Walking habit tracker

Walking is the habit with almost no barrier to entry. No gym, no kit, no class to book — you just need shoes and a door. That's also what makes it easy to skip: because you could walk any time, there's never a moment when you have to. A walking habit works when you stop relying on "any time" and give it a place in your day.

About the 10,000 steps

The 10,000-step target is a round number that caught on, not a line where walking starts to count. For most people, walking more than they do now is worthwhile whatever the total. If you have a health condition or your doctor has given you a target, go with that.

For a habit, the right number is one you can hit on an ordinary day. If you usually do 4,000 steps, jumping straight to 10,000 is a recipe for a broken streak by Wednesday. Try this instead:

• Find your baseline. Look at your phone's step count for the last week and take the average.
• Add about 1,000. That's ten minutes or so of extra walking.
• Hold it for two weeks, then raise it again if it feels easy.

You can name your habit whatever fits — "Walk 6,000 steps" is a perfectly good habit on the way to a bigger one.

Build walking into the day you already have

The walks that last are the ones attached to something you already do:

• Walk the first or last part of your commute. Get off one stop early, or park at the far end of the car park.
• Take calls on foot. A 30-minute phone call is 3,000 steps you'd otherwise spend sitting.
• A walk after lunch or dinner. Ten minutes around the block is a natural pause, and easy to share with someone.
• Walk to one errand a day. The shop, the post office, the coffee place.

Short walks add up. Three ten-minute walks are as good for a daily habit as one half-hour one, and much easier to fit in on a busy day.

When the weather or the day gets in the way

Walking habits usually break on the rainy days and the long ones. Plan for both before they happen:

• Keep a rain version. A good coat by the door, a walk around an indoor shopping centre, or pacing during calls.
• Have a minimum. On a bad day, a single 10-minute walk still counts. It keeps the chain alive and that matters more than the total.
• Walk earlier. Steps done before lunch can't be cancelled by an evening that runs late.

If you miss a day anyway, the rule that helps most is to never miss twice in a row. One missed walk is nothing; two starts to become the new normal.

Tracking your walking habit

Crek doesn't count steps — your phone or watch already does that well. What it does is keep the part your step counter doesn't: a simple yes or no for each day, and a streak that shows whether walking is actually becoming a habit.

Check your step count in the evening, and if you hit your number, tick the day off. If you walked but forgot to mark it, fill the day in afterwards — the record is for you, so make it honest. After a few weeks the calendar tells you which days slip, and that's usually where one small change (a walk at lunch on Thursdays, say) makes the biggest difference.

Walking also pairs well with other habits. A walk after dinner is a good moment to drink a glass of water or listen to the book you're reading, and a morning walk is an easy thing to do once you wake up early.

Start today

Add "Walk 10,000 steps" to the free habit tracker — or your own number — and tick off today once you get there. There's nothing to download and no account needed; sign in later if you want your streak on your phone as well.