15 Popular Habits to Track in the New Year and Beyond

If you follow any kind of bullet journalist on Instagram, I’m sure you’ve seen habit tracker spreads. You know the ones I'm talking about. The grided spreads filled with different colors to represent different habits. There are so many kinds of habits to track that people — especially bullet journalists — are coming up with inventive ways to keep a record of them all.

You don’t have to be a bullet journalist to track habits. In fact, there are a ton of apps available to download on your phone. My personal favorite is Productive, though I’m hearing good things about Streaks as well. These apps are a great way to ease yourself into tracking habits if that’s something you’ve been itching to try.

What are some of the most popular habits to track?

If you're going to start tracking habits in the new year, the question you need to answer first is, “What habits am I going to track?” You may see some people track over 100 habits while others only track 10. When it comes to figuring out how many habits to track you need to be realistic.

No one says you need to track every single habit you do. In fact, tracking too many is a one-way ticket to overwhelm. If you’re new to habit tracking start small. No more than five. You can always add more once you get the hang of it. That’s why I wanted to share 15 habits you can start tracking in the new year. Each one is broken down into one of three categories: monthly, weekly, and daily.

Monthly habits to track

My monthly habits tend to revolve around my goals so they change month to month. If you want to keep habits simple, here are five popular ones you can track on a monthly basis.

Budget

Budget tracking has been growing in popularity, particularly since the pandemic. People are finding solace in keeping track of what they spend their money on and learning to save more. If you’ve been meaning to get a better grasp on your budget, it’s a great habit to track during the month.

One way you can track your budget is by giving yourself a limit to what you can spend per month. Say you don’t want to spend more than $300 on nonessential items. You can create a ladder grid where each box represents $10 or $100. As you spend, fill in one box. This way you can see when you’re getting closer to that budget line.

No alcohol

Another popular monthly habit is tracking your alcohol intake. This is most popular at the start of the new year as most people will have the resolution to drink less. You can create a similar ladder grid that you did for your budget. Say you want to have no more than five drinks for the month. Create five boxes and fill in each one every time you have a drink. If you exceed five, create a new box for each one you go over.

Cleaning

I’m going to get real nerdy with you right now. I have a quarterly, monthly, and weekly cleaning schedule. I’m not the type of person to clean when things get dirty. I like to maintain a clean house by following a schedule of my creation. You can do the same, though your schedule will look different than mine. If you want to get a peek at my weekly cleaning schedule, you can check out this post I wrote.

I tend to break my monthly cleaning list down into sizeable chunks. I do a little on Monday, some more on Tuesday, and so on. Once I finish everything, I can check off my cleaning habit for the month. You can do something similar or different. So long as you understand what you need to do, you’ll be fine.

No sugar

Like the no alcohol habit, no sugar is another one you can track monthly. You can choose to limit your sugar intake by a certain amount and create the ladder grid tracker. Or you can check off each day you don’t partake in anything that has sugar. This one requires a bit more research as you need to know what foods contain sugar and what don’t. But if you’re dedicated, you’ll make it work.

Unplug

Another popular habit is the unplug habit. If you want to spend more time off of your phone and/or social media, this habit is for you. Going cold turkey will be tough so instead, challenge yourself to go five days off of social media. You can do these days consecutively or split them up. Maybe every Sunday is your “Unplug Day.” If a whole day is too much to start, begin with an hour or two and then add time on as you grow more comfortable.

Weekly habits to track

Like my monthly habits, my weekly habits also revolve around my goals. But these five examples are great alternatives.

Blog

If you own a business or just like blogging in general, it’s a great habit to track on a weekly basis. The most popular blogs post at least one blog a week so tracking it is a great way to make sure you’re doing what you need to do. If you want to post more than once a week, go for it. So long as you schedule time in your week to write, edit, and prepare the post you should have no problem sticking with this habit.

Social Media

Businesses and companies know how important social media is. It’s a way to get your products or services in the eyes of potential customers. Tracking how often you post to social media is a great weekly habit. For example, in a week I like to post: 4 images, 1 Reel, and a check-in every morning on Stories. Your schedule might look different, but create one that is easy enough to commit to.

Workout

This one’s pretty obvious. Most people want to work out a few days a week so adding it to your habit tracker is a no-brainer. I do an at-home program that is three times a week. That means I have three squares representing each time. I try and work out the same day and time every week so it becomes its own habit. You should do the same. If you want to go to the gym three times a week, try and go on the same day and time.

Write

Writing is a great habit to track, especially on a weekly basis. Writers are learning that you don’t need to write every day to be a writer. Still, they do their best to. That’s why tracking it is a great help. It’s also a nice reminder that if you miss or day or two, you can go back and see all the other days you sat down and dedicated yourself to your art. V.E. Schwab tracks her writing in 30-minute sessions. Here is an example of how she does it.

Reading

I personally read every day, but not everyone does. That’s why I put reading on the weekly tracking list. You can choose to read a certain number of times per week. Or you can choose to read for 15 minutes every day. If you need more accountability, there's a great app called Bookly that you can download. You can time reading sessions and keep a database of all the books you've read.

Daily habits to track

I keep the number of my daily habits low. You don’t want too many otherwise you’ll feel overwhelmed to complete them all. Here are some daily habits you can choose to track.

Vitamins/Medication

Do you often forget to take your daily vitamins or medication? If so, add it to your daily habit tracker. Go one step further and set a reminder to go off on your phone. This way you’re double reminded. Once you take the vitamin or medication, you can check it off.

Journaling

If you’ve been following me for a while, you know that I journal every day. It’s where the One Page a Day method originated. If you’ve started the One Page a Day journaling method you might be too. That’s why adding it to your daily tracker is a good idea. This way you can see how many entries you’ve written on a consecutive basis. And since you won’t want to break the streak, you’re motivated to keep going. If journaling every day is unrealistic then track it weekly instead.

No spend

This daily habit can tie into your monthly budget tracker. I only track days when I spend money on nonessential items. For example, if I buy groceries I don’t check it off. But if I buy a new shirt, I do. This shows me how often I spend money on nonessential things. Then I can adjust my spending habits accordingly.

5-minute tidy

I like to spend five minutes before bed walking through my home and putting away anything that is out of place. It’s a nice way to end the day, knowing you’ve made strides in keeping your home clean. Depending on the size of your home it may take you 10 minutes. Whatever you do, don’t exceed 15-minutes. This nightly tidy is meant to be a calming task, not a chore.

Floss

I’m terrible at flossing. I just don’t like doing it. That’s why I track it, though I track it more on a weekly basis than a daily basis. Still, flossing is a great daily habit to track because of how often our dentists drill it into our heads. Whether you floss in the morning or at night, tracking it daily is a great idea.

If you want to start tracking habits, the first thing you should do is braindump a list of habits you want to track. Take 25 minutes and write down any habit that comes to mind. Try and write down habits you already do and then add ones you’re interested in.

And remember that you can always adjust your habits. If you find you don’t do a certain habit enough, ask yourself if it’s even worth it to track. If not, remove it. You only want to track habits that will improve your way of life.

Do you track your habits? Do you prefer tracking them on paper or on an app? What are some habits to track in the new year that I didn’t mention here?