How to use Days You Did It

You pick three to seven actions you want to keep up, and tick the days you managed them. Each week you count the total and stack it as a bar in the panel above.

It started as something I made for myself and used. The worked example on the sheet is based on what I was writing at the time.

1. Set the goal and the period

The top panel is where you write what you want and by when. A goal like “be well enough to attend the vocational school” is a good size — one where you can tell for yourself whether you got there.

A period of one to two months works as a rough guide. Too short and a change does not show; too long and the first sheet feels far away. When the period ends, you can start again on a new sheet.

2. Choose the actions

An action works best when it is specific about where and when, and easy to do. Something like “get up at 7” or “drink a glass of water after getting up.” When it is clear when, where and what you are doing, you never have to wonder whether you managed it.

Writing down something you already do is fine too. When things you already keep up sit on the list, ticks start appearing on their own and the sheet begins to move. That is easier to keep going with than a sheet that stays empty.

If you are unsure what to aim for, deciding it together with someone you can talk to, such as a counsellor, is one way to go.

3. Count each week and fill the graph

Ticks are counted week by week and stacked as a bar in the panel above. After a while, you can tell which stretches went well and which did not just by looking at the graph.

The seven spaces in a week are not there to be filled in completely. A tick appears only on the days you managed it, and the days you did not can stay empty. Even after a week with nothing in it, what you built up before stays there.

4. (Optional) A row for someone’s mark

In the customiser you can add a row at the bottom of the table for a mark. It is a row for someone else to look at a week’s worth and leave a flower mark or a stamp. It is not required — if you do not need it, you can leave it off.

When someone else looks, they sometimes notice things you did not. It also becomes an occasion to tell people what you are working towards and what you are doing. You finish a week, someone looks, and they draw a circle. Being connected to people this way is itself what helps you keep going.