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Build a Notion Habit Tracker to Cultivate and Monitor Your Daily Habits

Notion Tutorial

August 20, 2024

Creating a habit tracker in Notion is an effective way to build and maintain positive habits. Notion's straightforward interface and custom features help you track progress and stay motivated. This guide will show us how to create a Notion Habit Tracker. It will use buttons and progress bars for an engaging experience.

Getting Started with Your Notion Habit Tracker

Before you can decide, you need to set up your workspace. Begin by opening two empty pages in Notion: Two parts, one for your dashboard and one for your database. Separating the dashboard and database also allows for better data management, partly to prevent overlap.

To initiate:

Navigate to your dashboard page.
Please set it to full width and give it an appropriate name and icon.
Repeat this process for your database page.

Creating Your Habit Tracker Database

Let's get onto your Habit tracker database. To create a new database for the habit tracker, utilize the inline database command. Create a database title and delete default properties, then hide the database title and clear everything.

Then, create a property called a checkbox on each habit you'd like to track. This will help keep your dashboard organized. In this case, each checkbox will be labeled with the respective habit name, and we will use an icon to convey the habit visually.

Implementing a Progress Bar

To track your daily completion rates, we will create a progress bar. Add a Formula property and name it "Total Progress." Select an icon for this property as well. Now, access the Notion Formula editing page and input the toNumber formula.

Within the number brackets, include each habit you are tracking. Make sure to separate them with plus signs. Enclose the entire formula with parentheses, divide by the number of habits, and multiply by 1000. This will create a percentage-based progress bar.

After setting up the formula, return to the Habit Tracker database, right-click on the property, and choose 'Edit property.' Change the Number Format to 'percent' and select 'Bar' as the display format. Choose a color to make your progress bar visually appealing.

Image demonstrating how to create a progress bar in Notion.

Tracking Your Habits Over Time

A date property added to the database will help you enhance your habit tracking. This lets you track how your habits change over time, giving you a better sense of when you're following a pattern (good or bad).

After you are sure that everything works as expected, you can create data for a functioning web application.

Image of how to track habits in the Notion Habit Tracker.

Automating Daily Entries with Templates

To streamline the process:

Create a repeat task that automatically adds today's habit card daily.
Click the down arrow in the upper right corner of the database, select the new template button, and set the template page title.
Choose today's date in the date field.

After closing the page, reopen the database template list. Here, you'll see the template page you just created. Click the three-dot icon next to it and select this template as the default. Select "repeat daily" in the repeat tab and set the time for automatic entry creation.

Image showing how to create a recurring task in Notion.

Designing Your Dashboard for Daily Use

Let's focus on the dashboard page, which you will interact with daily. To keep the screen clean and aesthetic, use the two-column command to split it into two sections.

On the right side, set up your Habit Tracker section using the slash command to call your Habit Tracker database. Select 'Calendar View' and choose the database you just created. Hide the database title for a cleaner look.

Next, click on the three dots at the top right of the Calendar view to access Properties. Ensure that all habits and the progress bar are displayed.

Creating Additional Views for Better Tracking

To enhance the dashboard further:

Create a weekly view.
Right-click the view you just created and select 'Duplicate.'
Click the 3 dots in the top right corner and go to the Layout tab.

To make your calendar more organized, click 'Show calendar as' and select 'Week.'

You can also look at a Current Cycle that shows today's checking status. We can then use the gallery view command with filters to show this new view only today's data.

Image of the Notion Habit Tracker in calendar view.

Implementing Quick Check-Ins

Add a 'Check-in' section above the Current Cycle for easier check-ins and a 'Button' command with the title and icon for each habit. To prevent accidental taps, this button will prompt a confirmation dialog.

Next, click Add another step, edit pages, and select 'Habit Tracker' as the database. Create a filter for today's check-in, ensuring the system only updates today's log when clicked.

Repeat this process for each habit, allowing easy and efficient daily tracking.

Image of the Notion button feature in the Notion Habit Tracker.

Visualizing Weekly Progress

Create another view from the Habit Tracker database to visualize your progress better each week. Use the '/view' command to call your database and select a table as the display format. Name it "weekly report" and adjust the layout accordingly.

Access the Group tab and select the Date property to group by week. This will help you observe your progress more clearly over time.

Image of visualizing weekly habit progress in Notion.

Enhancing Your Tracker with Charts

Now, let's explore how we can make our data more visual by adding a line chart to our dashboard! Go ahead and register for a free account on DataJumbo.co, connect your Notion account, and then choose the page for the Habit Tracker you created.

Then, in the Charts tab, click 'Build your first chart' and choose 'Habit Tracker' for the database. Click on 'Date' for the X-axis and 'Total Progress' for the Y-axis. Change the chart's style and get a chart link back to Notion.

The new Notion chart feature allows you to create a line chart using the /chart command. It's also automatically updated in real time; no manual refresh is needed.

Image of Notion's chart feature in the habit tracker.

Conclusion: Start Your Habit Building Journey

The Notion Habit Tracker allows you to manage your habits. Its structured format makes progress more visible and helps maintain consistency.

If you're looking for a better habit tracker, check out HeyAlbert's resources. It has a reward system and features such as Quote Management.

FAQs

Can I customize my Notion Habit Tracker?

Absolutely! Notion is highly customizable, allowing you to tailor your habit tracker to fit your preferences and needs.

Is it simple to follow my habits over time in Notion?

With the date property and the different views available, you can monitor your habits, have an overview of your progress, or even just see the data for the current day.