A Better Way to Track Your Habits

Today, I'll share a new, paper-based system for tracking your habits that solves several habit-tracking problems.

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[elijahizere]

Even more advantages to the paper journal system:
• Reduces phone use
• Is not distracting
• Is a meditative procedure
• Gain respect for the paper system (while phones are there to be dopamine suckers, the BuJo is there to help you)

[jamboy]

Thomas: "..I actually mean my friend Martin who came up with this system..."
Me: Hahaha he's going to call it the martin Method
Thomas: "... so I'm just going to call it the Martin System."
Me: *soul crushes at the missed opportunity for alliteration*

[WalnutWarrior]

1:30 - Exp
2:30 - markers
2:50 - setup
4:25 - notes area




Works 2 week cycles

[NicholasMarkovich]

Failure notes:
3: Couldn't be bothered
4: Couldn't be bothered
5: Couldn't be bothered
At least I got some handwriting practice in. Yay for new habit of 2020!

[mustafam]

“You are what you do repeatedly every day. If excellence is something you’re striving for, then it’s not an accident. It’s a habit.”
— Greg Plitt

[zoegardiner]

Reason for failure:

"Ninjas attacked my house"

Ways to improve:

"Need to ninja-proof the house"

[alignwithandrea]

This is such a great system because 2 weeks feels a lot less intimidating/overwhelming than a month can sometimes feel, especially if it's a BIG habit you're trying to break or implement! That's why I recommend that clients break long-term goals down into weekly goals - it seems more manageable to try quit coffee for a week, not a whole month...baby steps add up 💪😁

[H.K.Firebelly]

Hey Thomas - just wanted you to know that I have been using this system ever since I watched your video about a year ago and have found it super easy and useful in a way that goal-setting systems in the past haven't worked for me. I keep my journal on my bedside table so I remember to fill in the boxes every night (takes about 30 seconds) and fill out a new two-week set of goals every other Sunday. Reflecting + writing in a new two-week set of goals takes about 1/2 hour depending on how much time I want to take to reflect. But really I find myself reflecting and seeing the patterns throughout the two weeks so reflecting and setting new goals can take as little as 10 minutes. Bottom line: this has been a game changer for me.

[peachiipagan]

I think we take these videos for granted. His videos are made up of genuinely beautiful videography and cinematic shots and there is so much passion put into everything as small as lighting as the symmetry of his setup it’s not by accident it’s a purposeful planned thing. Thank you @thomasfrank

[nikitacometa]

Man, this is just amazing! For the last 2 months, I've been thinking about a system like this -- really simple (so on paper at least) and very productive, but couldn't come up with an idea. And now you just give it to me. Great job :)
I already drew a page for the first 2-week sprint in my journal, finishing the first day ;)

[SariniyaKiyu]

Thank you!! I always feel discouraged with apps! Life gets in my way on daily basis and I very often cant continue my streak because of unrelated events. At first I used to simply keep a diary where I would write what Ive done or havent, but it fell flat as well. Im glad youve presented this method. Thank you and Martin!!

[danagonzales]

I love this system! I started doing something similar when I originally heard Martin talk about it in the pod last summer. I really like the “neutral” marker, unforeseen events have always made me feel like a failure in the past.

[h.a.]

I honestly think Martin brings a lot of value to college info geek and he makes a pretty good team with Thomas. I have been listening to the podcast for almost three years now and I want to say thanks to both of you for all of the great content.

[vickytaa]

I feel like Thomas videos are becoming more relaxed, and we see more of his sense of humour. I like the change!

[jamesbenedict]

Watching LotR and misread the tittle.

"a better way to track your hobbits"

Gandalf and Aragorn would be happy with this if it were true

[reallollabunny]

I really wanted to implement that and had actually decided to "Martin" my habits this year - meaning the things I focus on will change every 2 weeks. So a video on how he does that exactly is incredibly helpful!
More Martin please! ^_^

[LisaMichelle]

I just started a bullet journal. I had been using Habitica for some time but I really missed the self-reflection part and failed to keep going after being sick. I will try this method from now on. It feels nice that I can track if there's things outside of my power that happen, but you won't lose the sense of tracking.

[thymewizard]

Really cool system! I'm using it myself now! I do have one idea that I've added to mine that I thought others might find useful: A fourth symbol (I'm using a '/') for a "lateral" or an in-place replacement. This is for unexpected/unplanned things that are not specifically what you wrote for your habit, but serve its purpose anyway. For example, if you wrote habit to lift every M/W/F and one random Friday your friend invites you to a climbing gym because they got a free guest pass and you do that instead of lifting. Certainly depending on your specific fitness goals this might not work as a replacement, but this is just one example. You could definitely just mark that a success, but I think the lateral idea adds some useful fidelity to the record without compromising its simplicity too much, and if you note all laterals on the left page you can keep yourself honest about what really constitutes a replacement. I think this could backfire over time if you find that, continuing the previous example, you deliberately replace lifting with climbing several days a week because you think it's more fun, but that could also be an indicator that maybe you should add climbing to your specific objective in the next cycle. I consider this a more sparing tool than that though, for instances when something unexpected comes up that you didn't plan for, but serves the purpose. You do have to make sure you stay honest here, but that's also true of the neutral marker and I think the left page is a great way to enforce that honesty. Let me know what you guys think of this tweak!

[wesleysbr]

One thing I've learned, put the days in descending order, our brain accepts better to perform some task when the numbers are falling, it gives us the feeling that there is less to complete the task. Works for days, number of gym cycles etc ...

[Space-ulzr]

I have been using this method for 2 years, and it helped me be productive and track my habits in unstressful way. thank you for sharing it with us