Another goal-setting trend also gaining traction might offer an effective way to achieve your 2026 goals: habit trackers.
What is a habit tracker?
This is a simple, usually mobile tool designed to help you record whether you’ve performed a specific behaviour on a given day.
“At its most basic level, it’s a checklist, either on paper or in an app, where you choose a habit and mark each day you complete it,” says Dr Ben Singh, a research fellow in Population and Digital Health from the University of South Australia.
“For example, you might tick a box every day you go for a walk, drink enough water or get to bed on time.”
While it may seem rudimentary, Singh says that habit trackers can be effective as they make behaviours more visible.
“Habit trackers turn something automatic and fuzzy into something concrete and measurable.”
What exactly is a habit? And why do we need to be aware of them?
Habits are often thought of simplistically, as something ‘bad’ or unhealthy, like smoking or swearing. It’s actually more nuanced than that.
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“A habit is a learned behaviour that becomes automatic through repetition,” says Dr Scott Pedersen, senior lecturer and director of the UTAS HABIT (Human-Activity Behaviour Intervention and Transformation) Laboratory at the University of Tasmania.
Because many of our habits are performed unconsciously or with little thought, Pedersen notes that awareness of them is important, as they can be beneficial or detrimental to our well-being.
‘Good’ vs ‘bad’ habits
“Habits can be considered good or bad depending on their outcomes,” Pedersen says.
“As you would imagine, good habits support health and productivity, such as exercising regularly, brushing your teeth or planning your day. Bad habits undermine these areas, such as smoking, excessive screen time or skipping meals.”
This is where habit trackers can be useful, Pedersen believes, to reinforce good habits through positive feedback and to highlight triggers for bad habits.
“They support goal achievement by showing incremental progress,” he explains.
These trackers can be useful to reinforce good habits through positive feedback and to highlight triggers for bad habits.Credit: Getty Images
To use one effectively, Pedersen recommends listing the habits you want to track, recording daily, and reviewing progress weekly to identify patterns and adjust goals.
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While it may be confronting to see how often you perform a “bad” habit, the main idea behind habit trackers, Singh believes, is to cultivate awareness, not judgment, so you can notice patterns you might otherwise miss and stay accountable.
“Once you can see patterns, such as certain times, places, or emotional triggers, you’re in a much better position to change them,” Singh says.
“Many people also find tracking motivating, especially when they can see consistency or progress over time.”
When it comes to deciding what type of habit tracker to use, Singh says both digital and paper habit trackers have pros and cons.
“App-based trackers are popular because they offer reminders, streaks and visual summaries of progress, but they can also feel overwhelming or get lost among other notifications,” he says.
Some of the most popular habit apps include Habitica, Streaks, Productive, Loop Habit Tracker and Habitify.
Meanwhile, paper trackers, such as journals, calendars or printable templates, offer simplicity.
“They are also distraction-free and highly customisable, although they rely more on memory and consistency,” Singh explains.
But the most important factor when deciding on a habit tracker, he says, is to choose the one you will use, with consistency mattering more than the format.
How do you start using a habit tracker?
It’s critical to ensure the new habits you aim to incorporate into your life are the right ones for you, says wellbeing and communication coach Gareth Robinson.
“Choosing the wrong ‘good’ habits is a mistake some people make,” he says.
“Your new habits need to align with who you want to become.”
To establish this, Robinson recommends asking yourself a series of questions.
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“Ask yourself what traits, behaviours and actions sum up the person you hope to become?
Consider what your core values are. Once you have a deeper understanding of what’s important to you, you can then create new habits that align with your purpose.”
These habits are easier to embed and sustain, and they strengthen your purpose and make you happier, he explains.
Additionally, Singh says, the most effective approach to habit tracking is to keep it straightforward and realistic.
“Start by tracking just one or two habits rather than trying to change everything at once,” he says.
“And make each habit specific and easy to measure, for example, ‘a 10-minute walk’ rather than ‘exercise’.”
Regularly reviewing your goals is also key so you can make adjustments where necessary.
Singh says it’s important to be kind to yourself.
“Approach habit tracking with self-compassion; lasting change comes from curiosity and progress, not punishment.”
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