Found out my habit trackers were totally useless after 4 months

I had this detailed habit tracker in my bullet journal for tracking water intake, reading, and exercise. Every day I'd color in the little boxes and feel good about it. Then I looked back at 4 months of data and realized I was just using the same 3 colors over and over without actually checking if I was doing the habits. The tracker looked pretty but it didn't actually help me drink more water or read more books. I found a post on a bujo blog that explained the difference between tracking and actually changing behavior. Now I'm trying a simpler weekly checklist instead. Has anyone else caught themselves decorating more than actually using their trackers?

3 comments

3 Comments

evan_wilson182d ago

Wait, weren't you just making art instead?

emmaallen2d ago

Three months of coloring without checking the data?

owens.cameron2d ago

Don't you just feel that pull sometimes though? I've definitely been there where you get so focused on making something look good or fixing a tiny detail that you totally forget to look at the actual numbers. For me it happened when I was deep into editing photos for a project, spent weeks tweaking colors and tones, then realized I hadn't checked my exposure settings once. It's like your brain just goes on autopilot for the creative part and forgets the technical side exists.