73 Habits You Can Start Tracking For A Better Life 

Aren’t you just sick of everyone telling you that healthy habits can change your life? It’s pretty obvious that doing healthy things can improve your life but it’s not super simple! If it was easy, everyone would do it. The reality is, changing your behaviours and creating healthy habits is hard and it takes time. It also takes commitment and consistency! That’s why I always suggest people TRACK their habits. 

Before you say a resounding, DUH, hear me out. 

It’s one thing to say you’re going to start drinking more water every day and another to actually track your progress and follow through with it. A simple tick on the calendar will suffice! 

When I first started changing my habits (and remember, it’s a lifelong thing), I struggled to know what I should even change. What was something worth tracking? What habits do I add to my day? It was a little overwhelming, especially if you don’t need or want to track the basic old things like water intake and exercise. So, that is why I created this list of 73 habits you can track for a better, healthier life! Take as many or as few as you feel works for you and get tracking 🙂

How habits can change your life 

The simple act of following through with a new habit can give you that boost of confidence in yourself that can set you on a healthy path. 

Recently I wanted to start a new habit of emptying the sink every night. I have been known to let dishes pile up and the counter gets messy. It’s not something that makes me happy but I just got in the habit of doing it in the morning or whenever I couldn’t stand the mess anymore. Notice that habits can also be negative. 

Anyway, I decided that the sink needed to be clean each night and I added it to my habit tracker. It’s only been a week now but it’s already made me more productive and fulfilled. 

The feeling I get when the sink is empty is a feeling of relief and calmness. The clutter was causing me stress. It’s a simple act that takes me max. 5 minutes but wow, what a difference. 

Now, when I empty the sink I have the motivation to do other things. Maybe I’ll fold some laundry or vacuum or do some other chore on my to-do list. It’s crazy how one task just leads to another. It’s true what they say about just starting. 

So, if that feeling of accomplishment, confidence, and motivation isn’t enough, here are some other ways habits can change your life. 

• Improve your physical health
• Improve your mental health 
• Gives you structure in your day 
• Creates accountability in yourself and others 
• Be more efficient 
• Get more done in the day
• Make you happier 
• Improve your relationships 
• Give you a cleaner home 
• Improve work-life balance 

Your habits shape your life, your mindset, how you treat yourself and others, and much more. The habits you choose to engage in can make a huge difference in the person you are. 

Look at how much my clean sink impacted me… such a small thing. Now imagine multiple small habits and the impact they will have! 

Habits to start tracking 

1 – Water intake – I’m aiming for 90 oz a day

2 – Workouts 

3 – Daily steps 

4 – Time spent on hobbies – there is research showing people who have hobbies have less stress

5 – Days you cleaned up the kitchen

6 – Calories below target 

7 – Cooking at home

8 – No smoking/vaping 

9 – No drinking alcohol – or you could track how much you’re drinking if you feel like it’s an issue

10 – Water plants – something I would need to track if I had plants (I’m a plant killer, unfortunately)  

11 – Skincare (morning/night)

12 – Reading – my nightly wind-down activity! I find it the easiest to do at night. Looking for something to read? Check out this list of inspiring books to read.

13 – Playing with pets 

14 – Walking outdoors 

15 – Using your planner – sometimes you need that reminder to use your planner

16 – Meditation – try doing short 5 minute meditations to start! I personally use these meditations.

17 – Working on a project – I like to track my work on projects to see how much effort I’m really putting in 

18 – Taking your medication 

19 – Respond to emails 

20 – Post to social media – if you’re like me, sometimes you get busy and forget lol

21 – Journaling 

22 – Screen time limit – something I should be tracking!!

23 – Waking up on time 

24 – Going to bed on time 

25 – Flossing – make your dentist proud at your next visit!

26 – Self-care time 

27 – No money spent – if this is too hard right now try working on your money mindset

28 – Chores 

29 – Making your bed – making your bed is a great way to start the day. It could be that one task that snowballs into more tasks

30 – Being social 

31 – Daily affirmations – use these affirmations if you need some ideas

32 – Listening to a podcast 

33 – Creating content – having a content calendar can really help with this!

34 – Practicing gratitude 

35 – Not having caffeine – that’s me right now and I’m loving it!!!

36 – Bathroom habits – maybe this is a bit too far for you but tracking bathroom habits is a great way to keep track of your health.

37 – Symptoms of something you want to track – anxiety, depression, food intolerance, allergies, etc.

38 – Healthy eating days 

39 – No fast food days – something I like to track now and then when I notice my diet is getting a little off track

40 – Vitamins 

41 – Daily stretching 

42 – Eating breakfast 

43 – Weigh in 

44 – Cold shower 

45 – Write a to-do list – I love starting my day this way (I have some tips for writing a good to-do list here).

46 – Completed daily to-do list

47 – Pack a lunch for work 

48 – Screen-free meal time – a good way to practice mindfulness during the day

49 – Take the stairs everywhere 

50 – Practice breathing techniques 

51 – Do one hour of focused work 

52 – Empty kitchen sink – my new and favorite habit!

53 – Take out the recycling 

54 – No phone before bed 

55 – Work on something fun (crossword, puzzle, coloring, painting, etc.)

56 – Plan your meals 

57 – Daily mood 

58 – Daily mental health – I recently started tracking my anxiety every day. Its pretty interesting 

59 – Fruit and veggie intake 

60 – Meeting budget goals 

61 – Practice intuitive eating 

62 – Period and cycle tracking – ever consider using period underwear? If so, check out my review of Cheeky Cherry here!

63 – Attended therapy 

64 – Clocked out of work on time 

65 – Shopped the sales for groceries – who doesn’t like saving some money?!

66 – X amount of money saved 

67 – Replied to texts from friends/family 

68 – Date night – this could be with your partner or with yourself! Solo dates are also a really fun thing to do and you may want to track how often you spend some time alone. Here are some fun solo date ideas is this is new to you!

69 – No phone first thing in the morning – here are some other things you could do in the morning instead of looking at your phone

70 – Wore sunscreen 

71 – Used face roller – if you need an awesome face roller try this ice roller. I use it every day and I love it so much!!!

72 – Learned something new

73 – Trimmed pets nails 

Tips for staying consistent with your habits 

Now that you have 73 new habits you can track (probably don’t try them all at once lol), you may be wondering how to keep up with them and be consistent. 

Great question!

I have 3 ways that I stay consistent with my habits. Everyone is different so this may resonate with you but it may not and that’s okay too. 

Habit stacking is my go-to way to start and keep up with new habits. In short, habit stacking is taking your new habit and doing it before or after an existing habit. For example, if you always make coffee in the morning you could do your new habit before or after (taking your vitamins while your coffee brews, reading for 10 minutes after your coffee is made, stretching before you start your coffee). 

You can also make a bullet journal to track your habits. I have a bit of a bullet journal going right now. It’s nothing fancy so don’t be intimidated thinking you need to be able to draw. I keep mine simple and add stickers for fun. I have a page dedicated to my habits and I just fill in the boxes each day that I complete a habit. 

Finally, create a supportive environment. If your new habit is to exercise after work then you need to create an environment where that can happen. Get your workout clothes ready, change into your runners right away, listen to a motivating podcast on the way home, get a gym buddy, etc. Set yourself up for success ahead of time and make sure your environment and people around you are supportive. 

In conclusion 

It’s clear that starting new, healthy habits is a great idea when you want to improve your life. It doesn’t need to be overly complicated!

Changing your habits starts with a decision to change. Making the DECISION to change your behaviours whether that’s eating healthier meals, walking more, or journaling daily. 

The small changes you make will create a big impact in your life. 

I hope that this list gives you some ideas and gets you motivated! I love the few changes I’ve made lately and the confidence it’s given me has made me want to change even more. 

Share in the comments what habits you want to start!