If you already live inside Todoist for your to-do list, adding a second app just to track habits is one more login, one more notification stream, and one more thing to abandon after two weeks. The good news is that Todoist can handle daily and weekly habits surprisingly well once you know which features to combine.
Table of Contents
This guide walks through setting up recurring habit tasks, adding Todoist’s Habit Tracker extension to log streaks (it has to be installed once from the Integrations settings — it isn’t turned on by default), and using Karma to keep yourself motivated — all without leaving the app you already check every day.
Quick Answer
Create your habit as a recurring task (e.g., ‘Drink water’ every day), then install the Habit Tracker extension once from Settings > Integrations > Browse (search for ‘Habit Tracker,’ click Add, then Confirm). After that, open any recurring task’s three-dot menu and select ‘Track habit’ to turn on tracking for it. It will log a streak count in the task description and a completion history in the comments, and you can layer Todoist’s Karma feature on top for daily/weekly goal streaks and levels.
Setting Up Habits as Recurring Tasks
Start by creating a dedicated project — something like ‘Habits’ — so your daily routines don’t get buried in your work tasks. Inside it, add sections like ‘Morning’ and ‘Evening’ to group habits by when you actually do them; this makes the list skimmable instead of a wall of identical-looking tasks.
For each habit, type the task name followed by a recurrence in plain English — Todoist’s date parser understands phrases like ‘every day,’ ‘every weekday,’ ‘every Mon, Wed, Fri,’ or ‘every 3rd Friday.’ Once you save, Todoist automatically reschedules the task to the next occurrence each time you complete it, so a single task entry becomes an ongoing habit loop rather than something you have to recreate.
Keep habit tasks specific and small (‘Read 10 pages’ rather than ‘Read more’) — vague recurring tasks are the ones people stop checking off within a week.
Installing Habit Tracker and Turning On Karma Streaks
Habit Tracker isn’t switched on by default — it’s an extension you add once before ‘Track habit’ shows up anywhere in Todoist. Click your avatar and open Settings, go to the Integrations tab, and click Browse at the top. Find Habit Tracker in the list, click Add, then Confirm (you may be asked to authenticate your account). It’s free on every Todoist plan.
Only after that install step will you see the option: open any recurring task, tap the three-dot menu, and choose ‘Track habit.’ From that point on, Todoist writes a running streak count into that task’s description and logs each completion as a comment, so you get a visible history without any manual logging.
A couple of quirks worth knowing: every streak starts at zero (you can’t backfill a head start), and don’t type anything into the task’s description field yourself — the extension overwrites it with the streak count. The streak only tracks tasks with a daily or specific recurring due date, and it resets if the task goes overdue, gets postponed, or is rescheduled to a different day — so snoozing a habit ‘for tomorrow’ breaks the chain just like skipping it would.
Layer Karma on top for a broader motivation layer. In Settings > Karma, set a daily and/or weekly task-completion goal and pick which days (like weekends) shouldn’t count against it. Hitting your goal consistently builds a Karma streak, and completing tasks moves you through Todoist’s Karma levels, from Beginner up to the top tier, Enlightened. If you’re traveling or taking a planned break, turn on Vacation Mode so your Karma and streaks stay intact instead of resetting.
Tips and Common Mistakes
Use filters to create a one-tap ‘Today’s Habits’ view — a filter like a specific label (tag every habit task with @habit) combined with ‘today’ shows just your routines, separate from work deadlines. This matters because mixing habits into a general task list makes them easy to skip when you’re triaging a busy day.
Don’t stack too many habits at once. Todoist has no limit, but streak tracking only works as motivation if the list stays realistic — five or six tracked habits you actually do beats fifteen you ignore.
Remember that rescheduling a habit task (even to ‘tomorrow’ from the Today view) counts as a reset for the Habit Tracker streak. If you genuinely need a planned day off, Karma’s Vacation Mode protects your Karma streak, but the Habit Tracker extension’s own streak isn’t covered by vacation mode — it keeps tracking regardless.
Avoid editing the description field on a tracked habit task; the extension needs that space for the streak counter and will overwrite anything you put there.
Explore more: more habit-building guides.
Todoist for habit tracking FAQs
Does Todoist have a real habit tracker, or just recurring tasks?
Both. Recurring tasks handle the scheduling, and Todoist’s Habit Tracker extension adds an actual streak counter and completion history on top of that — but it has to be installed once from Settings > Integrations > Browse before it shows up as an option.
Is the Habit Tracker extension free?
Yes — it’s free to install from the Integrations browser on every Todoist plan.
Why don’t I see ‘Track habit’ in my task menu?
Because it isn’t enabled until you install it: go to Settings > Integrations > Browse, find Habit Tracker, click Add, then Confirm. Only after that will ‘Track habit’ appear in the three-dot menu on individual tasks.
What breaks a habit streak in Todoist?
The streak resets if the task becomes overdue, is postponed, or gets rescheduled to another day. Completing it on its original due date is what keeps the streak going.
Does vacation mode pause my habit streaks?
Vacation mode protects your Karma points and Karma streaks while you’re away, but it does not pause the Habit Tracker extension’s own streak tracking on individual tasks.
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