Get into a Habit

I don’t always take my vitamins. Or drink eight glasses of water each day. Or, must I admit, even brush my teeth before going to bed every night.

But, without fail – at least for the past 300 days – I’ve grabbed my iPhone, swiped a couple of screens, opened a folder, and clicked on Timehop: the smartphone app that collects old photos from Facebook, photo albums, and other places and distributes them to me, each day.

So far, I’ve done that routine 300 days in a row. That’s a lot of grabbing, swiping, opening, and clicking just to see what I’ve eaten years ago. In other words, that’s a lot of time wasting just to remember that ceremonial first McRib of the season.

This got me thinking: What if, as a law student, I were as committed to other things as I am to checking Timehop now? And, how would I be able to take satisfaction in, say, knowing that I was working on my Torts outline for 20 days in a row as I now do taking pride in reaching 300 consecutive days on Timehop?

There are several habit-tracking apps out there, but I think the best one out there is Streaks. (You can read about some of my other recommended apps here.)

Streaks can help you set personal goals and stick to them using a combination of reminders and tracking. It’s easy to use, which means you don’t have to spend a lot of time tracking the things you’re tracking.

So, go ahead: Count the number of days you’ve worked on that outline. Track the number of consecutive Fridays you’ve met with your study group. See how long you can keep up reviewing your notes after certain classes.

Streaks lets you track negative tasks, too. Instead of marking tasks as completed, you can mark them as missed. If you can make it through the day without doing what you’re trying to stop, your streak will be extended a day.

Did you get through the morning without logging into Facebook? Skipped those happy hour specials at the nearby campus bar? Managed to make it through 90 minutes of future interests without that unnecessary trip to the restroom? If you slip, log it. Your streak begins anew.

Finally, if you like numbers, stats, and charts as much as I do, you can also get details about individual goals like your longest streak; the percentage of times you have completed your goal; the total number of tasks completed; and a graph of your completed tasks over time.

Check out Streaks. I’ll be checking Timehop for the 301st consecutive day.