25 Healthy Habits to Add to Your Self Care Tracker
Habit tracking is a great way to monitor how you spend your time and measure your progress towards reaching your self care goals. Establishing healthy habits in your daily routine can help you increase productivity, boost self-esteem, and improve physical and mental wellness. And you can easily track these habits using tools like a self care tracker PDF.
Building habits can be tough – that’s where habit tracking comes in. When you track something, you are more likely to do it because you’re holding yourself accountable.
You will also be able to identify trends, for example maybe you get a healthy amount of sleep and eat nutritious meals during the week, but on the weekends all of your good habits fade away.
This post is going to give you 25 healthy habits to add to your self care tracker.
We will also go over how using tools like a self care tracker PDF printable will help you establish, track, and stick with healthy habits long-term.
Physical self care habits to track
1. Hydration
I know, I know it can feel like articles will present water as the easy solution for all of your problems…
Want better skin? Drink water. Want to lose weight? Drink water. Want to feel more awake during the day? Drink water.
However, all jokes aside hydration is really important to your health. Dehydration can cause headaches, dizziness, poor digestion and kidney health, and overall low mood and energy. But even though you know the amazing benefits of drinking more water, I know it can be easy to forget to drink water during the day when things get busy.
Tracking this habit will help you increase water intake and stay hydrated.
For more tips on how to drink more water, read more here.
2. Exercise
Exercise is not just a habit that will benefit your overall physical health. It can also help you improve mental health and decrease stress.
Planning your exercise for the week ahead of time and then tracking your exercise habits over time will help you stick with your workout plan.
3. Sleep
Sleep is another physical self care habit that will improve your overall wellness. Getting enough sleep is critical to your mood, stress, memory, and productivity.
For more information on how to build healthy sleep habits, read more here.
4. Healthy eating
The food you put in your body makes such a difference in your mood and overall health. Fuel your busy day with a heath diet throughout the week.
Meal planning ahead of time and then tracking the food you eat is a good way to keep yourself accountable to eating those vegetables and whole foods.
5. Skin care
Another physical self care habit to track is your skin care routine. Skin care products have the most benefit to your skin when you regularly apply them as opposed to here and there when you think of it.
6. Stretching
Whether you just finished an intense workout or spent all day sitting at your desk, stretching is so beneficial for your muscles and joints.
7. Doctor appointments
An often overlooked habit to track is your health check ups! Seeing your primary care physician, dentist, OBGYN, etc. on a regular basis for a check up is important for preventative care and to monitor your health.
Mental self care habits to track
8. Meditation
Mindfulness is a great tool to reduce stress and anxiety, increase awareness, and improve overall mental well-being. Tracking how often you meditate and the length of your meditation practice will help you monitor your progress towards your meditation goals.
9. Screen time
If you spend all day long at work looking at a computer screen, and then come home to watch TV and scroll through your phone you might find that your screen time is high. Tracking screen time habits will help you reduce it to a healthier amount.
10. Daily affirmations
Daily affirmations go a long way to improving self esteem, building confidence, and boosting self love. Try saying your chosen affirmation a few times a day.
11. Reading
Reading before bed is a great way to detach from technology before sleeping. It’s also a quiet, peaceful way to unwind.
Emotional self care habits to track
12. Gratitude
Practicing gratitude will help your overall mood and outlook on life. Try listing three things you are grateful for every day. Establishing this habit will help you be more in tune to the good things going on in your life.
13. Journaling
Journaling is helpful to process emotions, reflect on the past, and dream for the future. But we all probably have a few notebooks laying around where we set out to journal every day and then abandoned that after a few days. By tracking your journal habits, you’ll find that it’s easier to stick it out in the long run.
14. Mood
Tracking your mood overall is helpful to identify triggers and habits that might be leading to stress, sadness, anxiety, etc. Be sure to track positive moods, too!
Environmental self care habits to track
15. Make your bed
Making your bed only takes 5 minutes of your day, but has a large impact on your self esteem. You get a sense of accomplishment right at the start of your day with an easy task you can check off of your list.
16. Chores
More of a practical form of self care, chores are another habit to track. When chores get pushed aside for awhile and dishes start to pile up it can add to your stress.
17. Organization
Organization is another self care habit to track. Staying organized will help you save time and be more productive every day.
Work self care habits to track
18. Hours worked per week
Many traditional jobs that are supposed to be 40 hours a week end up requiring a lot more hours on the job. While staying late every now and then might be needed, it’s important to track how much you are working to help you find work life balance and to know when you might need to give yourself some extra self care.
It can also help you to know how many hours you are working if you need to set some boundaries or take a project off of your plate so you can bring that into your conversation with your manager.
19. Breaks
Do you ever get to the end of the work day and realize you never even took a lunch break? No matter how busy your day is, it’s important to take a few small breaks throughout the day.
Get up and walk around or eat a healthy snack to clear your head. You’ll probably find that you’ll come back to the task at hand more refreshed and productive.
20. Time management
Another work self care habit to track is time management. If you struggle with procrastination that can actually lead to higher stress around work. Tacking how you manage your time can help you stick to tasks and get things done on time.
Social self care habits to track
21. Time spent with friends and family
Spending time with family and friends is important to help you feel connected and to lean on your support system when needed.
22. Social media usage
While social media can be fun, it can also be detrimental to mental health and self confidence. Tracking how much time you spend on social media can help you enjoy it in moderation without needing to checking Instagram every few minutes.
23. Date nights
If you’re in a relationship, date nights are important to help you feel connected to your partner and enjoy time together outside of daily tasks. If you’re single, going out on dates is also a good way to put yourself out there, identify what you do and don’t want in a partner, and have some fun!
Personal self care habits to track
24. Hobbies
Having fun is an important self care habit. Finding a hobby you enjoy to do outside of work will help you build your personal identity and feel a sense of achievement outside of your career.
25. Money / budget
Money is a very common cause of stress. By tracking your spending habits and budget, you will be able to keep yourself accountable and have a better handle on your money situation.
Those are the 25 healthy habits to add to your self care tracker.
Tools to track your habits
Now that you have some ideas on the self care habits you want to track, you might be wondering what kinds of tools you can use to track your habits. There are two tools that I highly recommend to track self care habits: A self care tracker PDF and wearable technology.
Self care tracker PDF
Using a habit tracker printable will help you easily monitor your healthy habits. Rather than having to build your own, I have created the best self care planner that includes tons of helpful tools to track your self care habits.
This self care planner includes a monthly habit tracker, sleep tracker, weekly self care checklist, mood tracker, weekly exercise planner, meal prep tracker, meditation log, and more!
Wearable technology
Another effective way to track self care habits is with wearable technology like an Apple Watch or a Fitbit. Both of these devices go beyond tracking just fitness by helping you track diet, water intake, sleep, and more.
The Apple Watch
If you have an iPhone, the Apple Watch is a natural pair to your phone. The Apple Watch will be able to help you track habits with additional features like making calls and using the built-in GPS.
Fitbit Versa
The Fitbit Versa is a great alternative to the Apple Watch. It’s a great option if you have an Android phone or if you are looking for something at a lower price point. Another benefit of the Fitbit is that it has a 6+ day battery life as opposed to the Apple Watch is about 18 hours.
I personally use the Fitbit and really love it. Not only does it help you track exercise and steps, but it also helps you track sleep, water intake, mood, and more. The companion Fitbit app acts as your self care tracker app to record all of your healthy habits.
Other tips to stick to your habits
Start with a few, then add more
Trying to do too many new habits at once might set yourself up for failure. Try focusing on one or two habits at first, and then when those are established try adding some more.
Do them at the same time everyday
By doing a habit at the same time everyday, you will be more likely to stick with it because you’ll be more consistent with your effort.
Reward yourself
Like with any goal, it’s important to reward yourself when you achieve something. When you track your habits, and notice a great improvement or solid consistency, be sure to reward yourself. This will help you stick with the habits because you’ll feel good about the progress you are making.
Be patient
It’s also so important to be patient and gentle with yourself. As you work to build a habit, there will be days when you won’t do it and that’s okay. Habits take time to build!
Building self care habits is a great way to improve your overall health and wellness. By tracking your habits, you can monitor your progress and hold yourself accountable. Tools like a self care tracker PDF will help you easily track habits without adding too much time to your day.
Use the tips in this post to build self care habits and reach your health goals.
Comment below with the self care habits you like to track.
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