Discussion Forum > A Better Way to Track Your Habits
Alan, I like that video, most habit trackers don’t have a place for explanations if you don’t check the habit. I’m about a month into using the app Productive for habit tracking. Keeping it simple for now. Also reading Atomic habits, James Clear, little and often rules. Paper system looks good.
January 10, 2020 at 2:05 |
Erin
Erin
I saw that video and I've been thinking about another one I saw recently: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Waopcht7cVw
"How to plan your weekly tasks to avoid overwhelm" by "Yo Samdy Sam". The system is to post a big sheet of paper on the wall with 1 column per week of the month, and one row per thing you want to to weekly. You can also have a list of monthly tasks and then put them in a specific week to do them in. Then you color in the cells when you do them. You might miss some things but it gives you visibility on when you last did them.
I'm starting to think you could have daily items in there by splitting a cell into 7 pieces compared to a larger weekly one.
That might work out well for me, as I was having lunch with a daily checklist until I stopped using it (I would print it out each day). Printing it out daily is a hassle and the list is too long. I think a lot of the items would be better as a weekly list instead.
"How to plan your weekly tasks to avoid overwhelm" by "Yo Samdy Sam". The system is to post a big sheet of paper on the wall with 1 column per week of the month, and one row per thing you want to to weekly. You can also have a list of monthly tasks and then put them in a specific week to do them in. Then you color in the cells when you do them. You might miss some things but it gives you visibility on when you last did them.
I'm starting to think you could have daily items in there by splitting a cell into 7 pieces compared to a larger weekly one.
That might work out well for me, as I was having lunch with a daily checklist until I stopped using it (I would print it out each day). Printing it out daily is a hassle and the list is too long. I think a lot of the items would be better as a weekly list instead.
January 10, 2020 at 21:16 |
Don R
Don R
"I was having lunch with a daily checklist"
LOL. I mean "I was having luck with a daily checklist"
LOL. I mean "I was having luck with a daily checklist"
January 10, 2020 at 21:17 |
Don R
Don R
I ended up going a different direction entirely. First, I started up using HabitBull again to record daily habits. But very quickly I abandoned the notion of actually tracking habits. Instead I have exactly 1 habit recorded: Checking into Habit Bull. Which I do, but not to track habits.
Instead, I added a series of metrics answering how well my day went.
On a scale from 1-10, how healthy did I eat?
On a scale from 1-10, How good am I feeling now? http://markforster.squarespace.com/blog/2017/7/25/the-most-important-thing-ive-ever-written.html
and a few more.
As for habit-building, I'm on the attachment plan. If I want to start a new habit, I attach it to an existing habit. Say, eating lunch. So to make this work, yes I may have lunch with my daily checklist, and that prospective habit will be written on the checklist. I don't actually check anything off from this list, I just consult it (check in) at various times to remind me to do (or see if I have done) the things I intended to do.
Instead, I added a series of metrics answering how well my day went.
On a scale from 1-10, how healthy did I eat?
On a scale from 1-10, How good am I feeling now? http://markforster.squarespace.com/blog/2017/7/25/the-most-important-thing-ive-ever-written.html
and a few more.
As for habit-building, I'm on the attachment plan. If I want to start a new habit, I attach it to an existing habit. Say, eating lunch. So to make this work, yes I may have lunch with my daily checklist, and that prospective habit will be written on the checklist. I don't actually check anything off from this list, I just consult it (check in) at various times to remind me to do (or see if I have done) the things I intended to do.
January 12, 2020 at 1:28 |
Alan Baljeu
Alan Baljeu
Currently reading Tiny Habits by Dr. BJ Fogg. He's dedicated his professional career to studying the making/breaking of habits. Nothing earth shattering so far, but there are a lot of pretty illustrations :)
http://www.amazon.com/Tiny-Habits-Changes-Change-Everything/dp/0358003326/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=bj+fogg&qid=1578832797&sr=8-1
http://www.amazon.com/Tiny-Habits-Changes-Change-Everything/dp/0358003326/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=bj+fogg&qid=1578832797&sr=8-1
January 12, 2020 at 12:40 |
avrum
avrum
Marshall Goldsmith uses a wonderful habit-tracking model and explains it in http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-MxxzK0oZY8&t=66s . You can realize it in a spreadsheet with binary answers (1 = Yes/Positive and 0 = No/Negative) and/or assessment-related answers (0 – 10) on a weekly basis which allows you to evaluate your compliance timewise as well as habitwise.
I was sceptical in the beginning. But after two years practising it daily I am fully convinced of this method’s effectivity. My list currently comprises around 25 habits and if I follow the daily check (ca. 5 minutes) religiously the habits tracked - after the initial tribulations - become automatic and I seem to accomplish the objective the habits were developed for without effort! You then can take these internalized habits off the spreadsheet and add new ones. Really amazing!
I was sceptical in the beginning. But after two years practising it daily I am fully convinced of this method’s effectivity. My list currently comprises around 25 habits and if I follow the daily check (ca. 5 minutes) religiously the habits tracked - after the initial tribulations - become automatic and I seem to accomplish the objective the habits were developed for without effort! You then can take these internalized habits off the spreadsheet and add new ones. Really amazing!
January 12, 2020 at 16:58 |
JGL
JGL
I should point out that the habit-tracking suggested by Marshall Goldsmith etc is built in to the long-list systems on this website such as Autofocus and Simple Scanning.
http://markforster.squarespace.com/blog/2017/12/13/simple-scanning-clumping-attenuation-and-maturity.html
http://markforster.squarespace.com/blog/2017/12/13/simple-scanning-clumping-attenuation-and-maturity.html
January 13, 2020 at 9:04 |
Mark Forster
Mark Forster
I don't see it, Mark. First, the habit tracking is a medium list, not a long list. This habit tracking list is one you would see every day in its entirety. This was not my experience of the long list. I did not every day see everything in the long list in such a fashion that I would address the 25 habits that JGL reviews. I might see all of them once, and address some when there is a good opportunity, but the long scanning through (while addressing some) miscellania on that list would consume my day before I got back to the rest at opportune times.
Second, by having a fixed list of items reviewed every day, you get a long-term statistical record you can review. This is hard to pull off with a general purpose list that has random tasks in addition to these habits.
The aspect that does seem to make sense with Simple Scanning is IF you are religious about Little and Often such that you go around the list many times a day, then you will be encountering these things regularly and doing them regularly and could become automatic for you. It just never worked out that way for me.
Second, by having a fixed list of items reviewed every day, you get a long-term statistical record you can review. This is hard to pull off with a general purpose list that has random tasks in addition to these habits.
The aspect that does seem to make sense with Simple Scanning is IF you are religious about Little and Often such that you go around the list many times a day, then you will be encountering these things regularly and doing them regularly and could become automatic for you. It just never worked out that way for me.
January 13, 2020 at 18:01 |
Alan Baljeu
Alan Baljeu
Alan Baljeu:
I didn't mean the precise system used by Marshall Goldsmith, etc. What I meant is that Simple Scanning etc is just as good at habit tracking and forming. Because of the clumping and attenuation effects it's easy to see which habits you are falling down on and which are proceeding according to plan What is even better is that it works across the entire spectrum of your work, rather than just an arbitrary selection. And it does all this without requiring any additional lists.
So in summary if you work with a long list system consistently over a good period of time you will not only get lots of work done, but you will have formed a large number of excellent habits in the process.
I didn't mean the precise system used by Marshall Goldsmith, etc. What I meant is that Simple Scanning etc is just as good at habit tracking and forming. Because of the clumping and attenuation effects it's easy to see which habits you are falling down on and which are proceeding according to plan What is even better is that it works across the entire spectrum of your work, rather than just an arbitrary selection. And it does all this without requiring any additional lists.
So in summary if you work with a long list system consistently over a good period of time you will not only get lots of work done, but you will have formed a large number of excellent habits in the process.
January 13, 2020 at 21:18 |
Mark Forster
Mark Forster
My system for habit tracking is in fact my Simple Scanning (SiSc) list. It's essentially a combination of a long list with a habit tracking list and very simple.
If I have a habit that I want to track as a task in the long list, I use a simple format, adding the meta data "on the fly" in the task itself. Mostly I add a date of last day actioned and a counter for how many days in a row I kept the habit.
For example:
clear email inbox {14.1.20}(21)
could mean, today on the 14th, I cleared my email inbox and I did so for 21 days in a row.
If I have a habit that I want to track as a task in the long list, I use a simple format, adding the meta data "on the fly" in the task itself. Mostly I add a date of last day actioned and a counter for how many days in a row I kept the habit.
For example:
clear email inbox {14.1.20}(21)
could mean, today on the 14th, I cleared my email inbox and I did so for 21 days in a row.
January 14, 2020 at 23:24 |
Christopher
Christopher
I feel the beauty of the a. m. concept in forcing me to assess my progress about the 25 habit-focussed questions. If you can't measure it, you can't improve it! And seeing myself putting in another painful “0” for the xth time feels extremely inconvenient and embarrassing – and has always pushed me into actually starting/keeping the new habit until it became automatic.
I entertain in my outliner many other and sometimes pretty detailed question lists for general or specific areas of my life and my professional or other responsibilities/interests. I keep these lists as living documents, scan and review them often and won’t do without them. But the precise and powerful habit-forming happens with my daily 25 core list!
I entertain in my outliner many other and sometimes pretty detailed question lists for general or specific areas of my life and my professional or other responsibilities/interests. I keep these lists as living documents, scan and review them often and won’t do without them. But the precise and powerful habit-forming happens with my daily 25 core list!
January 17, 2020 at 10:02 |
JGL
JGL
A.m. concept?
January 17, 2020 at 15:44 |
Alan Baljeu
Alan Baljeu
"seeing myself putting in another painful “0” for the xth time feels extremely inconvenient and embarrassing"
true
"and has always pushed me into actually starting/keeping the new habit until it became automatic"
I generally just stop tracking; or sometimes I have a nice record of my failings. I've never been able to stick to an optional daily task, for whatever reason(s). That includes sticking with a task list of any method. I always stop using them after a couple days and go back into drift mode.
true
"and has always pushed me into actually starting/keeping the new habit until it became automatic"
I generally just stop tracking; or sometimes I have a nice record of my failings. I've never been able to stick to an optional daily task, for whatever reason(s). That includes sticking with a task list of any method. I always stop using them after a couple days and go back into drift mode.
January 17, 2020 at 19:59 |
Don R
Don R
Alan: The concept as shortly sketched by me on 12 January!
Don R: I understand you, with newly included habits I had resistances, too. But so far, in the end, I always managed to reframe them as a stimulating challenge and drift over time into a sheer and nearly automatic habit. The habit-list's checking, of course, must become a habit in itself!
Don R: I understand you, with newly included habits I had resistances, too. But so far, in the end, I always managed to reframe them as a stimulating challenge and drift over time into a sheer and nearly automatic habit. The habit-list's checking, of course, must become a habit in itself!
January 17, 2020 at 23:50 |
JGL
JGL
Just finished that Marshall Goldsmith video. The video is So much more than just a technique for tracking habits. Inspiration and instruction on how to get big stuff accomplished.
January 18, 2020 at 13:20 |
Alan Baljeu
Alan Baljeu
The video's great, I like that this technique is a practical way to face-off against specific things in one's life, perhaps things which are tricky to get going on. I'm going to try it with some things that I've been stuck on and have been avoiding with a sense of dread. Are you going to try it too Alan?
January 19, 2020 at 3:58 |
Chris
Chris
Not at present. I outlined my scheme above and I'm sticking with it.
January 19, 2020 at 17:08 |
Alan Baljeu
Alan Baljeu
Get to Sleep on time
[ + - o + + - o + . . . . . . . . . . ]
The reason for + / - / o (pass, fail, neutral) is it's really easy to record and really easy to get a feel by just looking.
The reason for 15, is it's short enough that you can push yourself to track that long, and long enough to make a decision if you want to continue pursuing this, or something else.
Then you start another 15 day block to continue tracking if you still want to track. Or you may decide the habit doesn't need tracking, or you may change up the parameters of what you are trying to achieve.
Use a facing page to make notes related to these habits.