Showerthought: someone told me my habit tracker was making things worse

A friend looked at my journal about six months ago and said, 'You know, seeing all those empty boxes for habits you missed might just make you feel bad.' I was tracking things like drinking water and reading for 20 minutes. I argued that it kept me honest, but she had a point. I realized I was focusing more on the shame of a missed day than the good of a completed one. So I changed it. Now I only track three things max, and I use a simple check mark instead of a fancy color code. If I miss a day, I just leave it blank and move on. It feels less like a report card. Has anyone else scaled back their trackers because they felt too punishing?

2 comments

2 Comments

claire9991mo ago

Honestly, that whole shame cycle is so real. Tbh I started tracking "avoided a bad habit" instead of just adding good ones. Like, I'd mark a day I didn't buy a sugary drink after work. Flipping it to celebrate what you didn't do can feel way less like a failure. It turns the empty box into a win for resisting something.

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stone.troy1mo ago

Sounds like a lot of work for a soda.