Rachel Watts - Ready to Use Habit Trackers: Log daily actions, build healthy routines, achieve goals and live your best life

READY-TO-USE

Habit Trackers

Log daily actions, build healthy routines, achieve goals and live your best life

Rachel Watts

Text and illustrations copyright 2019 Rachel Watts. Design and concept copyright 2019 Ulysses Press and its licensors. All rights reserved. Any unauthorized duplication in whole or in part or dissemination of this edition by any means (including but not limited to photocopying, electronic devices, digital versions, and the internet) will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

Published in the United States by:

Ulysses Press

P.O. Box 3440

Berkeley, CA 94703

www.ulyssespress.com

ISBN: 978-1-61243-917-4

Acquisitions: Bridget Thoreson

Managing editor: Claire Chun

Editor: Shayna Keyles

Proofreader: Renee Rutledge

Front cover design: Justin Shirley

Cover photos: Byron J. Watts

Layout: Jake Flaherty

Distributed by Publishers Group West

NOTE TO READERS: This book is independently authored and published and no sponsorship or endorsement of this book by, and no affiliation with, any trade-marked brands or other products mentioned within is claimed or suggested. All trademarks that appear in this book belong to their respective owners and are used here for informational purposes only. The author and publisher encourage readers to patronize the quality brands mentioned in this book.

Dedicated to my husband and daughter, who have both always helped me remember what is most important in life and encouraged me to be the best person I can be.

Contents

Preface

It doesnt seem like long ago that I knew absolutely nothing about myself. Everybody else seemed to know I was disconnected, but I wandered in life aimlessly, trying to figure out what I wanted. My lack of personal awareness led to a lot of awkward situations: teasing, being taken advantage of, and of course, copious amounts of depression and anxiety. As a child, it was really bad. Over time, with friends and an increased understanding of life in general, I started learning more. I learned how to have friends. I learned how to get through school. But, I still relied on people around me for guidance and understanding.

When I was in college, the lack of awareness became a large problem. I was on my own. I couldnt rely on my parents as I had. All of the familiarity, the friends I made they were all gone.

Once again, I was trying to figure out who I was amid all these people who had it figured out. My depression and anxiety spiked. Things seemed worse than ever. With the help of well-meaning counselors, I waded my way through most of my 20s. I did eventually manage significant progress. I met, dated, then married my husband. We had a beautiful daughter about a year and a half later. Things seemed better until my daughter was 18 months old.

It was like I was back to square one. I wasnt as self-destructive as I had been, but in fear of being that way, I did nothing. My anxiety and depression came back full force.

After finding new counselors and doing work toward improving myself again, it felt like this time, progress was much slower. I kept circling back into the same issues and the same problems, just with different people and different circumstances.

I had a hard time functioning and managing the tasks that most would call daily life. Id used paper calendars, digital calendars, lists, sticky notes, and accordion folders in an attempt to bring time and task management into my life. They worked for a short time, but I found myself stuck between maintaining my mental health and the desire to be productive. I felt boxed in by the traditional Type A methods of time management. Until the fateful day my counselor introduced the concept of the Bullet Journal to me.

I immediately fell down the rabbit hole and have been a faithful user for over two years. Its changed my life: Its been a way to improve my time management and productivity. I love the flexibility of the system and that it allows me to take full advantage of my imagination and creativity.

But the Bullet Journal did more than just improve my time management. I started making real progress. At first, I didnt quite understand why, but one of the pivotal pieces of the Bullet Journal is using trackers. One of the primary trackers I relied on was a habit tracker, which helped me monitor what I was and wasnt doing each month. That habit tracker helped me discover my own patterns and tendencies; things that seemed obvious but to me werent obvious at all.

I wrote down my moods, my habits, my goals, my sleep patterns you name it. With the help of the people I loved most, I was able to start objectively identifying key issues in my daily living without feeling an overwhelming sense of guilt.

From there, I continued using my habit trackers and other trackers regularly, and they were so helpful in creating and connecting me with my purpose. They were so pivotal that I got to the point where I wanted to help other people find systems that worked for them, and I launched Planning Mindfully, my signature blog, less than a year later.

Through my blog, Ive had the opportunity to get to know many wonderful people and learn even more about myself and other systems that help people succeed. It was amazing to see that so many other people had their own challenges and struggles when it came to time management, productivity, and knowing about who they are and how that affects their journey. Planning Mindfully has received over one million page views in a little over a year. Ive been able to quit my full-time job in pursuit of helping people better themselves by managing their life, habits, and time more effectively.

While Im a huge promoter of Bullet Journals, I recognize that not everybody has the time or patience to create trackers of their very own. Some people create their own tracker notebooks by utilizing printables, stickers, and stencils to help ease the process of creation. This workbook simplifies the process even further. The work of creating trackers has already been done for you, which will help save you time and energy.

Because I feel like personal development is a huge part of the tracker process, Ive created a plethora of other pages to help you get more connected with your purpose.

I feel so honored to have the opportunity to help you in your journey to learn more about yourself.

Introduction

Trackers come in all shapes, sizes, and varieties. This workbook will help you find all the ideas you need to set up your habit tracker for success.

Trackers alone do not fix, change, add, or eliminate any of your behaviors.

But learning about how you operateyour patterns, tendencies, habits, struggles, and triumphscan help you develop better plans to create real change based on your needs and personality.

You may choose to utilize this workbook entirely on your own, for your own personal tracking and data collection needs. Or, you could utilize this workbook with a coach, therapist, teacher, or other important figure in your life to help you improve by understanding how you operate.

How to Use This Workbook

All trackers in this workbook follow either a monthly or yearly format, which will be explained on . While there are a few tracker templates in this workbook, you will have the ability to create some of your own trackers to monitor monthly. You may choose to create similar trackers each month, or you may prefer to try different types of trackers month to month.