The habit study
In 2010 a University College London team had 96 volunteers pick one new daily behavior, such as drinking a bottle of water with lunch, and tracked how automatic it felt over 12 weeks.
- Time to reach automaticity ranged from 18 to 254 days, with a median of 66 days.
- Missing a single opportunity did not materially affect habit formation.
Attach it to a cue
Participants tied their new behavior to a situation that happens every day, such as a meal. Hooking water onto something you already do means one less thing to remember.
| Something you already do | The glass to attach |
|---|---|
| Getting up | A glass after brushing your teeth |
| Sitting down at your desk | Fill your glass |
| Lunch | A glass with the meal |
| Before an afternoon meeting | Take your glass along |
| Getting home | Wash your hands, have a glass |
Using streaks well
- Streaks motivate, but motivation often breaks with them. As the study showed, the habit survives a missed day.
- Watching days logged alongside your goal streak is steadier.
- If an ambitious goal keeps breaking your streak, lower the goal (picking a target).
In the app
Streak and active days
The top of Water Tracker’s History tab shows 7-day average, Streak, Best day, Total, Active days and Best streak. The monthly calendar shades each day by how much of the goal you reached.
Fourteen badges
Badges on the Badges tab cover goal streaks (3, 7, 14 and 30 days) but also things that keep growing when a streak breaks: days logged (10, 50, 100), total volume (10, 50, 100 L), 100 logs and five drink types. Around day 66 you will sit between Consistent (50 days) and Habit Built (100 days).
Fill in missed days later
Tap a past date in the History list to add entries to that day. If you drank but forgot to log, fill it in.
FAQ
Can I delete the app after 66 days?
Sixty-six days is only the median and people vary widely. Once you drink on cue without prompts, try widening the reminder interval or switching reminders off and just logging.
Logging itself feels like a chore.
Set quick-add buttons to your glass sizes and it is one tap (measuring your glass). You can also tap "Log a glass" straight from the notification.
Sources: Lally et al., Eur J Soc Psychol 2010 (habit formation)
Water Tracker: Drink Reminder
No sign-up, and your drink log stays on your phone. Free on Android.