Do you often find you make it to the end of the day and can’t really explain what you’ve done with your time? Do you often find yourself upset, angry, or depressed and aren’t really sure why? If you answer yes to either of these questions, you’re certainly not alone. Many people go through their days in a semi-awake haze, relying on habits and patterns to dictate their time. They don’t even realize how much time they are wasting or spending on other people’s goals. If you have big goals in life or if you just want to live a happier, more fulfilled existence, it’s essential that you start a process of inner tracking. Though you can track many different aspects of your life, these three areas are a good place to start.
Track Your Habits
When you track how you spend each hour of the day, you may discover some eye-opening patterns. Maybe you claim to be a ‘writer’ but only spend 10 minutes a day actually writing. Or perhaps you lose huge chunks of time scrolling the internet or watching mindless talk shows. Once you see where you’re actually spending your time, you can start making conscious efforts to change and spend more time on your big life goals and aspirations. Simply by shifting a few hours of the day into more productive activities, you can make a huge change that will resonate in multiple areas of your life.
Track Your Triggers
Emotional triggers can easily sidetrack your happiness and cause problems in your relationships. You probably know when you’re triggered, but you may be less adept at determining why you had that reaction and what you can do to change it. The next time you get upset or angry because of another’s words or actions, write it down. Delve a little deeper into your reaction and try to determine where it came from. Often just the act of being mindful to your triggers is enough to begin lessening their intensity.
Track What Brings You Happiness
What brings you the most joy throughout your day? Do you find peace and happiness when you spend some time outside? Is your heart the lightest when you’re with your children? Does relaxing alone with a good book fill your emotional tank? If you don’t write down exactly when you feel the most fulfilled (and what you’re doing at the time), you may find you’re not really aware of what makes you happiest. Not only will tracking it help you be more aware, but going back and looking at the list of everything that made you happy will undoubtedly bring you even more happiness.
When you begin tracking your days, you can learn important information about your habits, how you spend your time, and what may be derailing you from your goals of a fulfilled life. By spending just a few minutes every day filling out a spreadsheet, writing in a diary, or using a tracking app, you can bring more awareness to your day and your inner emotions and start making powerful positive changes for the future.