habit tracking?
my attempts at an expansive (ADHD friendly) method
Hello Substackers!
Question: Do you do goal or habit tracking? How does it work for you?
I go back and forth between habit tracking and not tracking. I am talking about the list of good habits I try to maintain beyond my work and responsibility to-do list.
It works for a while and helps me offload lists of daily care so they don’t overwhelm my cognitive load. Things like good sleep, vitamins, reflection time, etc. However, it doesn't take long before I start resenting the list (or the fact that I need a list) and lose interest. It feels a little like a manipulation I’ve tricked myself into believing: that if I do all these things, I will be healthy and feel good and live my best life. But the thing is, sometimes I don’t come close to completing the list and have a crazy great day. I am an ADHD/Gemini (distracted, time blind, easily bored, up and down energy) and love nothing more than novelty and quitting/calling in sick. BUTTTTT I need to go to the gym and floss. I list (like anything too consistent) slowly becomes a cage - one that I can abandon, but not without significant guilt. Likely, it is just the way my brain works.
I have been working on a newer, more expansive method that can accommodate my vibe (for lack of a better word).
Instead of specifics, I have categories with a menu of options that can change day to day. That way, I am pointing this ship in the direction of healthy habits, but still retain a lot of choice and options.
On Sunday, I make a new index card with the categories and boxes I can color in. It is hand-drawn and messy - an essential work aesthetic for me. As much as I love creating on Canva, I know this project would not work if I made a tidy chart. And there is NO way a digital tracking system works in my world. (I’ve tried). I need the splatters and WIP scribbles very much in the foreground.
My current categories (and their menus) are:
Reading
30+ minutes of reading beyond what is required for work or class prep. I am trying to read more fiction. If I do this at breakfast, I stay off my phone and start the day with images and characters in my mind. I can not read at bedtime because I fall asleep. I will also just find random books on my bookshelf and scan/read for a while.
Exercise
Ideally, this is going to the gym, but also allowed: walking around the neighborhood, rebounding, weights at home, hours of chores and cleaning, yard work, and hiking.
Slow activity
15+ minutes of any of the following: slow drawing, copy work or lettering, art journaling, collage, clay/pottery, weeding, painting, puzzle, meditation, origami, embroidery, (maybe cooking if I approach it like a meditation).
Vitamins
At least a multivitamin, but ideally fish oil, D, and anything else I am working on.
Sleep
Did I get 7+ hours of good sleep? Do I feel good about my sleep?
Writing
Writing that is non-work writing and non-project writing. So, morning pages or evening pages, journaling, recording a dream, list making, prompt or response to something I read or saw…. Anything that is not attached to an outcome other than emptying my brain.
No spend
I hardly go a day without spending money, so I rarely get to fill this one in, but I do jot down what I spent money on, which helps me stay mindful.
Other categories to consider:
Eating well (Always changing! This week it is protein, next week it is fiber!)
Joy (laughter, fun, connection)
Service (putting good energy in the world, political action, helping others)
Self-care (skin care, massage, activity with friends…)
Boredom (I need to cultivate my tolerance for boredom)
I like tracking in this way because it helps keep me grounded in the day-to-day. It offers me a slowdown to check in with myself and be sure I am using my time in ways I want.
I would love to know the methods you’ve tried that work or don’t work. Do you find a list liberating or suffocating? Share in the comments if you can!
Reading
I had to stop Beloved, I don’t have it in me right now, hopefully, in a few weeks.
Stand out of our Light: Freedom and Resistance in the Attention Economy (for school prep but a good, concise read).
The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood (for a class with Lindsay Merbaum, easy and engaging read, but it makes me think I can not see the new Odyssey film because I hated Nolan’s depictions of women in Oppenheimer and don’t trust him to do better in the Odyssey, hope I’m wrong).)
The guidebook for the RPG The Quiet Year. This came highly recommended to me by the awesome folx at Elm City Games (support local), so when they called to say it was back in stock, I rushed down and grabbed a copy. I hope to play it in the next week or so and will share my review. Expect more content on gaming for writing and teaching, too! The last year or so has been packed with a lot of research, gaming, and game development.
Watching
The fireflies in my backyard (they are abundant!)
The Bear (so emotionally wrought)
It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (choice episodes with my son)
Eating
I made a crazy good lunch with some of my CSA stuff today. Basically, pasta with lemon, butter, tons of garlic, Parmesan, pepper, hot pepper flakes, fresh peas, and sautéed lacinato (flat) kale. I topped it with a fried egg and chili crisp. OMG. Filled up and energized for the rest of the afternoon!
Next, if YOU have ideas for kohlrabi, please share. I do not know what to do with it!
Join as a member to support this (whatever it is, still trying to find her sea legs, I think) and get a Wednesday Lab for creative cracking!
I also read in the morning. Right now, my morning reads include a Touch Nhat Hanh book, a sociology book on whiteness and documentary film book that overlaps with my work a lot. It may seem like a lot, but actually I do show looking so I'll read small bits each morning in the 3 after my morning pages. Usually, it's just 1 or 2 in the morning but somehow atm I have 3.
For habits, I use a bubble system to track movement, yoga or meditation, and strength training if physical therapy exercises.
I have a grid habit tracker too that I color in to promote healthy eating -- trying to focus on the rainbow...
Oh, I love the reading at breakfast idea. Right now I tend to watch news clips on YouTube, which is a depressing way to start the day and also sucks me down rabbit holes. I'm going to switch to reading.
In terms of Odysseus - have you seen the 2024 movie with Ralph Fiennes? I haven't and so can't recommend, but wonder if it does a better job with women. My hot take is that none of the Greek myths of men, told by men, will be great. Give me a feminist retelling any day. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Return_(2024_film)