Tried a weekly spread with no habit tracker and my whole system fell apart

Honestly, I thought I could simplify my bullet journal by ditching the habit tracker for a month. By week two, I forgot to take my meds three days in a row and skipped flossing for like five days. Ngl, having those little boxes to check was the only thing keeping me on track. Did anyone else try cutting something out and immediately regret it?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_lisa1mo agoMost Upvoted

Oh man, I feel this in my soul. I tried to get fancy and only track my water intake, thinking that was enough. By day three I'd forgotten to take my vitamins, missed a dentist appointment, and ate cold pizza for breakfast because I had no idea what day it was. My tracker now looks like a mini spreadsheet with 15 tiny boxes crammed in the corner, and it's honestly the only reason my life hasn't completely derailed.

taylor.phoenix1mo ago

Hold on @the_lisa, I gotta disagree a little bit... cold pizza for breakfast is actually a win in my book, not a sign of derailment. But I get your point about the tracker getting out of hand, mine started with three boxes and now it's got a whole section for "did I remember to water my plants" which is honestly embarrassing. The problem is once you start adding stuff you can't really stop, because then you forget the one thing you didn't track and the whole system falls apart. I think the secret is keeping it simple, like only tracking the things you actually forget, not the things you already do without thinking. Otherwise you end up like me, color coding boxes for "stood up and stretched" and feeling bad about it.

nina_sullivan611mo ago

Wait, did I write that original post? Because I had the exact same thing happen. I used to roll my eyes at habit trackers, thought they were just for aesthetic spreads on Instagram. Then I dropped mine from my weekly and suddenly I was eating toast for dinner three nights in a row because I forgot to plan meals. The flossing thing hit close to home too, I went a whole week without doing it and my dentist definitely noticed at my next cleaning. Now I keep a tiny tracker tucked in the corner even when I try to go minimalist.