Crek
Habit tracker

Habit tracker ideas worth keeping.

30 small habits, each one you can answer yes or no to at the end of the day. Pick one or two — not ten — and start tracking them now.

Health

The body first: water, movement and sleep carry most of the rest.

  • Drink 8 glasses of waterDaily

    The easiest habit to understand and the easiest to forget by mid-afternoon.

    Track

  • Work outMon · Wed · Fri

    Three fixed days a week is a rhythm; "when I have time" isn't.

    Track

  • Walk 10,000 stepsDaily

    A round number to aim at. Any walk you would not otherwise have taken counts.

    Track

  • Stretch for 10 minutesDaily

    Ten minutes before bed or after sitting all day, and nothing to set up.

    Track

  • In bed by 11Daily

    A bedtime is the one sleep habit you can actually decide on.

    Track

  • Wake up at 6Daily

    Works best tracked alongside a bedtime — the evening is where it's won.

    Track

  • No added sugarDaily

    A clear yes or no each day, which is what makes it trackable.

    Track

  • Take vitaminsDaily

    Tiny, but a streak makes "did I take them today?" a question you can answer.

    Track

  • Go for a runMon · Wed · Fri

    Rest days are part of it; a Mon/Wed/Fri streak never breaks on a Tuesday.

    Track

Mind

Quieter habits, mostly about attention — and about putting the phone down.

Learning and people

Small daily amounts that add up to a skill, and the people worth calling.

  • Read 20 pagesDaily

    Twenty pages a day is roughly a book every two weeks.

    Track

  • Practise a languageDaily

    A few minutes daily beats an hour on Sundays — that's the whole trick.

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  • Practise an instrumentDaily

    Short, daily practice is how every musician got there.

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  • Study for an hourDaily

    An hour at the same time each day, and exam season stops being a crisis.

    Track

  • Write 500 wordsDaily

    500 words a day is a novel's first draft in about six months.

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  • Call familySun

    Once a week, on Sunday, so it never slides to "I should call".

    Track

Home

Ten-minute habits that keep the house from becoming a weekend project.

  • Make the bedDaily

    Done in two minutes, and the first thing you'll have finished today.

    Track

  • Tidy up for 10 minutesDaily

    Ten minutes a day, and the weekend is yours again.

    Track

  • Cook dinner at homeDaily

    Better for your budget and usually for you. Count it when you cook, not when it's perfect.

    Track

  • Water the plantsWed · Sat

    Twice a week, on the days you pick — the sort of thing a streak is good at remembering.

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  • Plan the week aheadSun

    Sunday, ten minutes: what's coming up, and which habits slipped.

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Money

Habits you can tick off in a minute that decide how the month ends.

  • No-spend dayDaily

    Not every day — just a streak of the days you managed it.

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  • Log what I spentDaily

    A minute each evening, and the month has no surprises.

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  • Move money to savingsMonthly · 1st

    Once a month, on the 1st, before the money finds somewhere else to go.

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  • Pay the billsMonthly · 1st

    Monthly, so a missed one shows up as an empty square rather than a late fee.

    Track

How to choose which habits to track

The best habit tracker ideas share three things. They’re actions, not outcomes — “walk 10,000 steps” is something you do today; “get fit” is something that happens later, and a tracker full of things you can’t tick yet is just discouraging. They’re small enough for a bad day, because the bad days are the ones that decide whether a habit survives. And they have a clear yes or no: at the end of the day you know whether you did it, without having to think.

If a habit on this list sounds too big, shrink it before you start. “Read 20 pages” can be “read one page”; “work out” can be “put on trainers”. You can grow it once showing up is automatic — there’s more on that in how to build a habit that sticks.

Start with one, then stack

Choose the one idea above that would make the biggest difference if you did it every day, and track only that for a couple of weeks. When it stops needing effort, add the next — ideally attached to the first: after the glass of water, the vitamins; after the journal, the gratitude list. That’s habit stacking, and it’s the easiest way to grow a routine without starting from scratch each time.

Daily, weekly and monthly ideas

Most of these are daily, but not all. Running and the gym sit on Monday, Wednesday and Friday; calling family is a Sunday habit; savings and bills are the 1st of the month. The free tracker on the habit tracker page keeps things simple with daily habits. A free account lets any habit repeat on the weekdays you choose or once a month, and its streak only counts the days it was due — so a rest day never breaks it.

Prefer paper? Every idea here fits on the printable habit tracker or the Google Sheets template.

Questions

What are good habits to track?

Ones you control and can answer yes or no to each day: drink 8 glasses of water, read 20 pages, walk 10,000 steps, in bed by 11. Track the action, not the result — "walk every day" rather than "lose five kilos".

How many habits should I track at once?

Start with one to three. A short list you keep beats a long one you abandon in a week, and you can add another once the first ones stop needing effort.

Should every habit be daily?

No. The gym might be Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and paying the bills is once a month. In a free Crek account a habit can repeat daily, on the weekdays you choose, or monthly, and its streak only counts the days it was due.

Can I change a habit after I start tracking it?

Yes. Rename it, make it smaller or change its days whenever you like. Making a habit smaller so you can keep it is a good change, not a failure.