We all have little habits we’d like to change in our lives, be it sleeping more, cutting down on technology use, or even just standing up more during the workday. But no matter how seemingly small these changes are, they tend to be easier said than done.
Our friends at 99U found a handy little tool for actually achieving those goals and changing your habits. Reminiscent of grade school days when teachers would give you a gold star on a chart for completing your homework or helping with classroom chores, the “Standards” tool from Jake Lodwick allows you to create your own chart of goals, with a check box for each day of the week.
Simply use the tool to type in your own standards for the week—small things you’d like to do or not do every day—and then print out the PDF and tape it somewhere prominent.
Every day that you successfully do that thing, you get the satisfaction of putting a check mark in the box.
Yes, it’s a small thing, but having something to remind you what changes you’d like to be making (and how successfully you’ve been making them) can be pretty powerful for giving yourself a boost of motivation and keeping yourself accountable. (We won’t even judge you if you buy some gold star stickers to reward yourself with.)