A simple way to accomplish goals, track your progress, and adopt new habits is to use a daily habit tracker printable! Help yourself stay motivated by providing a visual of your daily progress and success.
Did you know that every calendar year on January 17th, it is officially “Ditch Your New Year’s Resolutions Day”?
I think I was ahead of that trend many years ago when I declared JANUARY 1st as my own personal Resolutions Ditch Day!
I quickly learned in my early 20’s that resolutions were only good for one thing…making me feel like a complete loser!
At the beginning of every year, I’d eagerly write down all sorts of pie-in-the-sky New Year’s Resolutions only to fall flat on about all of them by the second week of January…if I even made it that long!
Soon afterward I learned about the power of choosing ONE WORD for the new year, and it has made all the difference in helping me stay committed to creating and maintaining good habits throughout the year.
In case you are wondering how I choose my ONE WORD and want some cool free printables that will start your new year (or any time of the year for that matter!) in the right direction, here’s the One Word for the New Year blog post that explains all of the details!
Once I have chosen my word of the year, I write down some mini goals of daily habits I want to incorporate in my everyday life like exercising, staying hydrated, and healthy eating, and I also document larger intentions like trips I plan to take.
I print all of these things out on one page of paper and keep it on my desk as a constant reminder of my “big picture” focus for the year.
Beyond choosing my one word of intention for the year and having the big picture focus displayed, I really needed some practical ways to stay motivated and ultimately create better habits.
So I went to my favorite website that usually solves all my life problems…Pinterest
Having done some research, I found a few really cool free printable habit trackers like this great tracker from the Saturday Gift blog. I love how you can see your overall habit trends with it being a monthly habit tracker.
I also found a weekly habit tracker by Radical Strength that I thought might work to help me shed some of my old bad habits.
If you use a bullet journal, you might love these mini habit trackers by the Petite Planner to help you keep track of one habit at a time. I love how you can use a color code for tracking individual habits.
I’m wondering if having a specific water tracker will magically help me do a better job of staying hydrated!?! Wishful thinking?
But at the end of the day, I realized I really needed a habit tracker that works more like an old-school “chore chart” where you mark off your desired habit each day. #makeitagoldstarday
So I created a DAILY HABIT TRACKER that incorporated all the things that I liked best from the other habit trackers I had seen.
HOW DO YOU USE A HABIT TRACKER PRINTABLE?
1. Download
The first step in using your new habit tracker printable is to grab a free copy here! You will be sent a download link by email to the PDF files and you are off and running! (please remember this habit tracker template is for personal use only!)
I have made several versions for you so you have some choice in which style you like better!
You will have two font options:
A. Bold
B. Minimalist
You will also have two color options:
A. Pastels
B. Black and White
2. Print
Once you’ve received the PDF files, you will use the drop-down menu on your computer to use the adobe reader to select the chart you like best depending on your own font and color preferences.
Then, click print to print out your habit tracker page.
3. Choose
Once you have your habit tracker printable, it’s time to add a habit to each line that you want to incorporate into your daily routine.
Not sure what to add as new life habits?
Here are some ideas of daily tasks to add to your printable habit tracker:
Health
- Drink Water
- Work Out/Exercise
- Protein Shake
- Stretching
- Vitamins & Supplements
- Oil Pulling
- Green Smoothie
- Flossing
- Dry Brushing
Personal Growth
- Reading
- Studying
- Learning Something New
- Working on a Project
- Less Social Media
Self-Care
- Journaling
- Meditating
- Daily Prayer
- Gratitude
- “Me Time”
- Skin Care
Relationships
- Date Nights
- Family Dinner
- Checking In with Loved Ones
- Spending Time with Pets
Truly the possibilities are endless what new habits you can use your chart to start tracking!
*HELPFUL TIP #1 * – You can either handwrite one habit on each line of your tracker or you can type in your desired habits because I used the website PDF ESCAPE to make it editable for you!
4. Use
The last step in slaying the habit game is to hang your habit tracker in a place where you can’t miss it… and then the most important part…start using it EVERY.SINGLE.DAY!!
Here’s a photo of where I keep mine…on my fridge, where I see it throughout the day, and also where my family will so lovingly remind me of my shortcomings!
* HELPFUL TIP #2 * – Because I want to use the same habit tracker over and over every day, I opted to use magnets to mark each habit off during the day, but you could also laminate it and use a dry erase marker.
Another way to make it reusable is to place it in a plastic page protector and use an Expo Vis-A-Vis wet-erase style of marker to keep track of your daily activities…then wash it off to reuse the following day.
* HELPFUL TIP #3 * – Don’t be too hard on yourself if you don’t accomplish each task every day…the goal is to improve your daily routine with new habits…remember progress > perfection
Got any other habit tracker ideas I can add to my list?
What are your top three most important daily habits?
Let me know in the comments! My list of specific habits is ever-growing and evolving!
Until next time, cheers to making this your best habit year yet, and cheers to you!
XOXO,
Magan
Got Pinterest and want to remember this article? Pin this post “Achieve Your Goals with a Habit Tracker Printable” to your favorite Pinterest board!
