The science behind habit tracking
And how it can help you write with more consistency
Think about your habits. Morning coffee. Scrolling on social media while you eat lunch. Turning the radio on when you get in the car. Brushing your teeth before bed. Some habits you probably like, others not so much. And chances are you engage in dozens of habits you aren’t even aware of.
If you read my last post, then you probably aren’t surprised to read that one of my goals this year is to write more consistently — a habit I’ve built before and can do again with one of my favourite tricks that my brain loves.
How habits are formed
Before I get into habit tracking, I think it’s useful to understand the habit feedback loop (or simply the habit loop coined by journalist Charles Duhigg in his 2012 bestseller, The Power of Habit).
The loop goes like:
CUE → ROUTINE → REWARD
This loop occurs whether or not the habit is positive or negative. For example, if you’re triggered to scroll social media after taking a break from work, you’re rewarded with a surge or dopamine (aka the “feel good” hormone connected to pleasure), making you more likely to pick up your phone the next time you’re on a work break. Or maybe you take a walk after lunch everyday and you’re rewarded with not only endorphins, but increased energy and focus, leading you to keep up the routine.
Your life is made up of many habits (research shows that half of our daily behaviours are driven by repetitive actions), so if you want to change, then it’s important to understand what drives your behaviour.
How to start (or break) a habit
The more you repeat a habit, the more hardwired it becomes in your brain, making it tough if you have a habit you want to break. To create (or break) a new habit, it’s going to take time. It might take you as little as 18 days or as long as 254, according to a major 2009 study out of University College London. Participants took an average of 66 days to incorporate a new daily activity into their life, with more complex activities, like starting an exercise routine, taking longer to become habitual than something simple, like drinking water every morning.
I’m not sharing these findings to stress you out, but as a reminder to give yourself grace as you try and incorporate a new habit into your life. These things take time and there’s nothing wrong if it takes you a few months to really make this new habit, well, habitual.
What’s so great about habit tracking?
As you can see from above, building a habit isn’t easy. A simple concept, yes, but not necessarily easy to implement. It takes time and repetition. That’s where habit tracking comes in to help reinforce your efforts.
Let’s say the habit you want to start is to sit down for an hour, five days a week, until you finish your manuscript. If you were to track this, then you would mark down (on paper or digitally) every single time you successfully completed the action.
1. Visual progress is motivating
When drafting my last manuscript, I printed out a free monthly calendar I found online and stuck it to a cork board beside my desk and checked off every day I wrote, making a special note every time I hit 5K words, until I reached my goal of 85K. I loved seeing the visual progress and it encouraged me to keep writing.
Every time you look at a check mark on your tracker, it acts as a visual cue to remind you to act (or in this case, write). Plus, humans have a stronger ability to remember visuals over words — called the picture-superiority effect — which allows the visual progress to further strengthen your habit and eschew our proclivity to a negativity bias (you’re more likely to focus on when you didn’t write vs when you did).
The simple action of making a check mark by hand can positively reinforce the habit loop because of how deeply handwriting engages our brain.
2. Writing it down reinforces your progress
I’ve tried both analog and digital methods of habit tracking and personally find it much more satisfying to check a box with a pen, then click something on my phone. What’s interesting is this tracks with the neuroscience of handwriting, which reveals the close connection between our motor and sensory systems, and the cognitive reinforcement that happens when you write something by hand. “As you’re drawing a letter or writing a word, you’re taking this perceptual understanding of something and using your motor system to create it,” Sophie Vinci-Booher, an assistant professor in the department of psychology and human development at Vanderbilt University, told Scientific American. Although this article looked at how writing lecture notes helped to cement information into memory, I think even the simple action of making a check mark by hand can positively reinforce the habit loop because of how deeply handwriting engages our brain.
I don’t think there’s anything wrong with digital tracking. It’s arguably more convenient since you probably take your phone with you everywhere you go. There are also apps that can send you reminder alerts and share your progress with friends for accountability. But if you’re looking to track one specific habit, in this case writing, a physical tracker is super straightforward. I’d say try out both and see what you prefer.
3. Tracking encourages self-reflection
The act of tracking in itself, forces you to be aware of the habit you’re trying to reinforce, which can be incredibly helpful. One small study of university students found that after six weeks of tracking their study habits, their habit strength and motivation increased. While another 2020 study of first-year college students found that habit tracking combined with self-reflection helped students score significantly higher on their final exam than those who didn’t track their studying habits.
In order to begin the habit loop cycle, you need to be triggered by something and habit tracking naturally acts as a cue to begin that routine. It can also be helpful if you fall off track. Say you miss a few days checking off your habit, you can ask yourself why and make adjustments to start again.
Research shows that recognizing even small successes activates the brain’s reward system, creating a positive feedback loop, and boosting your self-esteem.
4. It allows you to celebrate your small wins
As I mentioned earlier, I made a big deal on my tracker every time I wrote another 5K words. For me, getting another 5K words out was a big milestone. Remember, progress is progress. You have to celebrate yourself along the way as insignificant as it seems. If you’re only celebrating the “big” wins then you’re missing out.
Research shows that recognizing even small successes activates the brain’s reward system, creating a positive feedback loop, and boosting your self-esteem. Plus, when you don’t reward yourself, you’re more likely to experience chronic stress, a result of research found in the book The Burnout Challenge by Christina Maslach and Michael Leiter.
Habit tracking isn’t for everyone
Like meditating or cold plunging, habit tracking isn’t work for everyone. For some, not adhering to the tracking can lead to feelings of shame, guilt or inadequacy. Digital trackers that send alerts if you miss a day can also be more frustrating than encouraging. If you’re sharing your habits with friends and notice that you’re focusing on their progress versus your own, that’s another red flag that might make you want to reconsider your tracking (the only person you should be competing with is yourself).
The goal of habit tracking is to empower and encourage you to reach your goals and make you feel proud of the work you have put in. There’s no right or wrong way to reach your writing goals. Just write. It doesn’t have to be perfect.