How to Build the BEST NOTION HABIT TRACKER in 2023 (+ Template)

Introduction to Habit Tracking in Notion

In this section, the speaker introduces the importance of habits and how they can impact our daily lives. They discuss the use of Notion as a tool for habit tracking and highlight the benefits of using a habit tracker.

Building a Habit Tracker in Notion

• The speaker explains that building a habit tracker in Notion is actually simple and demonstrates how to create one.

• They showcase a minimalist yet powerful habit tracker template for Notion that utilizes features like notion buttons, recurring templates, and analytics.

• The speaker explains how the habit tracker works, where each day you get a new entry and can click on buttons to track your habits. They demonstrate tracking progress towards a goal and show that it works seamlessly on mobile devices.

Step-by-Step Guide to Building Your Own Habit Tracker

Step 1: Building Databases

• The first step is to create two databases in Notion - one for habits and another to track stats.

• The speaker demonstrates how to create these databases using the slash command "/database" and sets them up simply for this walkthrough. However, you can repeat these steps to add any number of habits you want to track.

Step 2: Setting Up Habits Database

• In the habits database, remove any empty rows and keep only one entry called "My Stats."

• Customize column names by renaming "Untitled" column as "Day."

• Add two more fields - "Habit" (checkbox) and "Date" (hidden property).

Step 3: Setting Up Stats Database

• In the stats database, create two properties - "Target Sleeping" (number) to set a goal for sleeping and a relation to connect with the habits database.

• Connect the habits and stats databases using the relation feature in Notion. This ensures that all entries in the habit tracker are linked to the stats property.

Step 4: Roll-Ups for Tracking Values

• Create two roll-up properties in the stats database - "Total Days" and "Habit Count." These will help track how many days you've been tracking your habits and how often you've done each habit.

• The speaker demonstrates how these roll-ups work, showing that they update automatically when new entries are added to the habit tracker.

These steps provide a framework for building a habit tracker in Notion, allowing users to track their habits effectively and monitor their progress over time.

Building the Habit Tracker Database

In this section, the speaker explains how to set up a habit tracker database in Notion. The process involves creating check boxes for each habit and setting up a target value and roll-up to count the checkboxes.

Setting Up Checkboxes for Habits

• Create check boxes for each habit in the database.

• Ensure that there is a target value and a roll-up property to count the checked checkboxes.

Supercharging Databases with Formulas

This section focuses on using formulas in Notion to enhance the functionality of databases.

Weekly Performance Formula

• Use a formula to calculate weekly performance by determining how many times a habit was done in a given week out of the target value.

• Use the "format date" function to extract the week from a date.

• Compare the current week with the week of each entry to determine if it falls within that week.

Checking Entry Status for Current Week

• Use another formula to check if an entry is in the current week.

• Utilize "format date" function again, this time extracting only the week from an entry's date.

• Compare this with the current week using equal signs.

Combining Entry Status and Habit Completion

• Combine formulas for checking entry status and whether a habit was completed into one property.

• Use logical operators (AND) to check if both conditions are true.

Tracking Habit Completion

This section explains how to track habit completion using formulas and roll-up properties.

Checking Habit Completion

• Write separate formulas for each habit being tracked.

• Use logical operators (AND) to check if both conditions (entry status and completion) are true.

Roll-Up Property

• Add a roll-up property that counts how often a specific habit was completed in a week.

• Use the relation property to reference the habit completion formula.

• Set the roll-up property to count the checked properties.

Displaying Habit Completion

This section covers how to display habit completion information using formulas.

Concatenating Text and Numbers

• Add another property for displaying habit completion information.

• Use the "concat" function to combine the number of completions, target value, and additional text.

The transcript does not provide further details on how to display the overall habit completion.

Tracking Sleep Targets

In this section, the speaker discusses how to track sleep targets and display them using emojis. They explain how to set a sleep target and calculate the progress towards that target.

Setting a Sleep Target

• To set a sleep target, enter the desired number of days you want to sleep enough out of a specific number of days.

• For example, if you want to sleep enough on 5 out of 7 days, enter "5" as the target.

• The system will display the progress towards the target as "1 out of 5" in this case.

Adding an Emoji Display

• To add an emoji display, go before the format section and type in quotation marks followed by your desired emoji (e.g., rocket).

• Add a space after the emoji for better formatting.

• Use the plus icon (+) to create the display.

• Later on, you can format it nicely on a sidebox.

Calculating Overall Performance

• Besides tracking weekly performance, it is also important to know overall performance over time.

• A more complicated formula is used for this calculation. It can be copied from the blog post linked in the description or written down from here.

• The formula takes into account the times slept divided by the sleep target and adjusts it based on actual time passed.

• The result is rounded to provide a concise percentage value.

Displaying Overall Performance

• To display overall performance, repeat previous steps and add another formula property called "display sleep overall."

• Use concat function with "sleep:" as prefix and format overall sleep multiplied by 100 with a percent sign (%).

Building Front-end Dashboard

This section focuses on building a front-end dashboard for displaying habits and performance statistics. The speaker explains how to create a two-column layout and set up views for weekly habits and performance.

Creating a Two-Column Layout

• Turn the tables into pages by hiding them since the back-end work is done.

• Enable full width for better display.

• Type "/call 2" to create a two-column layout.

Setting Up Weekly Habits View

• Add headers (H2) for "My Week" and "My Performance."

• Create a linked view of the habits database to display specific habits for the week.

• Customize the view by hiding unnecessary columns like date and formulas.

• Set up an advanced filter to show only entries within the current week.

Setting Up Performance Statistics View

• Create another linked view, this time using the stats database.

• Choose gallery view for a visually appealing display.

• Customize the view by turning off title, adjusting card preview size, and setting it to large.

Finalizing Dashboard Design

In this section, the speaker continues building the front-end dashboard by finalizing its design. They explain how to hide unnecessary elements and make adjustments for better visual presentation.

Hiding Unnecessary Elements

• Hide unnecessary elements like titles, sizes, etc., to clean up the dashboard's appearance.

Filtering Entries by Week

This section focuses on filtering entries in the weekly habits view based on the current week. The speaker demonstrates how to set up an advanced filter to show only relevant entries.

Advanced Filter Setup

• Modify existing filters or add new ones as needed.

• Use an advanced filter setup instead of basic filters if preferred.

• Add a second condition where date is within this week or similar criteria.

• This ensures that only relevant entries are displayed each week, starting fresh on Monday.

Completing Performance Statistics View

The speaker completes the performance statistics view by making final adjustments for better visual presentation.

Customizing Performance Statistics View

• Turn off unnecessary elements like titles and adjust card preview size.

• Choose gallery view for a visually appealing display.

• Set the card size to large for better visibility.

These are the main sections covered in the transcript.

Displaying Weekly and Overall Sleep Performance

In this section, the speaker explains how to display weekly and overall sleep performance using properties in Notion.

Adding Properties for Weekly and Overall Performance

• Click on the three dots next to "Properties" and select "New Property".

• Name the first property "Display Weekly Performance" and set its formula as "Weekly Performance".

• Duplicate the previous property and name it "Overall Performance".

Creating a Spacer

• Add another property called "Display Spacer" with an empty value.

Rearranging Properties

• Arrange the properties so that "Weekly Performance" is at the top, followed by a space, and then "Overall Performance".

Enhancing Display

• Consider adding emojis or more descriptive labels to improve clarity.

• Add buttons for other habits if needed.

Adding Buttons for New Entries

This section covers how to add buttons in Notion for creating new entries.

Adding a Button Block

• Type "/" followed by "button" to create a new button block.

• Customize the button by adding an emoji (e.g., moon) and label it as "Sleep".

Configuring Button Behavior

• Click on the button block and select "Get Started".

• Choose the option to edit pages.

• Select your habit database as the target.

• Set a filter to only edit habits with today's date.

Testing Button Functionality

• Uncheck today's habit entry.

• Click on the sleep button to check today's habit entry.

• Verify that only today's entry is checked, not others.

Creating Recurring Templates for Daily Entries

This section explains how to create recurring templates in Notion for daily entries.

Creating a Recurring Template

• Click on the drop-down menu and select "New Template".

• Name the template with a timestamp (e.g., "Add Today").

• Choose the "Date" property to automatically fill in the current date.

• Add an icon, such as a sunrise, for visual representation.

Setting Up Automatic Date Filling

• Edit the date property and temporarily change it to a text property.

• Enter "Add Today" and choose "Date When Duplicated".

• Change the property back to a date property.

Verifying Automatic Date Filling

• Check that the template fills in today's date automatically when applied.

• Delete any test entries created during verification.

Making Templates Recurring

• Click on the three dots next to the template and select "Repeat Every Day".

• Choose a time for daily creation of new entries.

• Consider adding sorting options to display the newest entry at the top.

Conclusion

The speaker concludes by summarizing how to create habits using properties, buttons, and recurring templates in Notion.