March 15, 2023
How To | Track Your Habits
WORDS BY ANNABELLE RICKETTS for Emma Kate Co.
As we all start to settle into the new rhythms and routines of the new year, there is no better time than right now to cultivate new habits and set [achievable] goals.
Whether you identify as being more ‘free-spirited’ or more ‘meticulous’ in your organisation and planning, our planners are all designed with creative freedom in mind. Our intention has always been for these to be a canvas for you to design the perfect planner for you.
That being said, we’ve increasingly had requests from our community for more ‘tracking’ and goal-setting features to be included in our planner offering.And this has led us to create the much-loved Habit Tracker Sticky Note to the choose-your-own-adventure lineup of our planner accessories collection. In our 2022 collection, we have also released a brand new Expense Tracker notebook accessory, a.k.a. your best friend in helping you build good money habits and move closer to achieving your financial goals in the new year [and beyond].Here are some of our top tips on how to maximise our planner features and accessories to build, and track the habits you want to incorporate into your daily and weekly routine.
Use: Habit Tracker Sticky Note
Our Habit Tracker helps you to keep track of your daily habits and routines (for both building good, and breaking bad ones!) it’s intentionally designed for easily accessible yes/no style tracking, as well as documenting quantities.Some ideas to get you started:
- Hydration
- Meditation
- Workouts, daily walks/runs, or exercise classes
- Journalling
- Watering the plants
- Caffeine intake
- Hours of sleep
- Reading
- Medication
- Calling your mum
- Doing something kind!
Use: Three Boxes
Our weekly [signature vertical layout] spread planners all feature three boxes at the bottom of each day – these can be used to track more detailed things you might like to track daily, such as the number of steps you walked, your mood or emotions or how you feel physically; it’s great to use these in conjunction with the Habit Tracker Sticky Note. For example, you may notice patterns such as on the days when you have 3 coffees that you feel more anxious or dehydrated, or on days where you have 3 bottles full of water you have more energy and don’t experience any headaches. These boxes may also come in handy for:- Your top three priorities for the day
- Do-not-forgets
- Meal planning [eg. breakfast, lunch, dinner]
- …Or three things you’re grateful for each day!
Use: Monthly Spreads
The monthly spreads (found at the front of your planners) are useful for tracking topline goals and habits, or anything you want to have access to, within the wider context of a month.This type of overview tracking is useful for identifying patterns in your behaviours, habits and wellbeing. The monthly layout also lends itself well as a period and/or fertility tracker. It is also handy as a wellness tracker for staying in tune with any symptoms and conditions of the day (or you could track the overall feelings in the monthly spread, and add more specific detail into the corresponding day on your spread).
Use: Dot Grid Note Pages
The dot grid pages at the back of your planner – or our brain dump sticky note accessory – are quite literally a blank canvas that you can transform into an ultimate habit tracking mastersheet, incorporating any elements you find useful and motivating.If you’re needing some inspiration, we would recommend searching on Google or/ Pinterest ‘Bullet Journal ____ Tracker’ – and take inspiration from some base templates you find there. The bullet journal’s foundation is a dot grid, so our dot grid pages lend themselves perfectly to this customisable way of journaling, providing the perfect guide for drawing boxes and columns while still maintaining flexibility in layout.
Use: Expense Tracker
Our brand new expense tracker is the perfect companion in helping you work on your 2022 financial goals. It offers you a consolidated place to note down all of your income and expenses and ’s perfect for anyone who is looking for more structured guidance and accountability in keeping track of and evaluating your money habits. Plus, it fits perfectly into the expandable back pocket of your planner – making it easy to carry with you on-the-go.
And a final little note from us… if you haven’t already, make sure you take the time to reflect on not just what you want to achieve, but WHY you want to. Understanding the why behind the choices we make, and the habits we develop, can help us make healthy and sustainable progress.
