A habit tracker or a checklist?
A checklist is great for things you do once. For things you want to keep doing, it misses a few things.
When a checklist is enough
Groceries, a packing list, things you do once: a checklist is perfect for that, and if a notes app works for your habits too, keep using it. It’s simple, and simple is good.
Where it falls short for habits
- It forgets. Every morning the list is empty again. Whether you did it 3 or 30 days in a row isn’t written anywhere.
- Every day looks the same. “Gym 3× a week” has no place in a daily list, so it’s either always open or never there.
- Missing and not planned look alike. An unticked box doesn’t say if you skipped it or if it simply wasn’t for today.
- It doesn’t say how you’re doing. You can feel like you did nothing in a week where you actually did 80%.
Why not just use a checklist?
A checklist tells you what’s left. It doesn’t tell you whether you’re getting any better, and it doesn’t care when you skip. Here’s how HeyTask compares to the apps people usually try first.
A general picture of common habit trackers and to-do apps. Features differ per app; this isn't a claim about any specific one.
What a habit tracker adds
In HeyTask each day gets a score from what was planned for that day only. Weekly goals count toward the week. Your streak grows on good days, 75% unless you choose otherwise, so one off day doesn’t wipe it out. And with a few weeks of history it starts to notice patterns, like which weekday is hardest for you.
Questions people ask
How is my score calculated?+
It’s what you finished divided by what was planned for that day. 4 out of 5 is 80%. A day with nothing planned doesn’t get a score at all, so it can’t drag you down.
What about goals like “3× per week”?+
Those don’t have fixed days, so they count toward your week and month instead of a single day. They only count as missed once there aren’t enough days left to make it.
Is HeyTask free?+
Yes, and it isn’t a trial. Free gives you up to 15 tasks in 3 groups, your daily score, streaks, reminders (in the iPhone app), friends, the HeyTask 90 challenges and badges. Pro is €3.99 a month, €24.99 a year or €59.99 once, and removes the limits.
Start with three things.
Not ten. Three things you’d be proud of doing every day. Make the plan now, tick off the first one tonight and see where you are in a week. It’s free, and if it’s not for you, you delete your account and that’s that.