app available. It is perfectly compatible with the HabitSystem as you can succeed, skip, and fail habits.

Some notable features of Momentum are different color scheme options, the ability to define on which days the habit is active (this allows you to make a habit for weekdays only), and custom notifications to remind you of your habits.

I like Momentum because it is very simple and not clumsy. The free version lets you track up to three habits. If you want to track more than that, you have to buy it at a price point of around five dollars.

People often say that five dollars (or Euros in my case) is too expensive. I can only laugh at this. If an app helps you implement lifetime habits successfully, five dollars is an incredibly cheap bargain (I am not affiliated with the creators of Momentum).

Today

Today is a rather new app that features a very stylish and sleek interface. It also features very nice reporting options. Every habit is represented by a nice big picture which can be selected from your own photos or from some pre-installed images.

Like in Momentum, you can select the number of days you want to do your habit. However, skipping is not possible.

One of the biggest features of Today are badges. For instance, if you complete a one-week streak, a popup notifies you and presents you with a nicely-designed badge. I imagine that this “reward” helps beginners to stay on track.

Pen & Paper

If you want to have a lot of control over how you implement your Tracking System, pen and paper is the perfect choice. It might not give you the same analytics and styling options as a spreadsheet, but it does provide you with many options, such as using a calendar, a journal, a binder, or whatever works for you.

What About Rewards?

Especially in the beginning, it can be of great help to use a reward system to better implement habits. I have read about rewards quite often but I have never personally used them to help me implement habits. Consequently, it is difficult for me to appropriately judge the benefits and pitfalls of using rewards. I have not experienced the effect of rewards firsthand, so I cannot comment on the effects rewards have on your progress. However, judging from the fact that I have implemented a sustainable HabitSystem without rewards, I may assume that rewards are not a fundamental requirement to successful habit implementation. Yet, most other books on habits stress the importance of cues and rewards. I personally do not think this conceptualization is very important. I feel this way because the HabitSystem uses a very different approach than other systems and may thus work well without rewards.

With all that said as some kind of disclaimer, let’s examine the idea of rewards in more detail, since they may signify an important tool for your HabitSystem.

Rewards, in my understanding, are little things that can be used to incentivize the implementation of new habits. For example, you can reward yourself with a new book, a movie, or a nice dinner once you have reached a pre-defined milestone, say your first two-week consecutive streak. Or, a bigger reward when you are one year into your HabitSystem. So far, this sounds good. However, rewards have a problem: they are extrinsic which means the motivation to do the habit is caused externally. Intrinsic motivation is not caused by external rewards but rather by an internal desire.

Simply put: if your desire for the habit is intrinsic, you do not need an extrinsic reward. And if you claim you need a reward to keep you motivated, you may not want the habit bad enough. The habit itself should be reward enough to keep you going.

If it is too hard to maintain daily habit completion, you have either set the bar too high or you are not really committed. You will fail in both cases, and I would propose that a reward is not going to change much about it.

I am not completely against rewards but I think one should consider the ramification of rewards. Simply saying, Once I have a two-week streak, I will reward myself with X, is a bit too easy.

Another problem is the fact that people often do not stick to the requirements for the reward. They might say, Ok, I may not have completed a two-week streak, but I will reward myself with X anyway.

Use rewards with caution and at your own peril. Personally, I prefer the idea of streaks and chains because they can also keep you motivated. Let’s explore these concepts in more detail.

Streaks and Chains

One of the crucial concepts when it comes to habits are the concepts of streaks and chains. I have introduced them briefly when talking about the importance of Tracking. In essence, they provide a different and possibly empowering and motivating perspective on habits.

A streak or a chain—we refer to these terms interchangeably—refers to a string of consecutive days on which you have completed a habit successfully. When you read every day for a week, you have a streak of seven days in the habit of “reading.” This sounds very simple and straightforward, but has some interesting implications.

For one, when your chain grows larger and larger, you will be much less likely to suddenly stop your habit. After all, you do not want to lose your chain. Especially when you hit the first 100-day streak; you will be much more likely to continue with your habit daily.

This concept is largely due to the compounding effects of Action and Daily Repetition. As your growth continues, it gets larger and you’ll find it easier to recognize each success. This idea is similarly seen in the lush, green growth of the oak tree’s crown. The fullness is made up of so many small branches that don’t seem substantial on their own. But when they accumulate over time and the branches and leaves continue to build off the older parts, the whole of the crown becomes, over time, fuller and more abundant.

There are two requirements that need to be fulfilled to make use of this beneficial factor. First, you have to keep track of your streak. Second, you need to get to that 100-day streak.

The first requirement can easily be fulfilled by using an app to track your habits. Both Momentum and Today count your streaks, and Momentum also displays your streaks quite nicely. Today, on the other hand, gives you rewards for different streak lengths.

If you use a spreadsheet, implement a formula to track your streak (which is a bit harder than it may seem at first glance).

If you track your habits with pen and paper, you can simply count the days and write down the length of your streak every day. This action will enforce and deepen your conceptual understanding of Daily Repetition—because when you miss a day, you start again at zero.

The second requirement is a bit harder to fulfill. The first 100 days are the most crucial ones. After that, it mostly goes downhill (in a positive sense). There is no bulletproof concept that will guide you through the first 100 days.

To be honest with you, it took me a few tries to reach a 100-day streak. At the beginning of my Habit Journey, the thing that was lacking the most was consistency. We will talk about this important aspect later on.

At this point, all I can say is that you have to build up your streak. The good thing is this: inevitably, there will be a point of no return. Once reached, you will almost automatically do your habits daily. It will still require you to work, especially when it comes to Growth Habits. After all, reading, writing, or whatever your habit may be, is an active endeavor. However, you will not have to fight as hard against Entropy and the body’s natural Resistance. You will be a lot stronger.

You will know when you reach the point of no return. At this point, you will simply power through and do your habits—no matter what. They will be a super important part of your day-to-day life—too important to miss out on.

The Need for Tracking

Once something becomes a habit, we would assume that we can stop actively Tracking it. This is not the case!

Most books about habits claim that it takes x amount of days for something to become a habit. Most of the time, x will equal 21.

From my experience, this is bullshit. Habits are not sustainably implemented after 21 days. In fact, it takes a lot longer. Sure, when you do something daily for a couple of weeks, it will be more likely to become a routine. But to really stick sustainably to a habit, a lot of time and repetition is required. If it only took 21 consecutive days to form a habit, there would be many more people with impressive physiques and a proper diet. Reality shows that this is not the case.

As I said before, the Habit Journey is a process that never ends. When you get complacent, Entropy soon finds you and takes back what it desires.

The only lesson we can take from this is the following:

Always track your habits. Tracking in the HabitSystem is simple and takes only a few minutes—or less. Always track your habits.