I’m not talking about bullet journaling (which can be cool, but which I find too artistically daunting). I simply create a Google sheet full of different color-coded tabs so that I can track any number of ways to measure a year. From the most thorough travel plans to your fitness journey, if you have a goal, that goal needs a spreadsheet tab.
The spreadsheet journal is perfect for us freaks who like to combine sentimentalism with statistics. Whatever metrics you choose to jot down, you can frame them around a sense of accomplishment. Your smart watch can track how many steps you’ve taken. A spreadsheet journal, however, is where you can appreciate how many steps you’ve achieved. From there, you can have fun with the numbers, converting those steps into miles or finding patterns over time or in whatever suits your nerdy brain.
The core philosophy: track everything, judge nothing
The foundation of my system comes down to three main principles:
Micro-goals over macro-dreams. Break each resolution into the smallest possible action. "Write a book" becomes "write 250 words daily." These micro-goals are easy to track, hard to rationalize away, and create momentum through small wins.
First things first: Choose your spreadsheet software. I opt for the ease of Google Sheets, but I understand you might have some privacy concerns there. Or maybe you’re simply a master at Excel. The main takeaway is to create one master file with as many different tabs as you see fit. Include tabs tracking your health/fitness goals, books/movies/TV you’ve consumed, your finances/budgeting, and whatever else is significant to you:
Miles walked
Movies watched
Books finished
Places traveled
Thank-you notes sent
Playlists created
Use this template to help get started
I've created a barebones template you can download here. It has some starter tabs to get started: a resolution dashboard, daily habit tracker, and weekly review template. Following these templates, you could add a monthly deep dive, or even more detailed activity logs.
Resolution Name: Be specific. Your goal may be to "get healthy," but somewhere you need to write down a specific action item, like "complete 150 workouts this year."
Target Metric: The number you're chasing (150 workouts, 24 books, $10,000 saved).
Completion %: A simple formula dividing current by target, if applicable.
Status: On Track (green), At Risk (yellow), Behind (red)—use conditional formatting.
Daily habit tracker
This is where consistency lives. For 2026, I start my timeline on Jan. 5, since it's the first Monday of the new year. In a grid with dates across the top, I have daily habits going down the left side. Each habit gets a row where you mark completion with an X, checkmark, or the actual number achieved.
Use color coding: green for completed, red for missed, yellow for partial completion. At the end of each row, you could create columns for weekly streaks, longest streak this year, and completion percentage. These metrics gamify the process and make patterns visible. If you notice you always miss meditation on Wednesdays, you can investigate why and adjust.
Weekly review template
Wins This Week: List 3-5 specific accomplishments, no matter how small. "Worked out Monday and Thursday" counts. "Saved $50 by cooking instead of ordering out" counts. This section fights the negativity bias that makes us forget progress.
Pattern Recognition: After a few weeks, you'll notice trends. "I always skip workouts when I have early meetings—need to switch to evening gym sessions." These insights are gold.
Energy and Motivation Level (1-10): Track your overall state. If you notice motivation plummeting, you can proactively adjust expectations or seek support before completely derailing.
How to maximize your spreadsheet
You can dedicate a column in each tab for jotting down miscellaneous notes, but for the sake of tidiness, make sure not to overfill your boxes with text. It also helps to stay consistent with your formatting—e.g. bolding the header of each metric. I color code at whim. For instance, as a stand-up comedian, I keep track of all my shows with a specific color to mark how I felt about them: Shades of green mean the show went well, and shades of red mean the show...did not go well. In times where it looks like everything in my life is red, it’s nice to be able to shift my gaze to all the green, too. Perspective!
At the end of the year, you’ll be able to use all that data to visualize both the big and the little things in your life over the 12 months prior. At a glance, you’ll be able to pat yourself on the back for how successfully you cut back on caffeine, or upped your time outdoors, or improved your books-started to books-completed ratio. Ultimately, my own spreadsheet is about appreciating all the little things in my life, even if I do so in one of the nerdiest ways imaginable.
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