If you’re like me, you love earning a gold star any chance you can get. Tracking your habits is a great way to get that check-the-box satisfaction you crave, but it can also help you boost your happiness! Here are 6 things I keep track of on the daily that have a major positive impact on my mood.

6 Things to Track to Improve Your Mood

Steps

If you’re not necessarily a gym rat, a great way to be proactive about your health is taking walks! Walking a few laps around my neighborhood clears my mind, allows me to notice how I feel, and keeps me in shape.

Track your steps with your phone or your watch and notice how moving your body regularly impacts your mind. When we spend the day seated at a desk or on the couch, we tend to feel pretty blah. Getting your muscles moving is invigorating, giving you that extra burst you need for the day!

Sleep

If you don’t get enough sleep, you’re obviously not going to feel amazing the next day. Track the hours of sleep you get each night and notice how you feel in the morning. You can do this through an app like SleepWatch, but I prefer not to sleep with my phone near me. Try a watch that tracks your sleep cycles for you, or write down your bedtime and wake-up time daily in your planner.

Psst: need a little help getting into a nighttime routine? Check out my essential items for a great night’s sleep! Get your skincare on, grab the eyemask, and catch some much-needed zzz’s.

Gratitude

After I write my Morning Pages, I use the 5 Minute Journal to jot down a few notes about what I’m grateful for each day. Make this part of your morning routine, or set aside a few moments to reflect at the end of the day.

Pro tip: don’t put too much thought into this — just recognize what you’re grateful for in the moment! It doesn’t have to be a major event. Just notice your gratitude as it comes and make a quick note of it so you can reflect on what really matters.

Wins

Appreciate your wins, no matter how small! If you can’t take a moment to celebrate the small victories, how can you celebrate the big ones when they come? If you had a win, or two or three, write them down in your bullet journal or a note in your phone. Acknowledge the effort you put in, and give yourself a little recognition!

Even if you feel like you had a sub-par day, search for the win and reflect on it. Maybe you let your schedule get away from you, but you really took the time to connect with a friend on the phone. Maybe your diet went a little off track, but you did a great job of prioritizing your tasks at work. Notice the good habits and celebrate them!

Water Intake

Stay hydrated! Keep track of how much water you drink throughout the day. You can do this through an app like this daily tracker, or if you know how much water your usual water bottle can hold, count up the times you refill it throughout the day and add up the total at the end!

Staying hydrated is great for your skin, your energy level, and your overall health. Start your day with a glass of water, and maybe even bring some to bed. I top off my Hydroflask with some water and ice as part of my nighttime routine!

Overall Mood

Notice the patterns in your mood over time and try to recognize the habits and events that make you feel better or worse. It can be as simple as doodling a smiley face or a sad face in your planner! From there, you can start to assess what contributes to your happiness, and what needs to change so you can cut out the negativity. At the end of the week or end of the month, tally up how many good days you had versus bad days, and work towards increasing that number of good days.

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QOTD: What do you love to track on a daily basis that boosts your mood?