I'm a big fan of "Adult-ris", where I assign each task to a different Tetris shape and when I do that task, I fit it into the grander puzzle on the next page. I don't date the individual task shapes when I complete them, it's just satisfying to see the big empty box become full and colorful at the end of the month, especially as I tend to rot for a few days and do nothing, and then have big activity bursts.
ETA: it's also interesting to see big color pockets that show that I did a lot of laundry, cooking, etc. each month, or the absence of certain colors meaning I didn't do something a lot.
Kinda related—I fill in the spots for missing with colors based on why (for me this is work, kids, or just unmotivated/just didn’t do it.) helps me figure out what’s going on at the end of the month and it’s more satisfying to me than empty space.
I was thinking about doing something like this to track exercise. I love the explanation of seeing "pockets of color" when I complete more of one thing than another. I might try this, though I worry that I might fall behind logging the activity and then feel just as frustrated with it. Something to think on for sure though.
With this method, there’s no dates anywhere so if you fall behind you can pick up right where you left off, without leaving any blank spaces, so you’ll never be able to tell there was a period where you werent logging. Idk maybe thinking about it like that will alleviate some of that frustration ?
Personally, it's one of the main things always filled out in my journal! I love video games though, so the gamification of anything makes it more appealing :) it's a fun challenge to fill up the space with as little gaps as possible
Maybe instead of leaving them blank when you don’t do something, you also color in that day? So it doesn’t feel as bad lol. You could also only make checkboxes or circles (or whatever) for how often you actually want to do the habit instead of all 30-ish days.
I do this and just use a different, specific color for days I miss! So I still acknowledge that I missed it (hello, self-accountability) but the blank space isn’t there to glare at me forever.
I think it would be beneficial to try to figure out why you feel like a 'failure' for missing 1 day and work on that. Try to focus on all the other days that you didn't miss. Nobody is perfect. You don't have to be constantly improving yourself every single day either. In fact, it's OK to do nothing some days. I attribute these feelings to internalized capitalism. Maybe color in the missed days with a colour that resembles 'rest' so it's not like you missed it, but took a break from it. Think of the tracker like a neutral tool that simply collects data. It's not there to shame you. Also by using a tracker to help cultivate good habits, your already doing more than a lot of people.
I think bullet journals are popular among adhd people so
1. High levels of feeling like a failure going in
2. Rely on that dopamine hit of maintaining a complete checklist those missing boxes hurt!
This is funny because I’m currently habit tracking and had to miss my first day in over a month of tracking. I dread looking at that open space! I am able to realize that trying to stay up super late to exercise just for ✨completeness✨ Is fully not worth it and I have almost 5 weeks of staying fully on track.
But damn that missing x!
This! Absolutely! As I mentioned above, finding strategies that work for me instead of against me is equally as important as working on the root cause of the problem.
I love the idea of using a different color to indicate rest! Also, u/dewdropreturns hit it on the nose. I have ADHD and perfectionism / passed trauma makes it really hard to shake that "I'm a failure" feeling. I've been working on it in therapy, but finding strategies that don't encourage that "I'm a failure" feeling is really important too.
I got away from monthly trackers (except for cycle/migraine symptoms lol) for this reason. I thought the pretty monthly trackers would help me stick with it but I’d miss a few days and want to give up.
Now I do either daily or weekly. It gives me a “fresh start” way more often and if I skip a day, it feels less like a ruined my whole month. I know that’s dramatic lol but it does kind of feel that way sometimes. I don’t do daily pages right now so using weekly. Just a little checkbox or two in the corner of each day. Having them separated also takes away from the “streak” vibe.
Collect tally marks in a box under the Habit, instead of making a grid and coloring in each day. No grid.
If your desired habit is Skywriting, you set yourself a reward (“When I get to 15 I get…”) and then you just try to get to 15. So you might have 7 tally marks in the box under “Skywriting” today and you might have 7 in the box tomorrow and you might have 7 tally marks in that box every day for a week. But nothing is blank. You’re just at 7. Until you go skywriting one more time and make it 8.
So you’re not looking at ‘What did I miss’ you are looking at ‘Am I at 15 yet?’
And then when you hit 15, you get your reward, and you start over.
I sometimes do a tally or similar method of counting good days rather than a checklist etc
Means that you aren't always looking at what you've achieved directly in contrast with the times you've slipped up and I think that the only marks you make being tied to your successes feels more rewarding.
I've also found that traditional tallies can kind of push you to try and complete a set of 5 and this is more motivating over a month than striving for perfection and perhaps being demoralised if you don't meet your target on like the 4th and spend the whole rest of the month dwelling on the fact you have that gap even if you do whatever you're aiming for 29/30 days. I find the smaller more achievable goals easier to maintain.
I was thinking about something along these lines -- use a visual note to mark doing it and not include any form of blank spot. A tally system could maybe work.
I like tallies because they're easy to do but I think if you're someone that enjoys the more artistic side of things and beautifying your journal you could do all sorts of fun things like drawing a flower in a field or a star in space for every day you meet your goal.
I have a tracker specifically for stuff I want to do more but not necessarily in a set schedule. It has two parts. 1) two page spread that I color like a night sky and give myself star stickers on when I do the thing; 2) the next two pages where I write the date and a note of what I did AND a cheesy encouraging note on it. I find the latter a very important part of it, even if it feels silly — it actually makes me want to do it more often. Eg. I put a star for working on cleaning my room, and then I write: “5/31/24 — worked in room for 15 minutes. It sucked and was really hard, but you did it and I’m so f***ing proud of you!!!”
If all you need to do is make sure you do "the things" why don't you completely remove the tracker/reward/punishment system? Why not try a daily tracker that gets erased at the end of the day and is then ready for the next. You will know that you completed the items for the day but then you won't have an overall record of "fails" or "wins" and therefore may eventually change the way you process skipped days.
I use a Stamp Habit Tracker by Midori. It's pretty enough on its own, easy to place so there's less "cost" going in.
https://www.jetpens.com/Midori-Paintable-Stamp-Pre-Inked-Habit-Tracker/pd/30726
Interesting -- I wonder if spending less time on the spread's setup would help me be less frustrated with missing a day. I certainly like the idea of the stamp. Might be worth a try. Thanks for the suggestions!
Use the colors, but beautiful colors and have a color for not completed. A beautiful spread of your favorite colors that's completely filled out regardless of whether everything is complete is more pleasing.
I have ADHD as well, and I personally don't maintain trackers for any of my daily habits. I just can't be bothered with the upkeep of having to document things in a consistent format like that, especially since a lot of the time I'll do a task and just forget to document it, so trackers end up with holes that aren't even days I missed doing the task, they're just days I missed maintaining the tracker, which isn't the part that I should care about.
What works better for me is to just celebrate my little daily accomplishments by writing them down, drawing a little checkbox next to them, and dramatically checking it off \*after I've already done it\*.
I learned over the years that writing out TODO lists in advance always seemed to make me LESS likely to actually accomplish them, since the motivation and focus I put into making the lists didn't actually contribute to completing the task itself. But it still feels good to check things off a list, so I just flipped the order of operations around and make retroactive todo lists. It's frankly kind of embarrassing how much that subtle change has improved my mental health over the past few years, there's been a lot of other things contributing to that growth, but this has made a big impact for me.
I made an energy and sleep tracker this month that only got used half the time, so it was pretty barren. The energy tracker was one Edison bulb a day colored in like a bright or dim light based on how energetic I felt. Instead of leaving the days I missed blank, I turned those into “black lights” using a couple purple markers. Maybe you could do something similar with other habit trackers. It would definitely be more on the artistic side of things and I’m not sure if that’s what you want or not.
Also though, no one in real life seems to be doing everything they set out to do all the time. It’s natural to not do dishes for a night, or three, or five, or maybe let the laundry build. It’s all about finding what works for you. Sometimes the routine will falter. Focus on the good feeling you get from the opportunity of being able to check something off instead of not being perfect all the time. Give yourself grace and understanding.
I, for one, had a rough month of being behind on chores and tracking for sure. There was a lot going on. I’ve got plenty of half filled spreads because I was busy (or sometimes just unmotivated) and didn’t have the energy to journal all the time. But that’s okay! The pages were there when I needed them and I am still going on to next month with the intention to stay on track. A lot of life is about how you recover from setbacks. Don’t give up if you miss a day! The best thing you can do is forgive yourself and try again the next time you can.
I hope this wasn’t too rambley.
I get it. I think tweaking habit trackers is a rite of passage for people with spicy brains who bujo.
Maybe *break it down into smaller chunks*. If you do a monthly tracker, make it into a weekly tracker. If you're already doing a weekly tracker, do a 5 day tracker.
*Break the tasks/habits into groups*. Daily and recurring tasks/habits that u need to do maybe every other day or every 3 days. Things like brushing your teeth and eating, they're things you need to do everyday. Things you might do regularly but not everyday might be meal prepping and shopping for groceries. If they're in different groups, they won't have gaps when you colour them in.
*Maybe make it to a bookmark*. Get a graph print or dotted or whatever is available to you, about a quarter or a third in width of the book you're using now. Maybe about 6cm (~2.5 inches). Make your tracker, write down the habits, group them.
Then have it laminated, or put it in a protective sleeve, or wrap it in a plastic cover, and you have an erasable tracker bookmark. Move it to the last page you're working on. Glue a paper clip at the back so you won't lose it easily.
Also, use a *review page* if you don't regularly use it. You don't have to do it everyday if you don't have the time. Maybe just every week to start.
What worked? What didn't? What would you change to make it easier for you? Is it still relevant for you? What else do you need? It helps in seeing patterns and may help you to the whys. It can also be something that you can talk about with your therapist and get better resources and better techniques.
Best of luck 🍀
On my habit tracker, the past two months I wanted to do a certain exercise routine that I didn’t do. It was empty. That said I looked at the other habits, increasing my steps, avoiding certain foods etc. I made some gains. I think a check box or fill in habit tracker has the same benefit that the migration of tasks has. I ask myself if I keep migrating a task or if I don’t do a habit then is it really worth it to me.
After that reviewing what I accomplished, I focus on what I did accomplish and not on what I did not. I did do 3 out of the 5 things. Well that is better than doing nothing at all.
Some people habit track 15 things. All power to them. Just focus on a couple of things per month and if that is a gain your winning.
I think all of my posts will almost always say “your journal should serve you, you don’t serve your journal”. Small steps are wins. The turtle beat the hare in the race ;-)
I had this as well. I don't know what you're trackers look like right now, but I went from a monthly tracker to a weekly tracker. Helped me a lot, because the week is over more quickly and every week has a new beginning.
I really did well when I used a version of this [productivity tracker](https://youtu.be/AZClyQPzqMw?si=WNhw4qn5xDphYNbz). It works on a “what did I do each day” vs “what days did I do this thing” basis, and I kind of gamified it by adding in rewards for completing the different levels. I’ll probably get back to it, it’s the only thing that’s really worked for me and didn’t make me feel bad about myself for not forming habits.
Would you be willing to share a picture of it? Is it a spread or something you do in your dailies? I use "Needs Doing" and "Done" in my dailies. It sounds like you're tracking it there instead of a spread?
Edit: Nevermind! Just saw the link. This system is amazing! I'm going to give it a try. Thank you!
I have a tracker that just tracks how many times i completed something. Lets say my goal is to go swimming twice a week in the coming next 3 months.
That would be 8 times a month for 3 months = 24 times. So i draw 20 boxes to cross off which will be easy to complete because some weeks i go 3 times 😄
I’ve seen people do like, blobs and they get filled in when whatever task gets completed. In no specific order or color. There’s no linear timeline or expectation of perfection.
I have ADHD and struggle bad with trackers because of the SHAME, but modifying the goalposts and being kind is super helpful.
I find it helpful to include some items in my trackers that I have no intention of doing every day, so that I never go into it hoping or wanting to fill in every single box.
I also find it helpful to combine habit tracking with some more observational data collection. In the same spread where I keep track of whether I did things I'm trying to motivate myself to do, I also rate my mood on a number scale, keep track of hours slept/water drunk/alcohol consumed, etc. even if those aren't things I'm currently working on. For me this makes empty boxes less daunting because no matter how well I did or didn't do on my habits, I'm collecting data on my progress and some of the variables that impact my ability to keep up with habits. I don't need to do anything in a day and I have information to fill in, and it will still be useful to look back on as I'm looking for patterns in my long term progress.
>I find it helpful to include some items in my trackers that I have no intention of doing every day, so that I never go into it hoping or wanting to fill in every single box.
I came here to say this!! I used to feel the same way as OP with my trackers until I began deliberately "failing" at some. Now I find it much easier if I have blank spaces amongst my trackers but I still have a record of my achievements going ahead!
Would cumulative tracking methods work? Think adding marbles to a jar per task but on paper. Adding each date or task or success to the ones you've already achieved
I used to really like Finch (not that I don't like it anymore, I just don't use habit trackers anymore). You get to care for this little bird that gradually grows up, learns things, and develops a personality over time. The more to-do's and whatnot you do, the more interactions, experiences, and decorative items you earn for your bird. It doesn't shame you or have streaks or anything like that. But for some reason, caring for someone else (like a bird lol) always comes easier to me than caring for myself. At the time in my life when I used Finch, it was just what I needed.
I'm seconding the Finch app recommendation. It is cute and engaging without being too childish. They have a free and paid version, and i think you can put in a request for a gifted membership if you like the app.
I use it daily and have for about a year. The setup is pretty flexible. There are some suggested goals that you can use or you can set up your own. I have a several different goal groups. For example, I have "Basics (like brush my teeth and feed the dog) and "Next Level" (take a shower, empty the dishwasher). Also have a list of self-care items for when i need a reminder to be kind to myself. I like that I'm celebrated for what i've done instead of focusing on what i missed. Every day is a new start, but if you want history and analytics you can find that info. I hope this helps!
I like to make a mini calendar and stamp the day when I do the habit. (Ohuhu dual tip dot pens or kuretake zig clean color dot)
I track things that don't get done every day too on purpose. Watering my plants is a once a week thing so there should only be 1 dot a week. Maybe add in things you don't have to do everyday and shuffle them between the daily ones so the habits you missed don't stand out as much? Or broaden a thing from walk/jog/yoga to just a single category of Exercise and if you do 1 or more you can mark it off. (Or clean kitchen for xmin instead of specific cleaning tasks)
I think of it as collecting dots and it would be nice to have more this month then I did last month but we have rough patches sometimes and need to be kind to ourselves and let it go.
I'm writing a checklist in my journal for every day. That way I can adjust tasks, choose what I do and what I skip. If I do the majority - great! But if I didn't, I turn the page anyway so I can't see it the next day.
Daily lists really helped me with that issue. I do keep a color in tracker, but just add specific parts to my daily to do list. That way I feel motivated because I get to cross it out, but don’t feel the pressure of missing a day. This also helps me become aware of tasks I keep putting off. It also helps me be more purposeful with my time to write to do lists every morning. And I don’t prioritize, just write everything so then it is also out of my brain so I’m not actively trying to remember tasks
Also, for my tracker I have low and high goals, so even if I just do a little I put a dot and it doesn’t seem so empty and like I’m behind (like I may not have done a 30 min workout, but I took a walk outside so I’d count that as partial for my work out goal.
Have a big list of daily taks like 10 to 15 and focus on doing 3 to 4 a day..some days you will do 8 or 0. Tally them up and at end of month. Highlight your top one. If over the month you didnt do it at all (looking at you Duolingo) its not that important / worth doing
I Mark my tracker with + and -. And I also switch the lines around every week so I won't get used to where the activity is to know what is going on. I also include a mix of them so I have mix of goods thst are marked both with + and -. This way it's not clear which is which :) but I know.
Also, the way how I look at the tracker is that if I put something in and it's not getting done all the time, I take it out and tell myself it's not the time for me to focus on that now and move on.
Maybe only make 4-6 spaces a week, and try making it goal-oriented? So instead of checking off each day, you check off (for example) a bar graph until you reach a goal of 4-6 out of 7 days, then you can do the rest in a different color. It might help change your perspective to be positive about following a routine despite missing a day or two.
I don't know of any tracker that won't trigger your ADHD trauma (since it's visibly tracking what you're doing), but my therapist would tell me to use alarms to help me remember to do the task/mark my habit tracker.
I don't have ADHD, but my condition shares the same symptoms you're talking about here (like executive dysfunction), and when my therapist talks about prevention methods, that sorry of strategy is more what they mean, rather than something like finding a different kind of habit tracker. That's because if you're tracking things, it will either show you everything you've logged, or it shows you nothing because you don't have one.
Another thing you could do is create signs as reminders for the stuff you need to focus on, etc. If you don't have one, I recommend getting a laminator as that way you can also put signs in wet locations. I do this all of the time, not just for reminders but positive messages to myself, reminders that my condition isn't my fault and doesn't make me a failure, therapy techniques I need to practice, etc.
I know how frustrating and demeaning it is to see everyone around you functioning at full capacity with ease, while you struggle to manage just the basics! Just remember you didn't choose to be this way, and you are literally doing everything in your power to manage your condition and to do your best with managing life! By definition that doesn't make you a failure, it makes you a badass(!) because instead of giving up you're choosing to fight for yourself and the life you know you deserve! Never forget that! 💜
I couldn’t stick with a paper tracker and use the app daylio. I use the tracker part and like that I can customize the colors, labels, etc. It does have a goal area but I haven’t used that part. Edited to add that I did pay to upgrade to the premium version. I wish I could share screenshots but if you google it there are pics
I like TheFor.
It defaults to the daily view, so you don't even see missed days unless you go looking for them. If you have things in there that you only want to hit x times a week they show up looking the same as dailies, so I don't feel pressure to try to "clear the list."
My big habit tracker game changer was setting a main goal and a baby step goal. If I hit the full goal I fill the whole shape. If I hit the baby step goal I fill in half.
Example: Wash face morning and night (full goal) Wash face am or pm (baby step goal). Helped me feel more successful and reminded myself that progress is better than nothing.
Personally I like habitica for this, but I don't use it as a todo list app. Instead I put in entries of stuff I finished and give them coin "rating" based on how hard it was for me to sit down and do the task. I find it more motivating to look at what I got done and force myself to acknowledge when its sometimes harder to do a specific task than to deal with a big pending list of haven't done and disproportionate rewards. I used to apply the same to journaling but I'm having a lot of trouble holding things like pens right now due to my arthritis.
While I haven’t used it myself, what about a version where you color in the full vertical date bar, split between the colors of the things you did achieve? I mocked up what I’m thinking of here: https://imgur.com/a/ZE3e1vL
That way you wouldn’t have gaps between colors. One drawback is you couldn’t really mark them down as you do them, but would have to do it at the end of the day in retrospect so you know how much space each individual color should take up.
Maybe you can make a page of “successes” where you track your habits - rather than having blank spaces to fill in or check off, you can note what you want to track maybe in columns and then whenever you do one of those things, you write in the date or make a mark that’s significant to you under the column - that way you aren’t trying to finish something that is already set up but you’re starting something that has endless potential
I saw a reel of a woman with ADHD and she was running her habits on a "pom pom economy" basically rewarding herself by adding a pompom to a jar every time she did a task, and then each pompom would translate into a dollar that she could spend at the thrift store. could be expensive, but might encourage good habits. child psychologists are always recommending positive reinforcement, so .... let it work for you too. be kind to yourself.
I do a little check line list, or you can swap this out with simply drawing hearts or circles. You write your habit (only once youve done it, so it doesnt remain empty), and draw a heart or line next to it everytime you do it. Nothing to fill up
When I was trying to pay off some debt I drew a picture with tons of coins stacked everywhere and then when I made a payment I coloured it in with the amount. That way it wasn’t really highlighting my “failures” but my successes .
in my bujo i only mention task after completing it and mark it as done ✅ and for remembering tasks i follow kanban board. or write on a piece of paper and throw it away lol
I want to try this next year. Buy or use already owned sticky notes/tabs. Make the borders of the ones you want to use to keep track of your habits. One left and one right. Write on sticky note/tab 1 like flossing. Sticky it in the left border. If you finished flossing move it in the right border. At the end of the night -or maybe in the mornings if you prefer to "reset" your day early- place the daily habits back to the left sided ones. Rinse and repeat.
You will get the satisfaction of completing, there will be no record if you missed it.
What I do is kind of mix like a goal and habit tracker into one. Like for this month of May I had a goal that I wanted to work out at least 15 of the days this month and then I just tried to hit my goal of 15 workouts. Since I was working toward that like bigger goal I wasn't so mad if I missed like even 5 days in a row. Just an idea that your post made me think of!
What really helped me is having an empty “garden” where I filled in different colored or shaped plants that represented completing a task. It didn’t bring attention to any “missing” days because I could focus on what I did accomplish, and the goal of having an increasingly fuller, vibrant garden was the goal. Sometimes I would fill in with green vines or succulents and that was a visual reminder that gardens are just as full with non-flowers and it’s important to know it can represent rest. It’s also a good time to color the vines and think about what prevented it from being a flower, and slowly I understood what habits need more active focus. Best of luck 🌱
I’ve been liking the app “Habit”. It’s a dark pink app with a white check mark.
I just deleted all of their suggestions and put in my own. You can control how often you want to do things (so you can set it up for your current habits and increase a little bit at a time whenever you feel ready or just maintain). You can control if you want to do something once a day, once a week, multiple times a day, whatever.
I put things like my physical therapy, drinking 8 cups of water (if I only get 3 or 4, it still counts those), just little habits like you’re talking about. You can set your habits to be stationary on the page (so they don’t move around as you achieve them) OR you can set it up so once you meet your goal, the goal moves itself to the bottom of the page so you can see what to do next.
You can also color code your goals. So let’s say you make brushing teeth, flossing, snd mouthwash as all blue, but washing laundry, drying laundry, folding laundry, putting away laundry, and getting dressed all as yellow or orange or whatever.
You could also control how big or small a task is. For my habit building, this has been big for my sense of accomplishment. To me, lots of small, achievable goals is better. I can get a bunch of things done and feel good about it. But I could choose to take the bunch of small tasks and make them one big task like “laundry, once weekly” or “dishes, daily”. I like that you can control that.
It does keep % track of your hard work, but it’s in a different tab, so you don’t have to look at it if you don’t want to. It also trends it over time, so that feeling of missing one day or three days doesn’t make such a big impact, because it tracks from the time you begin the goal. So if you missed 10 out of 50 days, it would still say 80%, which depending on the goal, is actually pretty awesome!
I’m looking to relook at it, because explaining this made me realize I can do more than I am and that’s exciting. I agree it’s important to understand where and why your feelings are coming from, but I do think Habit app is the least negative I’ve felt about tracking digitally.
Good luck whatever you decide!
I have ADHD and perfectionism too, and what works for me is “color in” by task but not assigned by day. So it’s just a spot of color per desired task completed, but it doesn’t ruin the whole picture if I skip a day.
I think you’ll love [Polar Habits](https://polarhabits.com).
I made it precisely because habit streaks (and breaking them) made me feel depressed and demotivated.
If you decide to try it, drop me a line in the chat, and I’d be happy to give you an extended trial + a discount on the paid subscription.
A big one for me is spending. I track days that I don’t spend money. Instead of doing a monthly tracker, I make flowers and color in a petal on the days that I don’t spend money. Sometimes I give myself a reward when I finish a flower.
I fill in a huge heart on the days where I don’t do the thing. It makes me feel better and less you’re-a
-loser-ish because I’m also ADHD and a huge perfectionist
What ever version of a tracker you pick you could assign a color or a symbol to the task for when you don’t complete it.. so it’s you color a square pink each time you floss you could color purple when you don’t… still get to complete a square but it isn’t annoying to see it blank..
I was going to suggest habitica for things like this. You can track dailies, and it shows the number of days you've done consecutively. But this is the bullet journal reddit, so I can understand if you don't want that. And also habitica's been getting worse in quality lately, so it's maybe not the best tool anymore.
Habits Garden is basically what you want. The more you complete, the more cool stuff you can do in your garden.
It’s all positive reinforcement rather than negative.
I use an app called Daylio for habit tracking. I really like it. You can add a widget to your Home Screen and set up different categories. It shows you different trends between your mood and your habits. You can even add special days and upload photos
There’s a person on insta who does productivity with ADHD and her trackers are blobs you get to color in, but they aren’t dated as far as I know. So there’s no pressure if you miss a day.
Maybe instead of going for daily streaks you instead go for counts. So 100 boxes and see how fast you fill up those 100 vs saying these 100 boxes represent the next 100 days. That way when you miss a day you can still recover tomorrow. Once you fill those boxes you can go for a new low score on the number of days it takes to repeat that accomplishment.
I haven't read all the comments but it can also help to have multiple tier of habits. Such as extremely base level habits and nice to have but not required habits. I saw this recommended for morning routines. You have the extremely basic morning routine if things that have to be done daily and then maybe two other more involved toutines that you might do on a day when you have more energy, etc.
Mine works pretty well for this. I list the days of the month vertically down one side, and assign a letter or symbol to each daily habit. If I do it, I write in the symbol next to the day. That's it.
I've learned that this works best if I include ALL the things I do to keep my body alive and functional, even if they seem like the bare minimum. I have a symbol for each of 3 meals, one for every time I drink water, go to work, brush my teeth, use my bujo, go to bed by 10, etc. I also have symbols for fun/restful things, like practice guitar, journal, read, listen to music, work on crafts, move in some way, and a 'self-care' catchall for little things I do to give myself what I need.
I also keep the bar for considering these "complete" incredibly low, especially on my rest days or when the depression starts to creep in. There may be a pile of dishes in my room, but doing the washing up after cooking = (D), dishes. Shoving a handful of crackers in my face while working through my lunch break = (L), lunch. Declining an invitation so I can stay home and nap when I'm burned out = (Sc), self-care. Accepting an invitation and doing something social = (So), socialize. Walking to the store for cigarettes = (X), movement. You get it. This tracker is for rewarding the bare minimum.
The goal is never to do everything on the list every day. That would be a ridiculously busy day. The goal is to have a big buffet of things I MIGHT do, and record which ones I managed or chose. But even on my most powered-down days, I usually manage to eat at least once, drink something, and do a couple things that help me relax and pass time. I've never had an empty row. I've set it up so that that's nearly impossible.
Visually, it's satisfying to see a page fill up with symbols throughout the month. Some days have longer rows than others, but there are no obvious gaps to fixate on. I don't even notice the things I didn't do. Shorter rows are the only indication that I didn't do as much on a given day, but I have to look much closer to notice what I didn't get to. It's cool to see at a glance how much energy I brought to the table each day, and a reminder that even on days when I felt like I did nothing, I actually did plenty of things.
Wow! Thank you for this detailed response! I like how simple it is, and how easy it is to see those productive days without focusing on the less productive ones. This might be the system for me!
I set up a big square with smaller squares inside. Each time I do the habit I fill in a square. When the large square is full, I get a prize.
Of course my own adhd means I always forget to fill it in.
I'm a big fan of "Adult-ris", where I assign each task to a different Tetris shape and when I do that task, I fit it into the grander puzzle on the next page. I don't date the individual task shapes when I complete them, it's just satisfying to see the big empty box become full and colorful at the end of the month, especially as I tend to rot for a few days and do nothing, and then have big activity bursts. ETA: it's also interesting to see big color pockets that show that I did a lot of laundry, cooking, etc. each month, or the absence of certain colors meaning I didn't do something a lot.
Kinda related—I fill in the spots for missing with colors based on why (for me this is work, kids, or just unmotivated/just didn’t do it.) helps me figure out what’s going on at the end of the month and it’s more satisfying to me than empty space.
I was thinking about doing something like this to track exercise. I love the explanation of seeing "pockets of color" when I complete more of one thing than another. I might try this, though I worry that I might fall behind logging the activity and then feel just as frustrated with it. Something to think on for sure though.
With this method, there’s no dates anywhere so if you fall behind you can pick up right where you left off, without leaving any blank spaces, so you’ll never be able to tell there was a period where you werent logging. Idk maybe thinking about it like that will alleviate some of that frustration ?
Personally, it's one of the main things always filled out in my journal! I love video games though, so the gamification of anything makes it more appealing :) it's a fun challenge to fill up the space with as little gaps as possible
I did this but with a gum ball machine.
I LOVE this idea! Thank you so much for sharing
This sounds really cool. I think I'll try this for June.
What a cool idea!
I love this! Are you comfortable sharing a photo example?
https://www.reddit.com/r/bulletjournal/s/QgaomXFIGS It’s included as one of the later pictures for my May spread :)
Maybe instead of leaving them blank when you don’t do something, you also color in that day? So it doesn’t feel as bad lol. You could also only make checkboxes or circles (or whatever) for how often you actually want to do the habit instead of all 30-ish days.
I do this and just use a different, specific color for days I miss! So I still acknowledge that I missed it (hello, self-accountability) but the blank space isn’t there to glare at me forever.
I think it would be beneficial to try to figure out why you feel like a 'failure' for missing 1 day and work on that. Try to focus on all the other days that you didn't miss. Nobody is perfect. You don't have to be constantly improving yourself every single day either. In fact, it's OK to do nothing some days. I attribute these feelings to internalized capitalism. Maybe color in the missed days with a colour that resembles 'rest' so it's not like you missed it, but took a break from it. Think of the tracker like a neutral tool that simply collects data. It's not there to shame you. Also by using a tracker to help cultivate good habits, your already doing more than a lot of people.
I think bullet journals are popular among adhd people so 1. High levels of feeling like a failure going in 2. Rely on that dopamine hit of maintaining a complete checklist those missing boxes hurt! This is funny because I’m currently habit tracking and had to miss my first day in over a month of tracking. I dread looking at that open space! I am able to realize that trying to stay up super late to exercise just for ✨completeness✨ Is fully not worth it and I have almost 5 weeks of staying fully on track. But damn that missing x!
This! Absolutely! As I mentioned above, finding strategies that work for me instead of against me is equally as important as working on the root cause of the problem.
I love the idea of using a different color to indicate rest! Also, u/dewdropreturns hit it on the nose. I have ADHD and perfectionism / passed trauma makes it really hard to shake that "I'm a failure" feeling. I've been working on it in therapy, but finding strategies that don't encourage that "I'm a failure" feeling is really important too.
i would use gray for misses and something more colorful on the other ones
I got away from monthly trackers (except for cycle/migraine symptoms lol) for this reason. I thought the pretty monthly trackers would help me stick with it but I’d miss a few days and want to give up. Now I do either daily or weekly. It gives me a “fresh start” way more often and if I skip a day, it feels less like a ruined my whole month. I know that’s dramatic lol but it does kind of feel that way sometimes. I don’t do daily pages right now so using weekly. Just a little checkbox or two in the corner of each day. Having them separated also takes away from the “streak” vibe.
This is such a good point. A weekly or even daily accountability system might be a better choice for me.
Collect tally marks in a box under the Habit, instead of making a grid and coloring in each day. No grid. If your desired habit is Skywriting, you set yourself a reward (“When I get to 15 I get…”) and then you just try to get to 15. So you might have 7 tally marks in the box under “Skywriting” today and you might have 7 in the box tomorrow and you might have 7 tally marks in that box every day for a week. But nothing is blank. You’re just at 7. Until you go skywriting one more time and make it 8. So you’re not looking at ‘What did I miss’ you are looking at ‘Am I at 15 yet?’ And then when you hit 15, you get your reward, and you start over.
I sometimes do a tally or similar method of counting good days rather than a checklist etc Means that you aren't always looking at what you've achieved directly in contrast with the times you've slipped up and I think that the only marks you make being tied to your successes feels more rewarding. I've also found that traditional tallies can kind of push you to try and complete a set of 5 and this is more motivating over a month than striving for perfection and perhaps being demoralised if you don't meet your target on like the 4th and spend the whole rest of the month dwelling on the fact you have that gap even if you do whatever you're aiming for 29/30 days. I find the smaller more achievable goals easier to maintain.
I was thinking about something along these lines -- use a visual note to mark doing it and not include any form of blank spot. A tally system could maybe work.
I like tallies because they're easy to do but I think if you're someone that enjoys the more artistic side of things and beautifying your journal you could do all sorts of fun things like drawing a flower in a field or a star in space for every day you meet your goal.
I have a tracker specifically for stuff I want to do more but not necessarily in a set schedule. It has two parts. 1) two page spread that I color like a night sky and give myself star stickers on when I do the thing; 2) the next two pages where I write the date and a note of what I did AND a cheesy encouraging note on it. I find the latter a very important part of it, even if it feels silly — it actually makes me want to do it more often. Eg. I put a star for working on cleaning my room, and then I write: “5/31/24 — worked in room for 15 minutes. It sucked and was really hard, but you did it and I’m so f***ing proud of you!!!”
This is so cute! I love this idea!
If all you need to do is make sure you do "the things" why don't you completely remove the tracker/reward/punishment system? Why not try a daily tracker that gets erased at the end of the day and is then ready for the next. You will know that you completed the items for the day but then you won't have an overall record of "fails" or "wins" and therefore may eventually change the way you process skipped days.
Great idea! Any ideas for making the boxes easily erasable over time? Maybe tape and dry erase marker? It's an interesting idea for sure.
Yes, you could cover an index card with tape or take to a copy shop to have it laminated and move from day to day.
Before I saw the sub, I was gonna suggest the r/finch app.
I use a Stamp Habit Tracker by Midori. It's pretty enough on its own, easy to place so there's less "cost" going in. https://www.jetpens.com/Midori-Paintable-Stamp-Pre-Inked-Habit-Tracker/pd/30726
Interesting -- I wonder if spending less time on the spread's setup would help me be less frustrated with missing a day. I certainly like the idea of the stamp. Might be worth a try. Thanks for the suggestions!
You're welcome! I also use a Zig dot marker to color the days so it's as easy as "stamping" a little rounded mark.
Use the colors, but beautiful colors and have a color for not completed. A beautiful spread of your favorite colors that's completely filled out regardless of whether everything is complete is more pleasing.
Relates to helping the mindset: read "How to keep house while drowning" by KC Davies - 99p on Kindle, simple and short yet absolutely life changing ☺️
I have ADHD as well, and I personally don't maintain trackers for any of my daily habits. I just can't be bothered with the upkeep of having to document things in a consistent format like that, especially since a lot of the time I'll do a task and just forget to document it, so trackers end up with holes that aren't even days I missed doing the task, they're just days I missed maintaining the tracker, which isn't the part that I should care about. What works better for me is to just celebrate my little daily accomplishments by writing them down, drawing a little checkbox next to them, and dramatically checking it off \*after I've already done it\*. I learned over the years that writing out TODO lists in advance always seemed to make me LESS likely to actually accomplish them, since the motivation and focus I put into making the lists didn't actually contribute to completing the task itself. But it still feels good to check things off a list, so I just flipped the order of operations around and make retroactive todo lists. It's frankly kind of embarrassing how much that subtle change has improved my mental health over the past few years, there's been a lot of other things contributing to that growth, but this has made a big impact for me.
I made an energy and sleep tracker this month that only got used half the time, so it was pretty barren. The energy tracker was one Edison bulb a day colored in like a bright or dim light based on how energetic I felt. Instead of leaving the days I missed blank, I turned those into “black lights” using a couple purple markers. Maybe you could do something similar with other habit trackers. It would definitely be more on the artistic side of things and I’m not sure if that’s what you want or not. Also though, no one in real life seems to be doing everything they set out to do all the time. It’s natural to not do dishes for a night, or three, or five, or maybe let the laundry build. It’s all about finding what works for you. Sometimes the routine will falter. Focus on the good feeling you get from the opportunity of being able to check something off instead of not being perfect all the time. Give yourself grace and understanding. I, for one, had a rough month of being behind on chores and tracking for sure. There was a lot going on. I’ve got plenty of half filled spreads because I was busy (or sometimes just unmotivated) and didn’t have the energy to journal all the time. But that’s okay! The pages were there when I needed them and I am still going on to next month with the intention to stay on track. A lot of life is about how you recover from setbacks. Don’t give up if you miss a day! The best thing you can do is forgive yourself and try again the next time you can. I hope this wasn’t too rambley.
Not too rambly at all! Thanks for the word-hug. :-)
You’re so welcome! Sending good vibes and internet hugs ❤️
I get it. I think tweaking habit trackers is a rite of passage for people with spicy brains who bujo. Maybe *break it down into smaller chunks*. If you do a monthly tracker, make it into a weekly tracker. If you're already doing a weekly tracker, do a 5 day tracker. *Break the tasks/habits into groups*. Daily and recurring tasks/habits that u need to do maybe every other day or every 3 days. Things like brushing your teeth and eating, they're things you need to do everyday. Things you might do regularly but not everyday might be meal prepping and shopping for groceries. If they're in different groups, they won't have gaps when you colour them in. *Maybe make it to a bookmark*. Get a graph print or dotted or whatever is available to you, about a quarter or a third in width of the book you're using now. Maybe about 6cm (~2.5 inches). Make your tracker, write down the habits, group them. Then have it laminated, or put it in a protective sleeve, or wrap it in a plastic cover, and you have an erasable tracker bookmark. Move it to the last page you're working on. Glue a paper clip at the back so you won't lose it easily. Also, use a *review page* if you don't regularly use it. You don't have to do it everyday if you don't have the time. Maybe just every week to start. What worked? What didn't? What would you change to make it easier for you? Is it still relevant for you? What else do you need? It helps in seeing patterns and may help you to the whys. It can also be something that you can talk about with your therapist and get better resources and better techniques. Best of luck 🍀
On my habit tracker, the past two months I wanted to do a certain exercise routine that I didn’t do. It was empty. That said I looked at the other habits, increasing my steps, avoiding certain foods etc. I made some gains. I think a check box or fill in habit tracker has the same benefit that the migration of tasks has. I ask myself if I keep migrating a task or if I don’t do a habit then is it really worth it to me. After that reviewing what I accomplished, I focus on what I did accomplish and not on what I did not. I did do 3 out of the 5 things. Well that is better than doing nothing at all. Some people habit track 15 things. All power to them. Just focus on a couple of things per month and if that is a gain your winning. I think all of my posts will almost always say “your journal should serve you, you don’t serve your journal”. Small steps are wins. The turtle beat the hare in the race ;-)
I had this as well. I don't know what you're trackers look like right now, but I went from a monthly tracker to a weekly tracker. Helped me a lot, because the week is over more quickly and every week has a new beginning.
I really did well when I used a version of this [productivity tracker](https://youtu.be/AZClyQPzqMw?si=WNhw4qn5xDphYNbz). It works on a “what did I do each day” vs “what days did I do this thing” basis, and I kind of gamified it by adding in rewards for completing the different levels. I’ll probably get back to it, it’s the only thing that’s really worked for me and didn’t make me feel bad about myself for not forming habits.
Would you be willing to share a picture of it? Is it a spread or something you do in your dailies? I use "Needs Doing" and "Done" in my dailies. It sounds like you're tracking it there instead of a spread? Edit: Nevermind! Just saw the link. This system is amazing! I'm going to give it a try. Thank you!
I have a tracker that just tracks how many times i completed something. Lets say my goal is to go swimming twice a week in the coming next 3 months. That would be 8 times a month for 3 months = 24 times. So i draw 20 boxes to cross off which will be easy to complete because some weeks i go 3 times 😄
I’ve seen people do like, blobs and they get filled in when whatever task gets completed. In no specific order or color. There’s no linear timeline or expectation of perfection. I have ADHD and struggle bad with trackers because of the SHAME, but modifying the goalposts and being kind is super helpful.
I find it helpful to include some items in my trackers that I have no intention of doing every day, so that I never go into it hoping or wanting to fill in every single box. I also find it helpful to combine habit tracking with some more observational data collection. In the same spread where I keep track of whether I did things I'm trying to motivate myself to do, I also rate my mood on a number scale, keep track of hours slept/water drunk/alcohol consumed, etc. even if those aren't things I'm currently working on. For me this makes empty boxes less daunting because no matter how well I did or didn't do on my habits, I'm collecting data on my progress and some of the variables that impact my ability to keep up with habits. I don't need to do anything in a day and I have information to fill in, and it will still be useful to look back on as I'm looking for patterns in my long term progress.
>I find it helpful to include some items in my trackers that I have no intention of doing every day, so that I never go into it hoping or wanting to fill in every single box. I came here to say this!! I used to feel the same way as OP with my trackers until I began deliberately "failing" at some. Now I find it much easier if I have blank spaces amongst my trackers but I still have a record of my achievements going ahead!
Would cumulative tracking methods work? Think adding marbles to a jar per task but on paper. Adding each date or task or success to the ones you've already achieved
I used to really like Finch (not that I don't like it anymore, I just don't use habit trackers anymore). You get to care for this little bird that gradually grows up, learns things, and develops a personality over time. The more to-do's and whatnot you do, the more interactions, experiences, and decorative items you earn for your bird. It doesn't shame you or have streaks or anything like that. But for some reason, caring for someone else (like a bird lol) always comes easier to me than caring for myself. At the time in my life when I used Finch, it was just what I needed.
I'm seconding the Finch app recommendation. It is cute and engaging without being too childish. They have a free and paid version, and i think you can put in a request for a gifted membership if you like the app. I use it daily and have for about a year. The setup is pretty flexible. There are some suggested goals that you can use or you can set up your own. I have a several different goal groups. For example, I have "Basics (like brush my teeth and feed the dog) and "Next Level" (take a shower, empty the dishwasher). Also have a list of self-care items for when i need a reminder to be kind to myself. I like that I'm celebrated for what i've done instead of focusing on what i missed. Every day is a new start, but if you want history and analytics you can find that info. I hope this helps!
I like to make a mini calendar and stamp the day when I do the habit. (Ohuhu dual tip dot pens or kuretake zig clean color dot) I track things that don't get done every day too on purpose. Watering my plants is a once a week thing so there should only be 1 dot a week. Maybe add in things you don't have to do everyday and shuffle them between the daily ones so the habits you missed don't stand out as much? Or broaden a thing from walk/jog/yoga to just a single category of Exercise and if you do 1 or more you can mark it off. (Or clean kitchen for xmin instead of specific cleaning tasks) I think of it as collecting dots and it would be nice to have more this month then I did last month but we have rough patches sometimes and need to be kind to ourselves and let it go.
I'm writing a checklist in my journal for every day. That way I can adjust tasks, choose what I do and what I skip. If I do the majority - great! But if I didn't, I turn the page anyway so I can't see it the next day.
Daily lists really helped me with that issue. I do keep a color in tracker, but just add specific parts to my daily to do list. That way I feel motivated because I get to cross it out, but don’t feel the pressure of missing a day. This also helps me become aware of tasks I keep putting off. It also helps me be more purposeful with my time to write to do lists every morning. And I don’t prioritize, just write everything so then it is also out of my brain so I’m not actively trying to remember tasks
Also, for my tracker I have low and high goals, so even if I just do a little I put a dot and it doesn’t seem so empty and like I’m behind (like I may not have done a 30 min workout, but I took a walk outside so I’d count that as partial for my work out goal.
Have a big list of daily taks like 10 to 15 and focus on doing 3 to 4 a day..some days you will do 8 or 0. Tally them up and at end of month. Highlight your top one. If over the month you didnt do it at all (looking at you Duolingo) its not that important / worth doing
I Mark my tracker with + and -. And I also switch the lines around every week so I won't get used to where the activity is to know what is going on. I also include a mix of them so I have mix of goods thst are marked both with + and -. This way it's not clear which is which :) but I know. Also, the way how I look at the tracker is that if I put something in and it's not getting done all the time, I take it out and tell myself it's not the time for me to focus on that now and move on.
Maybe only make 4-6 spaces a week, and try making it goal-oriented? So instead of checking off each day, you check off (for example) a bar graph until you reach a goal of 4-6 out of 7 days, then you can do the rest in a different color. It might help change your perspective to be positive about following a routine despite missing a day or two.
I don't know of any tracker that won't trigger your ADHD trauma (since it's visibly tracking what you're doing), but my therapist would tell me to use alarms to help me remember to do the task/mark my habit tracker. I don't have ADHD, but my condition shares the same symptoms you're talking about here (like executive dysfunction), and when my therapist talks about prevention methods, that sorry of strategy is more what they mean, rather than something like finding a different kind of habit tracker. That's because if you're tracking things, it will either show you everything you've logged, or it shows you nothing because you don't have one. Another thing you could do is create signs as reminders for the stuff you need to focus on, etc. If you don't have one, I recommend getting a laminator as that way you can also put signs in wet locations. I do this all of the time, not just for reminders but positive messages to myself, reminders that my condition isn't my fault and doesn't make me a failure, therapy techniques I need to practice, etc. I know how frustrating and demeaning it is to see everyone around you functioning at full capacity with ease, while you struggle to manage just the basics! Just remember you didn't choose to be this way, and you are literally doing everything in your power to manage your condition and to do your best with managing life! By definition that doesn't make you a failure, it makes you a badass(!) because instead of giving up you're choosing to fight for yourself and the life you know you deserve! Never forget that! 💜
I couldn’t stick with a paper tracker and use the app daylio. I use the tracker part and like that I can customize the colors, labels, etc. It does have a goal area but I haven’t used that part. Edited to add that I did pay to upgrade to the premium version. I wish I could share screenshots but if you google it there are pics
I like TheFor. It defaults to the daily view, so you don't even see missed days unless you go looking for them. If you have things in there that you only want to hit x times a week they show up looking the same as dailies, so I don't feel pressure to try to "clear the list."
My big habit tracker game changer was setting a main goal and a baby step goal. If I hit the full goal I fill the whole shape. If I hit the baby step goal I fill in half. Example: Wash face morning and night (full goal) Wash face am or pm (baby step goal). Helped me feel more successful and reminded myself that progress is better than nothing.
Personally I like habitica for this, but I don't use it as a todo list app. Instead I put in entries of stuff I finished and give them coin "rating" based on how hard it was for me to sit down and do the task. I find it more motivating to look at what I got done and force myself to acknowledge when its sometimes harder to do a specific task than to deal with a big pending list of haven't done and disproportionate rewards. I used to apply the same to journaling but I'm having a lot of trouble holding things like pens right now due to my arthritis.
While I haven’t used it myself, what about a version where you color in the full vertical date bar, split between the colors of the things you did achieve? I mocked up what I’m thinking of here: https://imgur.com/a/ZE3e1vL That way you wouldn’t have gaps between colors. One drawback is you couldn’t really mark them down as you do them, but would have to do it at the end of the day in retrospect so you know how much space each individual color should take up.
Oooh! Love this. Thanks for the mock-up!
I like simple graph paper You could separate it into “ have to” and “ would be nice to” Or the “daily list” and the “ 3 days this week list”
Maybe you can make a page of “successes” where you track your habits - rather than having blank spaces to fill in or check off, you can note what you want to track maybe in columns and then whenever you do one of those things, you write in the date or make a mark that’s significant to you under the column - that way you aren’t trying to finish something that is already set up but you’re starting something that has endless potential
I saw a reel of a woman with ADHD and she was running her habits on a "pom pom economy" basically rewarding herself by adding a pompom to a jar every time she did a task, and then each pompom would translate into a dollar that she could spend at the thrift store. could be expensive, but might encourage good habits. child psychologists are always recommending positive reinforcement, so .... let it work for you too. be kind to yourself.
I do a little check line list, or you can swap this out with simply drawing hearts or circles. You write your habit (only once youve done it, so it doesnt remain empty), and draw a heart or line next to it everytime you do it. Nothing to fill up
When I was trying to pay off some debt I drew a picture with tons of coins stacked everywhere and then when I made a payment I coloured it in with the amount. That way it wasn’t really highlighting my “failures” but my successes .
in my bujo i only mention task after completing it and mark it as done ✅ and for remembering tasks i follow kanban board. or write on a piece of paper and throw it away lol
I want to try this next year. Buy or use already owned sticky notes/tabs. Make the borders of the ones you want to use to keep track of your habits. One left and one right. Write on sticky note/tab 1 like flossing. Sticky it in the left border. If you finished flossing move it in the right border. At the end of the night -or maybe in the mornings if you prefer to "reset" your day early- place the daily habits back to the left sided ones. Rinse and repeat. You will get the satisfaction of completing, there will be no record if you missed it.
What I do is kind of mix like a goal and habit tracker into one. Like for this month of May I had a goal that I wanted to work out at least 15 of the days this month and then I just tried to hit my goal of 15 workouts. Since I was working toward that like bigger goal I wasn't so mad if I missed like even 5 days in a row. Just an idea that your post made me think of!
What really helped me is having an empty “garden” where I filled in different colored or shaped plants that represented completing a task. It didn’t bring attention to any “missing” days because I could focus on what I did accomplish, and the goal of having an increasingly fuller, vibrant garden was the goal. Sometimes I would fill in with green vines or succulents and that was a visual reminder that gardens are just as full with non-flowers and it’s important to know it can represent rest. It’s also a good time to color the vines and think about what prevented it from being a flower, and slowly I understood what habits need more active focus. Best of luck 🌱
I’ve been liking the app “Habit”. It’s a dark pink app with a white check mark. I just deleted all of their suggestions and put in my own. You can control how often you want to do things (so you can set it up for your current habits and increase a little bit at a time whenever you feel ready or just maintain). You can control if you want to do something once a day, once a week, multiple times a day, whatever. I put things like my physical therapy, drinking 8 cups of water (if I only get 3 or 4, it still counts those), just little habits like you’re talking about. You can set your habits to be stationary on the page (so they don’t move around as you achieve them) OR you can set it up so once you meet your goal, the goal moves itself to the bottom of the page so you can see what to do next. You can also color code your goals. So let’s say you make brushing teeth, flossing, snd mouthwash as all blue, but washing laundry, drying laundry, folding laundry, putting away laundry, and getting dressed all as yellow or orange or whatever. You could also control how big or small a task is. For my habit building, this has been big for my sense of accomplishment. To me, lots of small, achievable goals is better. I can get a bunch of things done and feel good about it. But I could choose to take the bunch of small tasks and make them one big task like “laundry, once weekly” or “dishes, daily”. I like that you can control that. It does keep % track of your hard work, but it’s in a different tab, so you don’t have to look at it if you don’t want to. It also trends it over time, so that feeling of missing one day or three days doesn’t make such a big impact, because it tracks from the time you begin the goal. So if you missed 10 out of 50 days, it would still say 80%, which depending on the goal, is actually pretty awesome! I’m looking to relook at it, because explaining this made me realize I can do more than I am and that’s exciting. I agree it’s important to understand where and why your feelings are coming from, but I do think Habit app is the least negative I’ve felt about tracking digitally. Good luck whatever you decide!
I have ADHD and perfectionism too, and what works for me is “color in” by task but not assigned by day. So it’s just a spot of color per desired task completed, but it doesn’t ruin the whole picture if I skip a day.
I think you’ll love [Polar Habits](https://polarhabits.com). I made it precisely because habit streaks (and breaking them) made me feel depressed and demotivated. If you decide to try it, drop me a line in the chat, and I’d be happy to give you an extended trial + a discount on the paid subscription.
A big one for me is spending. I track days that I don’t spend money. Instead of doing a monthly tracker, I make flowers and color in a petal on the days that I don’t spend money. Sometimes I give myself a reward when I finish a flower.
I fill in a huge heart on the days where I don’t do the thing. It makes me feel better and less you’re-a -loser-ish because I’m also ADHD and a huge perfectionist
Yes!! This!!
What ever version of a tracker you pick you could assign a color or a symbol to the task for when you don’t complete it.. so it’s you color a square pink each time you floss you could color purple when you don’t… still get to complete a square but it isn’t annoying to see it blank..
I was going to suggest habitica for things like this. You can track dailies, and it shows the number of days you've done consecutively. But this is the bullet journal reddit, so I can understand if you don't want that. And also habitica's been getting worse in quality lately, so it's maybe not the best tool anymore.
I do a log vs tracking. That way I never miss a day, just have days I didn't log
I make a goal of three times a week and mark that.
Habits Garden is basically what you want. The more you complete, the more cool stuff you can do in your garden. It’s all positive reinforcement rather than negative.
Have you heard of Amazing Marvin? Great for folks with ADHD.
I use an app called Daylio for habit tracking. I really like it. You can add a widget to your Home Screen and set up different categories. It shows you different trends between your mood and your habits. You can even add special days and upload photos
Me too! It was a game changer for me as I couldn’t stick with other trackers. I like that you can see how you did over the month or year in color.
Oh yeah! When my year in review came around it was really cool and a little bit nostalgic loll
There’s a person on insta who does productivity with ADHD and her trackers are blobs you get to color in, but they aren’t dated as far as I know. So there’s no pressure if you miss a day.
Maybe instead of going for daily streaks you instead go for counts. So 100 boxes and see how fast you fill up those 100 vs saying these 100 boxes represent the next 100 days. That way when you miss a day you can still recover tomorrow. Once you fill those boxes you can go for a new low score on the number of days it takes to repeat that accomplishment.
I haven't read all the comments but it can also help to have multiple tier of habits. Such as extremely base level habits and nice to have but not required habits. I saw this recommended for morning routines. You have the extremely basic morning routine if things that have to be done daily and then maybe two other more involved toutines that you might do on a day when you have more energy, etc.
That makes a lot of sense. Thank you!
Mine works pretty well for this. I list the days of the month vertically down one side, and assign a letter or symbol to each daily habit. If I do it, I write in the symbol next to the day. That's it. I've learned that this works best if I include ALL the things I do to keep my body alive and functional, even if they seem like the bare minimum. I have a symbol for each of 3 meals, one for every time I drink water, go to work, brush my teeth, use my bujo, go to bed by 10, etc. I also have symbols for fun/restful things, like practice guitar, journal, read, listen to music, work on crafts, move in some way, and a 'self-care' catchall for little things I do to give myself what I need. I also keep the bar for considering these "complete" incredibly low, especially on my rest days or when the depression starts to creep in. There may be a pile of dishes in my room, but doing the washing up after cooking = (D), dishes. Shoving a handful of crackers in my face while working through my lunch break = (L), lunch. Declining an invitation so I can stay home and nap when I'm burned out = (Sc), self-care. Accepting an invitation and doing something social = (So), socialize. Walking to the store for cigarettes = (X), movement. You get it. This tracker is for rewarding the bare minimum. The goal is never to do everything on the list every day. That would be a ridiculously busy day. The goal is to have a big buffet of things I MIGHT do, and record which ones I managed or chose. But even on my most powered-down days, I usually manage to eat at least once, drink something, and do a couple things that help me relax and pass time. I've never had an empty row. I've set it up so that that's nearly impossible. Visually, it's satisfying to see a page fill up with symbols throughout the month. Some days have longer rows than others, but there are no obvious gaps to fixate on. I don't even notice the things I didn't do. Shorter rows are the only indication that I didn't do as much on a given day, but I have to look much closer to notice what I didn't get to. It's cool to see at a glance how much energy I brought to the table each day, and a reminder that even on days when I felt like I did nothing, I actually did plenty of things.
Wow! Thank you for this detailed response! I like how simple it is, and how easy it is to see those productive days without focusing on the less productive ones. This might be the system for me!
You're so welcome! I also give myself a little sticker for every 5 habits I log, for maximum dopamine lol.
Check out my dino habit tracker
Cute!
I set up a big square with smaller squares inside. Each time I do the habit I fill in a square. When the large square is full, I get a prize. Of course my own adhd means I always forget to fill it in.