A habit tracker with streaks you can see

How the streak is counted

The streak is the number of days in a row the habit was done, counting only the days it is meant for. A habit set for Monday, Wednesday and Friday keeps its streak over Tuesday and Thursday, so a rest day never breaks a run. In the table, those days show a dash instead of a square.

Today counts once it is done. Until then the streak runs up to yesterday, so a morning look at the table does not show a broken streak for a day that has barely begun. A habit done several times a day counts a day as done when every time is ticked: 6 glasses of 8 show as 6/8 and leave the day open.

The header keeps score for today: “2 of 3” means two of the three habits meant for today are done. When all of them are, it says so.

A week of ticks, worked through

Take a new habit, Run, set for Monday, Wednesday and Friday. This is what the streak column shows as the week goes on:

Friday only counts as missed once it is over, which is why Saturday shows 0. Ticking Friday afterwards repairs the run, because the streak is worked out from the ticks each time, not stored. On Sunday the streak is still 3, and on Monday morning, before you have run, it stays 3 as well. The longest streak, shown when you click the habit, keeps the highest run you ever reached, even after a streak breaks.

Several times a day, and the 18-week grid

Some habits are about how often: glasses of water, stretch breaks, practice rounds. Set Times a day to the number you aim for, up to 20. With 8, the square counts 1/8, 2/8 and so on with each tap and fills with a tick at 8. One more tap empties it, which is how you undo a slip of the mouse.

Click the habit's name and its history opens: the last 18 weeks as a grid, one square per day, in the habit's color. A full day is the strongest color, a part day a paler one, and days the habit is not meant for look different, so a gap on a rest day never reads as a miss. Point at a square to see the date and how many of the day's count you did. Beside the grid come the streak now, the longest streak, the days done in full and the day you added the habit.

If you later change a habit's days under Change, the streak and the grid are worked out again with the new days, the past included.

Missed a tick? Fix it later

Habits are often done away from the computer. The table covers the last seven days, and any of its squares can be tapped, so ticking off yesterday's run or Saturday's reading on Monday morning is fine. Days older than that can no longer be changed. Today's habits can also be ticked straight from the Today page of the Productivity app, which shows up to six of them.

The tracker does not send notifications. To be nudged, add a repeating reminder such as “stretch every day at 3pm” in Reminders, and tick the habit when you have done it.

Setting up habits that last

• Make it something you can tick. “Read 20 pages” or “walk after lunch” is clearer than “read more”.
• Use the days you mean. A habit is for every day or for fixed weekdays; “three times a week, any days” is not an option, so pick the three days you aim for.
• Pair it with a timer. A Pomodoro timer period is a natural size for a study or writing habit.

Habits and their history are kept in Octoolo's data folder on this PC. There is no phone app and no sync, so ticks are made on this computer. Delete habit removes a habit together with its history.