17 Things Everyone Should Track In Their Twenties

    Time to organize your whole damn life.

    Anna Borges
    by Anna Borges

    BuzzFeed Staff

    Tracking your habits can be satisfying as hell. When you track things — whether by using a bullet journal, app, Google Doc, or another method you devised — you can pick up on patterns you didn't notice before, identify things you'd like to be doing differently, and be more intentional about how you live your life and spend your time.

    Basically, it's just a way to pay attention to things in your life that you might otherwise be passive about. Obviously all of these aren't going to apply to you and your life, so take what you like and leave the rest.

    1. How often you see your friends.

    @@planningpeach / Via instagram.com

    Life happens, and next thing you know, it's been a month since you've hung out with your closest friends. Keep track of the last time you got together with the people you care about keeping up a relationship with so no one important falls through the cracks when your life is busy.

    You can also make note of who initiates contact. If one of you is always the one to reach out or make plans, check in that everyone feels good about that — and if not, try to make it more ~balanced~.

    2. The last time you cleaned, washed, or replaced certain things, like your sheets, bath towels, bras, makeup brushes, toothbrush, etc.

    @thekiwirose / Via instagram.com

    Here's a good list of things you should be cleaning but probably aren't that might inspire you.

    3. How much you spend on things like going out, takeout, alcohol, and other money black holes.

    @balancedbostonbudget / Via instagram.com

    That stuff adds up quickly and you might be spending more than you want to simply by virtue of not paying attention. One thing I do to prevent having to do math or extensive tracking is having a credit card I *only* use for Seamless, booze, going out, etc. That way I can see the exact number I spend week to week — and make changes accordingly.

    4. How much you're drinking and how it makes you feel, emotionally and physically.

    itunes.apple.com

    Not saying your goal has to be to cut down on drinking. But your body reacts differently to alcohol the older you get, so get an early start on figuring out which types of alcohol cause massive hangovers (or stupid decisions) and which don't.

    Also, keep an eye out for how drinking in general makes you feel. When I started tracking my intake, I realized that I often drank more when I was feeling anxious in order to mitigate that feeling — but wound up feeling more anxious in the morning as a result of getting too drunk the night before and worrying about how I behaved.

    5. Your period, if you have one, so you know when/if things are abnormal.

    http://@bujolove.xo / Via instagram.com

    Also so you can avoid this interaction:

    Your doctor: What was the date of your last period?

    You, every time without fail before you started tracking it: Ummmm. Like...sometime last week? Maybe the week before?

    6. Your responsibilities and tasks — in whatever to-do list works best for you.

    7. When you go to your medical appointments (and what you learned there).

    @maryj13 / Via @maryj13

    Adulthood marks the beginning of keeping track of your own damn health, and it's really easy to let appointments fall to the wayside if there's nothing imminently wrong with you. But get your checkups! And then write down when you got them so you know when it's time to get them again!

    8. How much (or little) water you're drinking each day.

    @time2livelifefully / Via instagram.com

    A lot of problems start with dehydration — like fatigue, poor mood, bad skin, you name it — so it's never a bad idea to be an organized water-drinker.

    9. How often you're late vs. on time to meetings, plans with friends, appointments, or dates.

    Anna Borges / BuzzFeed

    Because if you find out that being a late is a pattern of yours, there are prooobably some people in your life who are quite annoyed with you.

    10. How much sleep you're actually getting.

    11. Your moods, especially so you can see if they align with certain habits.

    Taylor Miller / BuzzFeed / Via buzzfeed.com

    Making note of your moods in a tangible way — whether through an app or a mood tracker in a journal — can really pin down what causes them. Like, you might realize that the last four times you were really upset aligned with hanging out with a certain person or that you really are happier when you don't skip the gym.

    12. How often you cook vs. getting takeout.

    Anna Borges / BuzzFeed

    If you want to be getting takeout all the time, that's totally fine! But if you know it's kind of a problem that you want to work on, tracking can help keep you honest.

    13. How much time you spend on various apps, because it might be more of a time suck than you realize.

    Anna Borges / BuzzFeed

    There's a handy little trick you can use if you have an iPhone to see juuust how much time you're spending on Instagram (or in my case, Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery) and it's good to keep an eye on. Here's how:

    1. Go to “Settings” in iOS,

    2. Choose “Battery”

    3. Scroll down to “Battery Usage” and then tap on the little clock icon

    4. Cringe, probably

    I'll leave it up to you what you do with the info.

    14. Your credit score, because you don't want to find out you have bad credit too late.

    itunes.apple.com

    Personally, I love Credit Karma because I get push notifications when my score changes and can keep an eye on it without thinking too much. Also, it does what's known as a "soft inquiry," meaning that it won't lower your credit score.

    15. How and when you have conflict in your life.

    Taylor Miller / BuzzFeed / Via buzzfeed.com

    Conflict happens, whether it's fights with friends, butting heads with coworkers, or whatever else. Making note when that kind of stuff comes up can help you figure out, "Is this me, or is it them?" because once you start paying attention, you might notice certain trends that point toward bigger problems.

    16. Your progress toward your goals through regular check-ins with yourself.

    17. How often you do things that bring you joy.