As bad as I am at keeping to a schedule, I am inexplicably drawn to creating them. I love calendars and check-lists and all forms of organizers. One type of schedule that has really helped me lately is my Daily Habits List.
I created this simple spreadsheet as a visual reminder of the things I want to work on daily. At the beginning of each month, I print the Daily Habits List, fill out my goals, and post it on my refrigerator. Under “Daily Habits,” I list everything I want to remember to do each day. My list includes things like “drink 60 oz of water,” “exercise,” and “don’t yell at my kids.” On the right, there’s a number for each day of the month. When I accomplish a task, I check it off.
Can you see how motivating it might be to look at this monthly information at a glance? When you pass by the frig and see a big empty space on the grid where “exercise” hasn’t been checked off for 5 days, it clearly helps you to back away from the ice cream. And checking off your habits each day boosts your resolve.
The Daily Habits List is useful for more than health-related goals. I also list habits that are less task-oriented — things that I want to get better at like “smile more often.” The beauty of the List is its flexibility.
Please download the Daily Habits List here, then come back to tell me how you’ve implemented it in your life.
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
I think most people don’t realize the little things they do on a daily basis that can add up quickly to hurting your health and well being. This is an excellent idea to help monitor and improve on those daily habits.
I love this idea!
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June 28, 2010 at 11:36 pm
Absolutely a great idea! Even though it looks like a potty training chart or a child’s chore chart, the visual concept is the same. Might I suggest gettng some stickers or gold starts? I can use all the help I can get, lol!
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July 3, 2010 at 5:43 am
I’d never thought of doing this for my daily habits. there are writing groups who use this kind of technique to track whether you are writing each day and i’ve been told it’s a good practice.
Do you use some kind of goal setting schema to avoid this turning into yet another list of things to do? Like SMART?
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July 3, 2010 at 5:44 am
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About me, i like eating specially in rainy season i don’t know why and my daily habits i keep in mind i don’t make any time table as such. I hate to do exercise i prefer dancing..
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nice information about daily habits