Habit technique · Monitoring & feedback · Under a minute

Track the behaviour

Record each time you do it — quickly, honestly, where you’ll see it. Record each time you do the habit — a tick, a number, a word — quickly and honestly.

Level: Beginner · Free — no account needed to read

Record each time you do the habit — a tick, a number, a word — quickly and honestly.

Why it may help

Tracking makes behaviour visible, shows patterns you wouldn’t notice, and gives feedback on whether your plan is working.

When to use it

• Building any habit
• Progress feels invisible
• You’re unsure how often you really do something

How to apply it

1. Choose one habit to track.
2. Log it the moment you finish — in My Habits, in one tap.
3. Once a week, look at the record.
4. Write one thing it shows you.

An example

Ian thought he exercised four times a week; a month of logging showed two, which pointed him to consistency rather than intensity.

The common mistake

Tracking so much that tracking becomes the chore.

Practise it

Log one habit every time this week, then look back on Sunday.

What the evidence says

Supported by multiple studies: Many studies, often pooled in reviews or meta-analyses, point the same way. It still works better for some people and situations than others.

One of the best-supported techniques: a meta-analysis of 138 experiments found increasing progress monitoring improved goal attainment on average, especially when progress was recorded or shared.

Behaviour Change Technique Taxonomy (v1) codes: 2.3.

Sources

• Harkin, Webb, Chang, Prestwich, Conner, Kellar, Benn & Sheeran (2016). Does monitoring goal progress promote goal attainment? A meta-analysis of the experimental evidence. Psychological Bulletin. doi:10.1037/bul0000025
• Michie, Abraham, Whittington, McAteer & Gupta (2009). Effective techniques in healthy eating and physical activity interventions: A meta-regression. Health Psychology. doi:10.1037/a0016136