I think it started about 2015 when I first did a #moms30for30 and stuck with the habit of getting dressed (intentionally) every day for a month (which wasn’t a daily habit for me at that time).

Though I continued it for most the year, I lost steam blogging about it after the third month. 

I worked on habits like reading (instead of scrolling) at night, yoga, daily planning and taking vitamins. 

I was reading all the books (often written by upperclass white men who are not stay at home parents) and learning about how habits are formed and how to shift them. I was using words like productivity, bullet journals,  habit swapping, and getting things done!

I created the Life on Purpose Workbook with guidance on setting out your vision for the nine areas of your life, and tied it into goal setting and habit planning. 

I was focussed more on how to live intentionally, rather than a mere establishment or dismantling of habits for the sake of ‘good habits’.

This helped me ease up on the pressure and urgency I was tying to changing my habits. All the while, still honouring how critical our habits and routines are in our life experience. (Small things can change your whole life)

I share all of this to tell you that me + habits have been in a long term relationship. 

There have been ups and downs and habits don’t mean the same thing to me as they did 8 years ago. 

And as I come into this New Year where we are supposed to consider our habits and work on maximizing them, I am not finding  I have the need to establish new systems in my life, but to deepen the ones that already there. 

So, I am bringing back one of the tools that has helped me the most with my habits, and that is the Habit Tracker. 

Since I’ve made the switch to digital planning I am trying some apps to see what I prefer (I have no recommendation of apps at this point, still trying them out).

I am tracking 5 of my daily habits.  

These are habits I had already established in my life (the dopamine pathway is established, I get a ‘reward’ for them), but I could feel myself being less consistent with them. 

Already, habit tracking is making me:

1.  More mindful. I think about my habits a lot more (esp because you can set reminders in the app)
2. Committed. Progress over perfection is my focus but I know that I wantto check things off. I am excited about focussing on these habits that make me feel better/make my life better
3. Aware. Things I thought I was doing consistently, turns out not so much. I don’t beat myself up over this, I just notice it and use it as motivation that tracking my habits matters to me right now.