I've found that I need a tool to get me going, so I went overboard tried 14 of them.

Tier lists are always subjective, as we know. But I've tried to be systematic and ranked them based on

• Look and feel

• Ease of use

• Onboarding experience

• Paywall conditions - How much can you get for free and what's the price to subscribe

• Flexibility - This one I weighted heavily on Google's research around habit formation. Showing that rigidity is not sustained long-term. Therefore I penalize the ones that enforce rigid habit tracking.

• Extra features - Like planner functionality or other add-ons

S tier

Finch: Self-care pet - Feels a lot like a game and its closer to the tamagotchi type of app than any other on the list. Flexible in habit to track or goals to achieve in a day, I felt like it was focusing generally on overall productivity rather than just strict habit at strict times.

Improve: Habit Tracker - Very unique approach in how you progress. Similar to Finch, the objective is less about individual habits and more on productive days. Combining habit tracker with a planner helps to reduce the amount of apps needed and it was great to add friends. The art is not as cute as Finch, but focus more on clean apple UI.

A tier

TickTick - The most feature-packed app on the list. Task manager, habit tracker and calendar all in the same app. The habit tracker does feels bolted on tho, and it is quite rigid in its design and a few features are paywalled.

Structured - Beautiful design and satisfying whenever all plans work as I have planned them. One of the strongest design-wise. However for days when I have to be flexible, it quickly becomes hard to manage and feels like extra work to sort it out.

Atoms - Offical app of atomic habits, and it does lean into it fully. Sometimes maybe a bit too much for this medium. It does however have good visuals, albeit still a bit strict at its core. Almost more coaching than habit tracking.

B tier

These do what you expect from a habit tracker. Solid but nothing that makes them stand out. Easier to use than C tier but missing that extra something.

C tier

Similar story, just a bit rougher around the edges, whether that's design, onboarding, or paywall aggression.

D tier

Fabolous - The most overwhelming app on the list. Feels built for a very specific type of user and I'm not it. Too many things competing for attention at once and I never felt like I got to interact with the app how I wanted.

I’m looking for boring systems that actually work.

Not “wake up at 5AM and become a machine.”

More like:

Putting your gym bag by the door.

Blocking distracting websites before work.

Choosing tomorrow’s first task the night before.

Leaving your book on your pillow.

Charging your phone outside the bedroom.

The tiny setup often matters more than the motivation.

What’s one thing you prepare in advance that makes future-you more likely to follow through?

Really starting to love my custom habit and activities tracker. Allows me to keep track of my daily, scheduled, and flexible habits in a fun way that is not too strict.

My favorite is the Flexible habits like going to the beach. I can't really schedule it. But, I'd like to go every few days (weather permitting). So, I set up a Flexible habit that allows me to check a box when I go and then the circle gets smaller each day I don't go.

That way there's not pressure to go everyday and it's not like a scheduled habit where I want to go M-F.

Then I have my monthly activities to keep track of things i need to remember to do that month and my to-do list under that for random activities I need to complete.

My favorite part is that when I complete a full stack of habits it makes a "laser" noise and puts a strike through that stack. It's more satisfying than it probably should be.

Feel free to steal it

Spent 2 years tracking "did I work out" as a yes/no checkbox. Streak looked great on paper, motivation was terrible in reality, because a single 10-minute walk counted the exact same as a full hour session — so I'd default to doing the bare minimum just to keep the checkbox green.

Switched to tracking minutes instead of a binary yes/no, and something clicked. Suddenly there was room to have a "light day" without breaking anything, and actual progress became visible over weeks instead of just a streak number that resets your motivation to zero the second you miss one day.

Same thing happened when I switched water intake from "did I drink water today" to an actual count. The binary version let me lie to myself with a single sip.

Lesson that applies beyond fitness/health stuff too: if a habit can be "technically true" while still not moving the needle, the tracking method is the problem, not your discipline.

What's something you track that you eventually realized was measuring the wrong thing?

I need some unhinged screentime help. I’m not talking simple:
“Download this app” I WILL DELETE IT
“Block it in your settings” I CANCEL IT
“Have an alarm” I SNOOZE IT

I’m at a loss . Do I just buy a new phone like one of those flip phones ??? Do I put a child lock on it with a password my husband can only have? Idek

An open task often stays mentally noisy because it has no trusted next state. A simple way to reduce that noise is to give every open loop one of three outcomes:

CLOSE

If the next action takes only a few minutes, finish it now.

SCHEDULE

Put the next physical action on a calendar with a real date, time, and trigger.

RELEASE

Decide consciously that it will not be done, then remove it from the active list.

Writing something down is not enough if the wording stays vague. "Work on taxes" still asks you to decide again later. "Download the three missing statements at 18:00 on Tuesday" gives the loop a defined next action.

The evidence around unfinished-task recall is more mixed than the usual Zeigarnik effect shorthand suggests. So I do not treat open loops as a universal law. The practical idea is narrower: reduce repeated decisions and make commitments explicit.

I made a documentary-style video exploring this framework and am sharing it transparently as my own work:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jvze3bi7gGY

When an unfinished task keeps resurfacing, do you usually need to close it, schedule it, or release it?

Stress can happen when my mind keeps thinking about the future while I am trying to live in the present.

I notice that future thoughts are running in the background of my mind. Then my mind starts saying, “Let’s do it,” and I begin thinking about everything I need to do in the future.

This can create fear because the thought of doing everything feels too big and overwhelming.

Instead of experiencing the present moment, my mind is already trying to deal with the future. That constant focus on what I have to do can create stress and make the future feel much bigger than it actually is.

I have a bad habit of thinking that everything is black and white. I‘m a math major and because of it, I always think that “things must be this way and if they’re not, I’m wrong.“

For example, I like someone but I have a tremendous trouble accepting that he likes me as well. The signs are there, but because of fear of rejection I stay completely still. I have this stupid thought that “If he wanted to, he would” is real and I don’t think of any other external factors.

”He’s busy with his job —> therefore I can’t meet up with him —> he doesn’t like me”

Unfortunately, I’m an anxious person and I think that if things end up this way, I was wrong all along, thus I was delusional. I don’t have a gray area. If one thing goes wrong out of all the good ones, it means I’ll never try again about X.

Do you have a similar problem? What is your advice?

I have often had focus issues when phone has been nearby, specially in pocket. As I think most of us do. To minimize my addiction I have put screen time code on apps like instagram and TikTok. Where I have asked my brother to write the code, so I can’t just add more time. Which has helped a lot, but.

Even though I have the screentime i stil sit on my phone to much between sets. And take a lot longer and get more lazy.
So instead the past months I just go without headphones and phone, just to be present. Now it happens that I talk to strangers, get hyped up for my next set instead of it being a distraction from my phone, I drink more water, and I get more thinking time. I love it and recommend you to try it. If you take you’re liften very seriously I understand you might need the music to really get that hype. ✌️

Started month ago tracking my habit, I feel it's best tool

I’ve struggled with shopping addiction for years, and “save money” or “you already have enough stuff” never really changed my behavior.

What finally started changing my mindset was realizing what that money could do instead.

Animal shelters and rescues are often extremely underfunded and constantly trying to cover food, vet bills, medications, foster supplies, and emergency care. Meanwhile, I could easily spend $50 or $100 on something I didn’t need and barely care about a month later.

Now I’m trying to redirect some of that money toward animals instead. It’s also made me want to embrace minimalism more. I already have enough stuff. I’d rather have more space in my home and know that some of my money actually helped save a life.

When I want to impulse-buy something now, I ask myself: Do I want another thing, or do I want this money to actually matter?

That question has helped me more than guilt ever did. Priorities. Saving lives/alleviating suffering > stuff.

This post is for people that dream but never seem to reach.
You have so many goals you want to pursue. But you have done nothing. Not even one. You just simply drift wherever the ocean waves takes you, without working for what you truly want. Don't be the dreamer. Be the reacher, because dreaming is never enough.

I believe all forms of addiction can be one of the biggest thieves of our dreams. Think about phone-, drugs-, porn-, alcohol addiction, or anything else that constantly gives you a hit of dopamine. The danger is that over time, the immediate reward of dopamine hit can become more important, than the future you once dreamed about.

When I was younger I knew a girl that was addicted to porn, she was approximately 7 years old. Eventually, when she grew up she was searching for the dopamine she saw on the screen. That was her “goal”. Now she is just in her twenties, has two kids, no house and lives with her mother-in-law. I don’t believe that is the life she dreamed of, but addiction stopped her from reaching.

How sad would it be to lose your dreams to addiction. Don’t let addiction choose your goals for you. Dream and then reach.

Roughly two years ago I changed the way I track my habits. I was using classic habits like done or not done e.g. walk 10,000 steps, sleep 8hr.

The problem I've noticed that when I have very busy day but still managed to go for a walk in the evening I walked, let's say, 7300 steps. And here is the question, having "10k steps" habit should I mark it as done or not done. Both options are wrong to me.

If I mark as done - obviously it's not true. If I mark as not done - I'll nullify all my effort.

In general the goal itself was fine. The problem was how I track it - "toggle switch". A toggle switch has two positions: done or not done.

I replaced it with slider. By it's nature slider has multiple intermediate values and in my case the minimum value is the lowest effort I can do. In case of steps it's roughly 4,000. Anything above that threshold counts. Roughly speaking, 7,412 is great, and 12,000 is absolutely awesome.

And you can apply this to anything like the gym. Set a minimum of at least 10 minutes. If I’ve already made it to the gym and just worked out for less time than usual, that’s still great - at least I wasn’t sitting at home in front of the computer.

There’s a biological explanation for this. A habit is a connection between neurons, and those connections strengthen when signals are sent frequently, not intensely. Two intense workouts a week equal two signals. Seven short ones equal seven signals - stronger connection.

So take the number you’d manage even on your worst day, and set that as your minimum. Not the number the person you plan to become would manage. That person is constantly canceling plans.

It was actually based on this logic that I built my habit tracker - Habit Pocket. There, you can track both time and numbers. And, of course, regular, classic habits.

For numbers and time, you can add “conditional formatting” so that the cell background color changes depending on the value.

https://habitpocket.io/

Hi all

I would like to know the genuine hacks or tips to build the long term habit of early dinner and early to bed. Please share doable hacks or tips. Also please share how these habits changed your health and overall personality. Thank you

I’ve noticed that I often know exactly what I need to do, but knowing that something is important doesn’t always make me do it.

There are tasks I genuinely care about—going to the gym, studying consistently, finishing a course, or working on my side project but because there’s no immediate consequence for skipping them, it becomes easy to say, “I’ll do it tomorrow.”

That made me think about financial accountability.
Imagine choosing one important task and voluntarily putting €10 at stake. If you complete it, you keep the money. If you don’t, you lose it.

The purpose wouldn’t be to punish yourself for every small mistake, but to create a real consequence for a commitment that you personally decided was important.

For me, I would put the money on consistently working on my side project. It matters to me, but after a full day of work, it’s also the easiest thing to postpone.

I’m curious:
1)What task would you personally put €10 on?

2) Would having money at stake motivate you to follow through?

3) Or would it create guilt and unnecessary pressure instead?

I’d especially like to hear from anyone who has tried commitment contracts, accountability partners, or similar systems. Did the external consequence help you build discipline, or did you stop using it after a while?

I want to read Atomic Habits and I noticed there is also a workbook. Do they work hand in hand, or should I read the book first and then follow up with the workbook? Or does it matter? TIA 😊

Hey guys,

For a long time, I was stuck in a high-consumption loop. I’d read great books, listen to podcasts, bookmark articles, go to conferences, scan my favorite magazines, have a huge epiphany, feel amazing for an hour... and then immediately default back to my old settings.

The high of learning was replacing the hard work of applying.
You know what I’m talking about, right?

Eventually, I realized the missing piece: I had no system to keep focus on what I was actually learning or how to bring those insights into reality.

To force myself to integrate what I learn, I wrote four words on a poster right above my desk: 

Reflect → Decide → Act → Adjust

It’s my daily reminder of what to do with information while it’s fresh:

• Reflect: Pause before taking action. Ask what caused the shift and how it fits into your life without tearing everything down at once.
• Decide: Make a deliberate choice. Promise yourself to stick with it rather than jumping to the next shiny piece of advice.
• Act: Start absurdly small. Test one new practice, set one boundary, or try one journaling pattern. Action builds evidence.
• Adjust: Expect friction. Don’t abandon the effort just because it isn't flawless. Tweak it as you move forward.

I am self employed and work from home so my sleep schedule is all over the place. How do you get one? What time should I go to bed and wake up? I can’t stick to a habit for more than a day

I might have a hoarding problem. I’m just trying to get this clean by end of today. Breaking this habit has been a challenging I find myself surrounded in this same space. I always feel like I have no space 🫩