I don’t know about you, but I am about to scream the next time I see an article of the form, I did x every day for 30 days and look what happened.
It’s annoying because formulaic and likely written by AI but also there is only so much one can do every single day.
And I say that as someone who is mostly a fan of everyday habits. I even blogged about my favourite habit tracking app. When it works for me, it really works for me. See You Are What You Do Every Day.
Here is one aspirational daily habit list (not mine):
8 hours sleep
7-10k steps
15 minutes outside
Meditation
120g of protein
8-10 servings of fruits and vegetables
Drinking 8 glasses of water
Strength training
Stretching and mobility
To this list, I want to add reading fiction, writing, staying in touch with friends, physio, cleaning and tidying my house, and walking Cheddar, my dog. Also, there’s taking my daily medications, taking creatine, and doing Duolingo and Wordle. Also, gratitude posting.
It feels like a lot!
But then there’s the oddball recommendations.
Eating six prunes for example, for better bone density. (I’m hoping they at least count as one of the servings of fruit and vegetables. I’m sure they do.)
And then there’s Google’s list. It mostly overlaps with mine with the added work of making your bed, which I usually do. It’s just not a habit I care enough about to track. I feel that way about washing my face, applying skin cream, and brushing my teeth. These are also daily habits but I don’t even need to think about them and I definitely don’t track them.
What to make of all these daily ambitions?
There are times in my life when tracking daily habits works well for me. There are times when it makes me want to scream. Sometimes my day already feels so full, I can’t imagine adding one more thing.
Daily writing mostly works for me as an antidote to the feeling that I can only write in big, dedicated chunks of time, and very few chunks of time exist. Small amounts make a difference, and they add up. Ditto daily movement.
But reading? Cleaning? Talking to friends? They’re more like “pick one and add it to your day.” I don’t need to do them every day. And I’m not so sure I could eat six prunes every day.
How do you feel about tracking daily habits?
For me, it all just depends.
Some days I feel like taking Cheddar for a walk through our neighbourhood which is lit up with bright autumn colours and not worrying whether that counts as daily movement and time outside. It just is what it is and that feels good.
