Five Things to Start Tracking in Your Life Right Now

There are so many things that we need to keep track of in our lives: our bills, how much gas is in our cars, our groceries, doctor appointments… the list is as long as a piece of string.

Why is tracking things in your life important?

Keeping track of things in your life helps to add a little bit of structure, and takes the guesswork out of things. Even the most spontaneous people still need a little bit of structure in their lives and generally will keep tabs on things like bill payments, or goals that they have.

But tracking things in your life is more than just providing structure. Depending on what you decide to track, you can gain quite a lot of insight into your habits, your health, and other things like communication and relationships. And many of us already do track things, whether consciously or not. For example, journaling or keeping a diary is a means of tracking your mental and emotional state of mind through writing; and when revisited, can provide insight into where things are going well, and where they may need to change.

If you don’t actively keep track of certain things in your life already, these five things are the best to start with right now.

Sleep

Tracking sleep may seem like a no-brainer, and it kind of is, but it can also be a good way of checking your overall health. There is a common social understanding that you really just need eight hours of sleep a day, and though this has been disputed in some spaces, adults generally need between 6 and 9 hours of sleep a night. While everybody may have a different need (I usually am on the longer sleep side myself!), tracking your own sleep cycle is a really helpful way of monitoring your general health. It can help you determine what your sleep health is like, including whether or not you are getting enough sleep to be at your best, and if you have established healthy night-time routines to support your overall health. Regularly interrupted sleep or difficulty sleeping can be symptomatic of something larger. When you start tracking your sleep, you can identify patterns that are “normal” for you, and patterns that are irregular, and you can then start to make changes as you see fit. 

How might you track your sleep?

If you wear a smartwatch, like an Apple Watch or a FitBit, wearing it to sleep can keep track of your sleep cycle, and things like your heart rate while resting. The data is then readily available on your phone, and you can see patterns of sleep on a health app.

You can also use your phone’s native health app to track your sleep. Most health apps will have a “sleep health” option, where you can set a goal for the length of your sleep, and your phone will set a bedtime reminder for you in the hour leading up to the time you’ve set as your ideal sleep time.

Self-Care

Tracking your self-care is a fantastic way to help you be intentional about how you are managing the time you set aside for yourself. This one might feel loaded because there are so many things that could constitute self-care, which is exactly why you should start tracking your self-care right now. Some of the ways that you could track your self-care would be to track your entire routine (whether that is daily, weekly, or monthly), or only one or a number of self-care activities, or even the time that you are setting aside for self-care.

By tracking your self-care, you’ll get an idea of how much time you are setting aside to take care of yourself and what that time looks like relative to other things that you find important. By seeing the time that you are giving to yourself, you’ll get a clearer idea of how much balance you have in the things that you are prioritizing in your life.

One way you could track your self-care is by tracking the actual activities that you are doing as part of your routine. For example, you may track how often you are meditating, or how often you go for a walk, or how often you go to therapy. By having your self-care tracking broken down into individual activities, you can get a clearer idea of what you are doing specifically when you are taking time for yourself. Seeing how much time you give to specific activities can help you develop a well-rounded routine, or adjust your routine to suit any changes in your life.

How might you track your self-care?

You can track your self-care by using any number of apps on your phone, including your phone’s native reminders, health or calendar apps. Other apps like Moodnotes, Daylio and Tangerine are helpful to track your self-care digitally, as well as any journaling app. If you are more of a pen-and-paper person, bullet journal trackers are helpful additions to track your self-care. Otherwise, Etsy has great printable trackers available for all kinds of trackers, and they all give you an easy visual overview.

Exercise

Your physical health has a major impact on your mental health, so it makes sense that you would track physical activity and exercise. When tracking your exercise, the two things you want to consider tracking are the frequency that you exercise, and how long you exercise for. You might track these are two separate things, or combine them in one tracker so that all of the information is in one place. Knowing how often you exercise, and how long for can give you a good idea of what your physical activity looks like in relation to your overall health.

How might you track your exercise?

If you wear a smartwatch or personal fitness device like a FitBit, then all of the information that is recorded on that device can be tracked through the associated apps, or through health and fitness apps on your phone. What makes using apps as a way of tracking your physical activity really helpful is that you can see patterns and trends over long periods of time. The Under Armor suite of fitness tracking apps is my personal favorite for tracking physical activity and health.

Finances

Tracking your finances gives you a clearer idea of what your spending and saving habits are over time. It is helpful when you have specific financial goals or want to be more intentional with how you manage your money. When you track your finances, it is more than watching your savings account.

You should consider tracking how often you are allocating your money to savings, expenses, and general spending, as well as tracking the amounts that you are allocating to those things. If you are wanting to track your spending habits, you may want to track every time that you spend money to see how often it is that you are spending, and the amount in relation to your income. If you have a specific savings goal, you may want to track how often you are saving and how much so that you have a clear idea of how long it will take to reach your goal.

How might you track your finances?

There are some really great mobile apps to track your finances. Fudget, Loot, and Buddy are just three of the easiest trackers to use for your finances (there are plenty out there, I have just personally have found that these are my favorite based on user experience). These apps also give you a better picture of your long-term habits and financial patterns, which can be very helpful if you are wanting to adjust your financial goals over time. If you’re more of a physical planner when it comes to tracking your progress toward savings goals, and financial patterns then there are a lot of printables available on Etsy too.

Personal Development

Tracking your personal development, like tracking your self-care, is a good way to see how much time you are setting for yourself. Some things that you might track as personal development are how often you are reading, when you go to therapy, are learning a new skill or hobby, or if you are taking a course or working toward a qualification. I’ve included this because like self-care, it is really important to recognise how much time you are investing in yourself. Sometimes we get into the habit of overlooking  or minimizing the work that we put into ourselves to bring our best to the table.

How might you track your personal development?

Using a visual tracker such as those that are frequently used in bullet journals or are sold as printables on Etsy is a good way to see how frequently you are investing time in yourself. Journaling and self-care tracking apps are also good ways to digitally track your personal development and get a picture of those habits over time.

Why you should start tracking these five things right now

If you’ve made it through this post and have gotten here that’s awesome!

While there are many things that you might consider tracking, if you are unsure where to start then you should use these as your pillars. Tracking your sleep can give you an indication of your general health, and can help you become more intentional other physical and mental aspects of your wellbeing. Tracking your exercise can be a gateway to tracking other aspects of your physical health including your nutrition and if you feel so inclined, your weight. It is also a good habit to track that complements your sleep tracking, as the two can be closely linked when it comes to your overall physical health.

Tracking your self-care and personal development gives you the opportunity to assess the amount of time that you are actively prioritizing yourself. This can give you a chance to focus on your spiritual, mental, and emotional needs, and help you feel more balanced and intentional in the way that you approach your life.

Tracking your finances gives you the chance to assess your material space. From there you can form goals related to the aspects of your life that are related to how your income and your work-life is best serving you.

These five things may seem like they are very inconsequential, but tracking them can give you a much-needed audit so that you can bring your best to the table!

Your turn:

Let me know what you usually track in your life and how it helps keep you on top of things.