Drinking more water and less coffee (or soda) is a great new years resolution or positive habit, but it’s tough! Accountability can help. This is why I made a bullet journal water tracker that includes other fluids like coffee, juice, soda, and milk. Using this bullet journal layout you can monitor your water and beverage drinking using a beverage tracker layout for your bullet journal.
In this article, I’ll show you a free printable PDF of my beverage tracker layout, reasons why you should record your water, soda, and coffee drinks, instructions on how to create a beverage tracker in your journal, plus tips for personalizing your beverage tracker using different variations
One sign that reminds me of the coming summer is when my mouth begins to feel dry and I thirst for something cool to refresh my throat. After downing a few glasses of water, I realized that staying hydrated more than quenches my thirst; it also positively affects my mood and boosts my productivity. This is why I’m excited to share with you how I benefited greatly from keeping this habit using a beverage tracker.
What Is A Beverage Tracker Layout
The beverage tracker layout is a bullet journal tool designed to help users map out the amount and frequency of their water drinking habits on a daily basis. It uses a calendar system consisting of 30 days and a minimum of 14 columns dedicated to how many times you rehydrate.
By assigning a color or key to specific beverages you drink every day, you can create a visualization of your drinking habits by the end of the month. This, in turn, will help you assess your hydration options and make lifestyle changes as necessary.
Download My Beverage Tracker Layout
How the Beverage Tracker Layout Helps Monitor Water, Soda, and Coffee Drinking
A beverage tracker layout gives you an overview of how much water you’re drinking throughout the day. Its simple logging system and visual representation allow you to quickly review your daily drinking habits. For instance, seeing the same color consistently across the grid will let you know which beverage you consume the most and at which particular time.
Even without setting an alarm, analog beverage trackers such as this bujo layout can still remind you to drink your water and beverages. How? Well, it uses the principle of accountability.
Every time you miss an opportunity to take refreshments can be a point against your self-care habit building. If you keep at it for at least four days straight, you’ll likely be motivated to make it a habit.
Consequently, you can directly benefit from keeping a beverage tracker layout in your bujo. By being reminded to rehydrate and refuel, you’re increasing your productivity and performance levels. One proof is a study conducted on office employees. They were given reminders to drink water regularly and they showed significant improvement in their performance than when they weren’t being reminded at all 1.
In the same way that it reminds you to drink more water, a beverage tracker can also remind you to take physical and mental breaks. Every time you feel thirsty, consider it an invitation to take a break- we’re not machines, after all. Taking breaks can help build positive habits. So enjoy your refreshments as often as needed and simultaneously take a short rest from work or study.
A Key For Every Beverage
In this layout, you can see that different colors represent different beverages. Here’s what the colors in this key mean:
- Light Blue – represents water
- Pink – represents soda
- Yellow – represents juice
- Brown – represents coffee
- Gray – represents milk
Download This Free Printable Beverage Tracker Layout
If you’re a busy journaler like me, it helps save time to simply use a printable beverage tracker layout. Instead of spending your precious minutes painstakingly drawing the cells, you can start right away with this PDF download.
How to Make a Beverage Tracker Layout in your journal
How to Make a Beverage Tracker Layout in your journal
Total time: 15 minutes
Draw a pattern for the grid table and key
Using a ruler and a pencil, lightly draw the outline of the table. The vertical length should cover enough cells for 30 days. Across the table, make room for 14 cells equivalent to the frequency of beverage drinking.
Make an outline of the key for the beverages to be tracked. I advise that you limit the beverage choices to those you actually drink. In my example, my options are water, soda, juice, coffee, and milk. Indicate in your key table the name of the beverage next to a box that you’ll shade according to your preferred color assignment.
Line the table in ink
Use a ball-point pen to make a permanent outline of the table. Erase the traces of pencil on the page once set in ink.
Label the calendar days and frequency indicators
Across the table, number the cells from 1 to 14. Right before the first digit, at the corner where the calendar days and drink frequency meets, draw a small beverage-filled glass to indicate the number of glasses consumed.
Color the keys
Use shades that will help improve your recall of particular drinks you consumed. For water, I recommend using shades of blue as they’re commonly associated with this drink. Also, take note of the final visual you expect to see by the end of the month and assign colors to beverages accordingly.
Supply:
- notebook
- pen
- ruler
- marker
- pencil
Variations for Beverage Tracker Bullet Journal Layout
This beverage tracker layout I did for my bullet journal really suits both my bujo aesthetics and tracking needs. But I’ve also seen other designs where instead of a grid table, you simply draw a color-coded droplet to indicate a particular drink you’ve had. It’s quite similar to the one I’m currently using, although you may feel pressured to make the droplets appear consistent throughout the table (which you shouldn’t! Just enjoy the process 🙂).
Final Thoughts on Using Beverage Tracker Layout in 2022
The beverage tracker layout is still relevant in 2022 and especially in the summer when we need to pay more attention to staying hydrated. In this article, you learned how to use a beverage tracker for monitoring water intake, the benefits of recording drinking habits, and how to personalize your bujo spread using different variations.
Image Description for Screen Readers
The image shows a bullet journal notebook opened on the page entitled “Water & Beverage Tracker”. On the right side of the notebook are two Crayola pens and two Stabilo Boss highlighter pens.
The journal page shows a grid table consisting of cubes. Written vertically on the left of the table are 30 numbered days of the month. Above the table, just underneath the title, are consecutive numbers up to 14 representing the number of beverage glasses consumed. There is a water glass icon before the number 1.
The grid table has been shaded in different colors representing various beverages consumed throughout the day. The box on the upper right side of the table shows the key for each color: light blue for “water”, pink for “soda”, yellow for “juice”, brown for “coffee”, and grey for “milk”.