When I first started journalling, I struggled to keep up with my bullet journal habit tracker. I’m sure a lot of you have experienced something similar. I quickly realized that I had been going about habit tracking all wrong! After figuring out the right method, I’ve been able to complete three months worth of trackers. Here are the mistakes I made and my tips for successfully completing habit trackers in your bullet journal!
1. Don’t tie your self worth to your productivity.
Some of my first ever trackers were filled with 6 or more habits that I simply didn’t have time to finish. Since I spend the majority of my day at school and any chance I get working, I don’t have time to build a bunch of new habits or log them. I’m sure those of you in school or with busy jobs have felt the same way.
I began feeling like a failure when I’d come home from a long day and realize I didn’t finish the abundance of things I set out to do. As stupid as it sounds, my self worth was tied to the amount that I was able to get done in a day. My expectation for myself was too high and no person with my schedule could meet it. As a result, I stopped filling out my trackers.
To those of you struggling with this, it’s important to remember your value isn’t determined by your productivity. Lower your expectations for yourself, if the habits you’re building to better yourself are stressing you out then they are not worth it. A Bullet Journal is meant to aid in your productivity, not make it stressful.
2. Have clear and obtainable goals.
Before adding dozens of habits to your tracker, ask yourself, why are you doing this? Is it because your favorite productivity guru on Instagram is tracking these in her habit tracker? Or is it because you genuinely want to build these habits to benefit yourself or reach your longterm goals? Sit down with yourself and make a list of what you want to accomplish and what habits are going to get you there. If you realize that your extensive amount of habits don’t fit your schedule, don’t help your goals, or are stressing you out then stop forcing yourself to do them.
This tracker is a perfect example fo having clear obtainable goals and building habits that bring you closer to that goal.
3. Keep it minimal.
Now that you’ve analyzed what you want, analyze what you don’t want. Cut out what isn’t benefiting you. For me that was cutting out habits like going to bed at a certain time, yoga, drawing, etc. My knee-jerk response to cutting out habits was, These are ‘good’ habits, I can’t get rid of them! But you need to remember, we’re all human. Not every person can wake up at 6am, exercise for hours and run a business everyday. It’s okay to only do a little bit, or only do what benefits you. Relieve yourself of the burden of being perfect. Limiting the habits in your tracker is going to increase the likelihood that you complete it and relieve your stress.
Here’s a great example of a minimalist bullet journal habit tracker. The coffee theme is perfect for November too! Here are some other theme ideas for your November Bullet Journal.
4. Don’t let Habits Become a “Task”
When I cut out everything I didn’t need in my schedule, I began tracking a few small habits. But some days I would get home from school and have a lot of homework or chores to finish. I simply didn’t have the time to get my habits done or log whether or not I did them. Habit tracking became just another chore on my plate, and it stopped benefiting me.
There is a simple solution, don’t think of your habits as something you’re obligated to do. Think of your habit tracker as a record of what you chose to do throughout your month rather than a list of tasks to complete. Every day is different, some days you’ll miss a habit and thats okay.
This spread included a “day off” section. Not every day will be a day off, but using the tracker as a way to record habits, rather than feeling obligated to do them is the way to go. Which brings me to my next point:
5. Look at your habits with curiosity.
I’ve recently been trying to build a habit of meditating. To those of you who don’t know, when meditating you generally focus on your breath, clear the mind, and try to be in the present moment. Some days it’s easy to clear the mind, others it’s not. When your mind wanders, you look at it with curiosity rather than judgement, and gently bring it back to the breath. As Eve from Headspace describes it:
Be curious. Meditation is about noticing the mind as it is, rather than trying to make the mind as we would like it to be.
Radio Headspace “There is no right time.”
I started applying this idea to habit tracking. Rather than being judgmental with myself about not finishing some of my habits, I look at the process with curiosity. I notice my habits as they are rather than judging myself for what they should be. Instead of, I didn’t journal today, look how ugly that empty space in my tracker is, I should have done better, I think, How odd, I didn’t journal today, I’ll add that to my record. I’ve stopped feeling guilty about not completing tasks. This has turned habit tracking into a calming experience where I don’t feel like I’ve failed if I don’t get everything done.
This spread really makes the most out of the empty spaces in your tracker. Instead of feeling guilty for not completing a habit, make a constellation!
6. Make it fun
I learned this tip through my mood tracker. Every month I would make that classic color coordinated mood tracker. The first few weeks I would feel motivated and then slowly that motivation would die off. I realized that I was unable to see the general pattern of my mood throughout the month with the layout I was using. I came to the conclusion that for me, graphs are more fun and easier to read than colors. This is the layout I’ve been using for the past 3 months:
And this is my version:
With this spread I have successfully completed 3 months worth of mood trackers, stress free! Figure out what tracker spreads work for you and roll with them!
Habit Tracker Spread Ideas
Now that you know how to properly use a habit tracker in your bullet journal, here are some spread ideas to try!
Combining a habit tracker and mood tracker on one page is a great way to make your spread more fun to fill out and keep you motivated all month.
I love bulletwithe, she has such creative spread ideas. Time trackers are a great way to record habits rather than feeling obligated to do them.
Thank you for stopping by! If you’ve struggled with keeping up with your bullet journal habit tracker, I hope some of my tips helped you. Let me know some of your tips for finishing your habit trackers, I love hearing from you all. As always, happy journaling :).
1 Comment
Love that you said to look at your habits with curiosity. I will definitely work to do that!!!