Tracking habits is a staple of bullet journaling. Bullet journaling has become a big thing in the journaling community over the past few years. It is a relatively new hobby (Ryder Carroll first shared his Bullet Journal Method back in 2013), but it has quickly grown in popularity. A big part of that is its current focus on self-improvement. Bullet journaling is great for tracking and changing your habits! To work on your self-improvement, you need to figure out which habits to track.
With the new year rolling around, it’s time to consider which habits you want to stop and which you want to improve. When a new year starts, we all start to think about our resolutions. But resolutions are hard to accomplish! If you start by improving little habits, you can easily accomplish your goals without losing your motivation. Here are a few habits to track in the new year for self-improvement:
Water Intake
The most important habit that I track in my bullet journal is water intake. I don’t know what I would do without it!
It was hard to drink the right amount of water a few years ago. I would have about 2-3 cups a day. Yet, everyone knows that eight cups of water are recommended. It made me tired and unmotivated. By tracking my water intake, I became more aware of my habit.
If you want more energy and to feel better in the new year, you should definitely consider tracking how much water you drink a day. It’ll be a great chance for you to improve your health this year!
Steps/Distance
We have all been stuck at home for the past two years and our health has taken a hit. We haven’t been as active as we should be. The new year is time for you to start exercising more. But not everyone wants to buy gym equipment or spend money on a gym membership. The best way to solve this problem is to start walking/running!
Walking/running is free! You can do it anywhere.
You might not want to get out of the house, but we all need sunlight. A short walk/run every day is a great way to improve your health as well as increase your time outside.
Gratitude
The past year has been tough. It changed our outlook on life. It’s hard not to be pessimistic after enduring the craziness that has been this pandemic, but there are ways to fix your perception of life.
By coming up with something you are grateful for every day, you can start to see life as worth more than you previously thought. Even when you are going through so many terrible things and life seems dreary, there is always something to be grateful for.
Tracking your gratitude is a great way to get out of your funk!
Less Social Media
Being stuck at home leads to one thing: spending hours on your phone. As much as we want to do other things, we all get sucked into our devices. However, social media is both a blessing and a curse. It keeps us connected to our family members and friends, but it can also be a blackhole of self-esteem and time.
You might find that limiting your social media is good for you. There are settings on your mobile devices (Apple, not sure about the others) to limit your use of an app after a set amount of time.
Even if you give yourself a little bit of time away from your social media accounts, it is worth a try!
Reading
To go with your time away from social media, you’ll need a new hobby. Reading is exactly what you need!
We lose connection with our old hobbies when our schedules change. It can be hard to get back to that without putting in the extra effort.
By tracking your reading habits, you can enjoy a new (or old) hobby while also learning. Reading is a great hobby for improving your mental capacities and your knowledge, which makes it a great habit to track!
Less Sweets
I know the pandemic has changed a lot for a lot of people, but for me, I’ve noticed that the amount of sweets I’ve been eating has increased… a lot.
Because I was stuck at home for the longest time, I was eating whatever I had in the house (sweets included). Now, it’s hard to stop!
When you track your sweets intake, you become aware of just how much you eat. It can be eye-opening! Once you become aware, it is much easier to change your eating habits.
I don’t think a sweet every now and then is a bad thing, but once it becomes excessive, it might be time for a change. The new year is the perfect time to start changing!
Self-Care
The perfect resolution for the new year is to invest in more self-care! After the long year we’ve had, you’ll definitely want to work more on your own care. Stress in large quantities isn’t good for you, which is why you need to work on improving your stress levels.
Self-care is great for limiting stress! You could try taking baths, breathing exercises, reflection exercises, and more. Whatever makes you feel better about yourself and your stress levels is a good start.
Self-care is one of those great habits to track for the new year!
Interacting with Friends and Family
Isolation is a hard thing to deal with! And it’s been the main issue in plenty of people’s lives these past few years. Interactions with other people are a necessity in our lives. Even introverts need friends and family members to support them. Interacting with friends and family is important for everyone!
To track your interactions with others, you can count calling, texting, playing games, hanging out, or anything like that. It doesn’t have to be anything extensive. As long as you still have some human contact with others, it will be worth it!
Interacting with others is definitely one of those great habits to track in the new year! I’m sure your family and friends will appreciate your effort!
Saving Money
This year has been a money spending year. With all the new hype about ordering things online, I got a little swept up. I am sure a lot of you also got carried away. Now that Christmas is over (and a lot of my money along with it), it’s time to start saving again.
The new year is the perfect time to start saving money again. You probably got a lot of the stuff you wanted (both as gifts or as a purchase after Christmas), so you don’t have to spend as much money now.
By tracking your money, you can avoid spending money unnecessarily. Money isn’t the most important thing in the world, but it does help to have some for a rainy day.
Positive Talk
Positive talk has a lot to do with your mental perceptions of life. If you talk negatively, you are more likely to see things negatively. When you change your speech patterns, you can also change your outlook on life (similar to gratitudes).
Sometimes all you need to have a more positive view of life is to change a small habit.
By tracking your positive talk, you are encouraging yourself to both talk more positively and to live a more positive life. You might also become aware of how much your own attitude affects your mood.
You’d be surprised how changing one little thing can impact you!
Cooking Your Own Meals
Eating out or getting take-out is so tempting. There are so many options! Yet the best part about eating out is simply not having to cook. Cooking makes a mess that you have to clean up after all the effort you already put into making the food. Sometimes it just doesn’t seem worthwhile.
However, eating out can be unhealthy and create a habit of relying on others to take care of you. Essentially, it can be harmful to your well-being in the long run.
That’s why you should start making your own meals every once in a while. It doesn’t have to be super fancy, but it can feel great to take responsibility for yourself. You might find that you actually like cooking too!
Random Act of Kindness
A random act of kindness is such a great feeling, whether you are receiving or giving the gesture. That’s why 2022 should be your year for giving! Random acts of kindness are not meant to be super complicated. You could hold the door open for someone, pay for someone’s coffee, or just smile at someone.
It doesn’t take much to make someone else’s day better. The act of kindness benefits the other person, but it can also have a positive impact on you. It feels good to help others.
Try randomly helping others throughout your day! It is one of the best habits to track in the new year!
There are so many habits to track in the new year to have the best year possible! You could try tracking your water intake, reading more, or cooking your own meals. It doesn’t matter what you choose. The most important part about choosing your habits is to set intentions to improve. When it comes to habits to track, you simply need to know your goals for the year. You can split them into smaller habits to make achieving your goals so much easier. Let me know what your goals are for 2022!
14 Responses
I am working on the drinking water part. So far so good. Great suggestions.
Staying hydrated is something a lot of people struggle with. Keeping track of water intake can make a big difference! Keep it up!
I am absolutely horrible at drinking water! Thank you for reminding me I need to do better! Maybe one of those fancy water bottles would motivate me to keep track of it.
That’s a great idea! Sometimes all we need is something to remind us to drink water.
Love all the ideas! Water intake is one I am working on big time! Sounds like many people are in the same boat!
Lots of people probably need to drink more water. I’m happy to hear that so many people want to work on it!
Oh my! I need to save this post, bookmark it or something! Wonderful nuggets here that I can definitely apply. I need to drink more water! A whole lot more water!
I’m happy you hear you like it! Check out my article about water trackers to learn how you can improve your water intake!
I love this! I definitely need to track my water intake and maybe books. I really want to start reading more this year. I also never thought to track self care, but I guess if you dont plan it, it might not ever happen. Awareness is super important!
Awareness is key! You’ll never know you need something if you don’t pay attention to it. 🙂
Thank you for these amazing ideas to track during 2022. We are working on eating healthier and tracking our water intake.
Those are some great goals! Keep it up!
My daughter and I have started bullet journals since the new year. Her staples are Affirmations and Gratitude. Mine are Gratitude, Affirmations, Exercise, and Daily Goals. I think I will now add water!!!! I’m too quick to grab a cup of coffee!
That’s great!! Those are some great goals to strive toward!