Track habits and build streaks

A habit is something you want to do again and again, like practicing a language every morning or going to the gym three times a week. You decide when it happens and how much counts, then check it off on the days you do it. Heym keeps the history and turns it into a streak, a completion rate and a calendar. This page covers creating habits, schedules and targets, checking them off, the stats, and archiving or deleting.

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Create a habit

A new habit repeats every day and counts as done with one check-in a day (1 / day). Change that with Target and Schedule, described below. To change a habit later, click its name on the Habits page to open its window. You can also add a habit from a goal’s or life area’s page: click Add habit in its Habits section. The habit is linked to that goal or area for you.

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Choose how much counts

Click Target in the habit’s window to set what a successful day, week, month or year looks like.

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A few times a week, month or year

For “gym 3 times a week”, set Target to 3 and Period to Week. The habit then counts any 3 days in the week, and it reads 3× / week. When you switch a Count habit from Day to a longer period, Max per day starts at 1×, so each check-in has to be on a different day. Choose a higher number, or No limit, if one day may count more than once.

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Set when it happens

Click Schedule to choose the habit’s days and time.

• The date and calendar: the day the habit starts. Include end date adds a last day.
• Start time and Duration, such as 8:15 AM for 20 minutes. A habit with a time sits at that time on the calendar.
• Time zone: keep a city, or choose Floating to follow your local time.
• Repeat: Daily, Weekly, Monthly, Yearly, Every weekday or Custom. Weekly, Monthly and Yearly follow the start date’s weekday or date.

Custom repeats every few days, weeks, months or years, on the weekdays or dates you choose. It works as for tasks (see Repeating tasks), without the Based on and Ends options.

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Check off a habit

On the Habits page, each habit has a square for every day it’s scheduled. Days it isn’t scheduled show just the letter and can’t be checked off. Click a day’s square:

• Yes or no habits (the default 1 / day): one click marks the day done. Click again to undo it.
• Count habits: each click adds 1. On a weekly, monthly or yearly habit, once a day reaches its Max per day, the next click clears it. To clear a day’s count, right-click the square and choose Reset progress.
• Enter value turned on: a small box asks for the amount.

Use the arrows at the top to change the week, and click the dates between them to come back to this one. Days that haven’t happened yet can’t be checked off. You can also check off today’s habits on Home, in Today’s habits, and habits on the calendar in Today or Upcoming. See Plan on the calendar. Right-click a square for more: Complete fills the day in one go, Enter value asks for an amount, Skip and Fail mark the day (choose the same one again to take it back), and Reset progress clears it. A habit’s window does the same for today at the top: click the square to check in, or the buttons on the right to skip (») or fail (×). The label next to the date says Done, Skipped or Failed.

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Done, skipped or failed

Today doesn’t break a streak while it’s still open. Use Skip for a day that shouldn’t count, such as a sick day, and Fail to record a miss. For weekly, monthly and yearly targets, only done check-ins add up; a skipped or failed day adds nothing.

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Read your streak and stats

The four numbers at the top of a habit’s window: Below them, Progress charts your check-ins. W, M, Q and Y show this week, month, quarter or year; 4W, 12W and 12M show the last 4 or 12 weeks or 12 months. Every range but W adds a Calendar of each month, where you can check off past days too.

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Get reminders

Click Reminders in the habit’s window and choose when you want a nudge, such as At start or On the day at a time. A habit reminds you on each scheduled day until you’ve done it that day, or, with a target such as 3 times a week, every day until you reach the target. It stays quiet on days you skip or fail. How reminders arrive is on Reminders.

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Group and reorder habits

Click View settings (the sliders button next to New habit) to change the list:

• Group: None, Life area, Goal or Time of day. Habits are grouped by life area until you change it.
• Show archived: adds an Archived group at the bottom.

Time of day sorts habits by start time: Morning (5 AM to noon), Afternoon (noon to 5 PM), Evening (5 PM to 5 AM) and Anytime (no start time). To reorder, point at a habit and drag the handle left of its name. Dragging it into another group moves it there. Dropped into Morning, Afternoon or Evening, it gets a start time of 8:00 AM, 2:00 PM or 7:00 PM; dropped into Anytime, it loses its start time.

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Archive or delete a habit

To pause a habit and keep its history, click its handle and choose Archive, or choose Archive in the ⋯ menu of its window. An archived habit leaves your list and becomes read-only. To bring it back, turn on Show archived in View settings, then choose Restore from its handle or its window. To delete a habit, click its handle or the ⋯ menu in its window, choose Delete, then confirm with Delete.

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Good to know

• Habits don’t move goal progress. Linking a habit to a goal shows it on the goal’s page, but the goal’s progress comes from its tasks, subgoals or the numbers you log. See Goals.
• Habits aren’t shared. When you share a goal or life area, the habits in it stay private to you. See Share with others.
• Repeating task or habit? A repeating task is a to-do that comes back. A habit is a routine you track over time. See How Heym fits together.

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Limits

The Free plan includes up to 3 habits, and archived habits count toward them. Pro has no limit. If you have more habits than your plan allows, for example after Pro ends, the extra habits become read-only and a banner in their window says so. Nothing is deleted. See Free, Pro and Lifetime.

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