100 Habits to Track, by Life Area (With Starter Versions)

Most lists of habits to track are long and vague: "be more mindful", "eat better", "self-care". You can't check those off, so you don't. Two weeks later the tracker is a grid of empty boxes.

This list is different in one way: every habit is written so you can answer it with yes or no at the end of the day, and each has a starter version. That's the smallest form that still counts on a bad day. Pick from it. Don't adopt all of it.

How to Choose Which Habits to Track

Before the list, the part that decides whether any of it works.

Pick three, not thirty. In the study most habit research builds on, simple behaviors like drinking a glass of water reached automaticity faster than more demanding ones like doing sit-ups [1]. A short list of easy habits you keep beats an ambitious list you quietly drop.

Tie each one to something you already do. Habits are largely cued by context: in diary studies, roughly 43% of people's everyday behaviors were repeated almost daily, usually in the same setting [2]. Writing "after my morning coffee, I'll…" gives the new habit a trigger that already exists. This is the idea behind habit stacking, and research on if–then plans finds they make people noticeably more likely to follow through [3].

Write down the starter version. The two-minute rule is the practical version of this: on low days, one push-up or one page still counts. That keeps a busy week from turning into a lapse.

Decide in advance what a miss means. It means nothing, as long as you come back. Missing one day did not materially affect habit formation in Lally's study [1]. Track how fast you recover, not how long your streak is. We explain why in why bounce-back matters.

Health and Movement

1. Walk 20 minutes — starter: walk to the end of the street and back
2. Hit a step count (pick one you already reach 3 days a week) — starter: 2,000 steps
3. Stretch after waking — starter: one stretch, 30 seconds
4. Strength workout (weekly target, e.g. 3×) — starter: 5 push-ups or squats
5. Take medication or vitamins — starter: same, no smaller version needed
6. Stand up once an hour during work — starter: stand once before lunch
7. Get outside in daylight — starter: 5 minutes on the doorstep
8. Take the stairs — starter: one flight
9. Floss — starter: one tooth
10. Physio or mobility exercises — starter: the first exercise only

Food and Water

11. Drink a glass of water after waking — starter: a few sips
12. Eat a vegetable with lunch — starter: any vegetable, any amount
13. Eat breakfast — starter: a piece of fruit
14. Cook dinner at home (weekly target) — starter: assemble, don't cook
15. No snacking after a set time — starter: kitchen closed after 9pm on weeknights
16. Pack lunch the night before — starter: put the container out
17. Log what you ate — starter: log one meal
18. Alcohol-free day — starter: alcohol-free until dinner
19. Limit caffeine to before noon — starter: no coffee after 3pm
20. Eat without a screen — starter: the first five minutes of one meal

Sleep

21. Lights out by a set time — starter: in bed by that time, lights optional
22. Wake at the same time every day — starter: within 30 minutes of it
23. Phone out of the bedroom — starter: phone face-down across the room
24. No screens for 30 minutes before bed — starter: 10 minutes
25. Wind-down routine (e.g. shower, read, lights low) — starter: dim the lights
26. Get 7+ hours in bed — starter: 30 minutes more than last night
27. No naps after 3pm — starter: keep naps under 20 minutes
28. Set out tomorrow's clothes — starter: choose them, don't lay them out
29. Write a worry list before bed — starter: one line
30. Track how rested you feel (1–5) — starter: just the number

Mind and Mood

31. Meditate — starter: three slow breaths
32. Journal — starter: one sentence
33. Write three things that went well — starter: one thing
34. Mood check-in (1–5) — starter: just the number
35. Time outdoors without your phone — starter: 5 minutes
36. Therapy homework or exercise — starter: read it over once
37. Say no to one thing you don't have capacity for — starter: delay one reply
38. Take a real lunch break — starter: 10 minutes away from the desk
39. No news before 10am — starter: no news before breakfast
40. Do one thing just for fun — starter: one song, one page, one sketch

Focus and Work

41. Write tomorrow's top three tasks — starter: write the first one
42. One deep-work block — starter: 25 minutes, one task, notifications off
43. Inbox to zero (or a set number) — starter: archive ten emails
44. Start the hardest task first — starter: open the file
45. Weekly review — starter: look at next week's calendar
46. Shut down work at a set time — starter: close the laptop, even if it stays on
47. Single-task meetings (no other windows) — starter: one meeting a day
48. Plan the day before checking messages — starter: one line of plan first
49. Tidy the desk at day's end — starter: clear one item
50. Log what you finished today — starter: one item

Screen and Phone

51. Screen time under a set limit — starter: 30 minutes less than today's average
52. No phone for the first 30 minutes of the day — starter: 10 minutes
53. No social media on weekdays — starter: not before lunch
54. Notifications batched (check at set times) — starter: mute one app
55. No phone at the dinner table — starter: phone in another room for one meal
56. Grayscale mode after 9pm — starter: on for one hour
57. Unfollow or mute one account that makes you feel worse — starter: weekly, not daily
58. Phone-free walk — starter: phone stays in the pocket
59. Read instead of scroll in bed — starter: one page first, then the phone
60. Delete apps you open on autopilot — starter: move them off the home screen

Money

61. Log spending — starter: log the single largest purchase
62. No-spend day — starter: no unplanned purchases
63. Transfer to savings (even a small fixed amount) — starter: the smallest amount your bank allows
64. Check your balance — starter: open the banking app
65. Wait 24 hours before non-essential purchases — starter: leave it in the cart overnight
66. Pack coffee instead of buying it — starter: two days a week
67. Review subscriptions (monthly) — starter: list them, don't cancel yet
68. Pay bills on the day they arrive — starter: put them in the calendar
69. Weekly money check-in — starter: one look at the week's spending
70. Sell or donate one unused item — starter: put it by the door

Home and Environment

71. Make the bed — starter: pull the duvet up
72. Ten-minute tidy — starter: two minutes, one surface
73. Dishes done before bed — starter: soak them
74. One load of laundry (weekly target) — starter: start the machine
75. Water the plants — starter: check the soil
76. Clear the entryway — starter: hang the keys and coat
77. Take out the trash and recycling — starter: take out whatever is full
78. Prep tomorrow the night before (bag, keys, lunch) — starter: bag by the door
79. Declutter one drawer (weekly) — starter: remove one thing
80. Open a window for fresh air — starter: 5 minutes

Relationships

81. Message a friend — starter: react to something they posted
82. Call a family member (weekly) — starter: a voice note
83. Phone-free time with your partner or kids — starter: 15 minutes
84. Say thank you to someone specifically — starter: one line by text
85. Eat one meal with someone — starter: coffee counts
86. Plan one social thing a week — starter: suggest a date, don't book it
87. Ask someone how they are, and listen — starter: one follow-up question
88. Write down birthdays and follow through — starter: add the next one to the calendar
89. Apologize the same day — starter: acknowledge it, even briefly
90. Do one small kind thing — starter: hold a door, send a link they'd like

Learning and Growth

91. Read — starter: one page
92. Practice a language — starter: one lesson, or five words
93. Practice an instrument — starter: tune it and play one scale
94. Write (words or minutes) — starter: one sentence
95. Learn one thing and note it down — starter: one line in a notes file
96. Listen to something educational on the commute — starter: 5 minutes
97. Work on a side project — starter: open it and make one change
98. Take a course lesson — starter: watch the first minute
99. Practice a skill with deliberate focus — starter: one repetition, done slowly
100. Reflect on the week in writing — starter: one line on what to change

Habits Worth Tracking If You Struggle With Consistency

If you've started and dropped habit trackers before, the problem is rarely the habits you picked. More often, the tracker treated one missed day as a reset. Three changes help:

• Track habits on the days they're actually scheduled. A "3× a week" workout shouldn't show four red misses.
• Count the starter version as a full check. It's the same habit on a small day.
• Watch your recovery time, not your streak. If you miss Monday and do it again on Tuesday, that's a good week. Never miss twice turns this into a simple rule.

If ADHD makes routines swing from week to week, we compared planners built for that in the best ADHD planner apps.

Where to Track Them

Paper works: a monthly grid in a notebook is free and easy to see. A spreadsheet works if you like charts. An app is easier to keep going if you want reminders, a weekly view that skips rest days, and a measure of how fast you recover after a miss.

If you're not sure which three habits to start with, the habit audit worksheet helps you list what you already do and spot one change worth making. If you're curious how long a new habit will take to stick, the habit formation calculator gives a research-based range.

Which three will you track this week?

Keel tracks habits on the days they're scheduled and shows your bounce-back rate instead of a streak, so one missed day stays one missed day.

References

1. Lally, P., van Jaarsveld, C. H. M., Potts, H. W. W., & Wardle, J. (2010). "How are habits formed: Modelling habit formation in the real world." European Journal of Social Psychology, 40(6), 998–1009. onlinelibrary.wiley.com
2. Wood, W., Quinn, J. M., & Kashy, D. A. (2002). "Habits in everyday life: Thought, emotion, and action." Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 83(6), 1281–1297. doi.org
3. Gollwitzer, P. M., & Sheeran, P. (2006). "Implementation intentions and goal achievement: A meta-analysis of effects and processes." Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 38, 69–119. sciencedirect.com