Bullet Journal - tracking

Last week I wanted to track my water intake. I set a goal but was really more interested in seeing how I did each day. I wanted to look for patterns and habits that might already exist and then see how I could build on those.

Interestingly it went really well! A few days I fell short by one serving, however I was still getting at least the minimum daily requirement. I also noticed that days where I was out and about were tricky. This is in part due to the difficulty of keeping track while on the go, but also because I was either engaged in activity (therefore not focusing on my water intake) or I was hesitant about guzzling so much water when bathrooms were few and far between :)

I did feel confident that overall I have developed a good habit that is worth working at and improving on. I also added a little note in the corner of each box to indicate about what time of day I finished that serving of water. That was really interesting because it showed days where I was doing great in the morning and then almost nothing all afternoon until dinner. In reflecting back, these were days where I was engaged in a project (at home or otherwise) where I was focused on a task. My mornings and evenings seems to be broken into small tasks all around the house so I'm frequently getting up and moving around, therefore carting my water bottle with me or refilling my glass with regularity.

Will I do this every week? Certainly not. But will I try something similar again: for sure! On Sunday when I was working on this post and looking over my chart I only ended up meeting 1/2 my goal for the day. I found it interesting that the moment I stopped tracking, I also stopped meeting my goal. So I'm trying a simpler version of my tracking. No time stamps, smaller grid and hopefully I can keep building on this mindfulness.

Bullet Journal - tracking

This week I'm trying something new. I love the look of habit trackers I've seen online, however I've never been able to follow through. I think I've uncovered two main reasons I struggled:

1. Most that I've tried are for a month at a time. I live more day to day, or week to week.

2. Their habits are often pre-established and I realize that I am in data collecting mode to help me determine what my goals need to be.

Using these insights, I decided to take one area that I want to figure out: water intake. I made a chart for just this week (Monday-Saturday) and a box for each glass of water I hope to drink each day. There is also room on the end of each row to make a note, should I somehow go beyond the 8 boxes.

Below the chart (not pictured above) I journaled. I wrote what I already know to be true (a glass in the AM and a glass in the PM just to get my vitamins down). I also know that during school I'm a bit more regular about water so summer always takes a bit of routine adjustment. I set what I think is a reasonable goal and then added how I'm hoping to figure out what my "normal" is and look for patterns or places to make adjustments. 

I plan to recap next week what I discovered and see if this helps me on my way to developing good habits while documenting my efforts and feeling accomplished, even if some boxes are left empty.

Do you track goals? What's your method?