A habit baseline is a short record of what you already do and when it fits. Before choosing your next target, write down one action, a few ordinary days and the information you actually have. Use the record to choose a first experiment.
This guide offers a seven-day worksheet as a convenient starting format. Seven days is an observation period you can adapt. It does not establish that a habit has formed or that the week represents every part of your life.
Choose one question before recording
Start with a decision such as: where could ten minutes of reading fit on workdays? Record the activity and circumstances that answer that question. A list of everything you do can make a simple decision harder to find.
Keep the unit consistent. Reading minutes, pages and completed sessions describe different things. If you want to choose a time slot, record minutes and the slot you used. If your question is whether you met a defined minimum, record completion against that minimum.
Use four clear labels
- Completed: you know the action happened according to your definition.
- Missed: a planned opportunity passed and you know the action did not happen.
- Unknown: you do not have a reliable record.
- Not scheduled: the plan contained no opportunity on that day.
During a purely observational week, record what happened without retroactively treating every day as a missed commitment. Use completed and missed labels only for opportunities you actually planned. Keep a blank record unknown until you have information to correct it.
A worked reading baseline
In this illustrative example, Noor wants to find a place for reading. Before changing the routine, Noor records one ordinary week:
Monday: 8 minutes on the train home. Tuesday: 0 minutes; late meeting. Wednesday: unknown; no reliable note. Thursday: 12 minutes on the train home. Friday: 0 minutes; went straight to a friend's home. Saturday: 20 minutes after breakfast. Sunday: 0 minutes; chose other activities.
The record contains 40 known reading minutes across three days, plus one unknown day. Noor has evidence of two useful contexts: the train home and breakfast at the weekend. The blank Wednesday stays unknown. Dividing 40 by seven would give a misleading picture if Wednesday also included reading.
Noor chooses a first plan of five minutes on the train on Monday and Thursday, plus five minutes after Saturday breakfast. That creates three scheduled opportunities. The shorter minimum is Noor's practical choice for this experiment. It is not a research-backed prescription.
Copy the observation worksheet
Question I want this record to answer: Action and unit: Observation dates: Were any opportunities already planned? For each day or opportunity: Date: What I know happened: Completed / missed / unknown / not scheduled: When and where: One relevant circumstance: What the record supports: What remains unknown: First action and scheduled opportunities: One backup plan: Date to review:
Download the baseline worksheet. Keep personal notes in a place you choose. A group can discuss a proposed schedule while each person keeps the underlying record private.
Turn observation into an agreement
Write your new action and dates before starting the next round. The selected-days guide helps turn a schedule into explicit opportunities. Use an accountability agreement to specify the check-in, reminder preferences and review date with a friend.
At the end of that round, the completion-rate calculator can summarize completed, missed and unknown opportunities. Then use the weekly review to decide what to keep or change.
Know what a baseline can tell you
A short record can reveal useful constraints and possible time slots. Travel, illness, deadlines or a holiday can make a week unusual; label those circumstances and repeat the observation when useful. A before-and-after change can also have several explanations.
For the research behind recording progress, see progress monitoring and habits. If you want to bring the chosen action into a shared challenge, the Quests product guide explains the app.