Track habits & measurements
A habit answers did this recurring behavior happen? A measurable answers what numeric value did I observe? They can support the same goal without being interchangeable: “Emperor penguin roll call” is a habit, while “Penguins accounted for” is a measurable value.
Habits are currently an optional feature and ship switched off. Open Settings → Advanced Settings → Config Flags and turn on Enable Habits page. The Habits destination and the Habits entry under Settings → Definitions then appear. Measurables need no flag.
Work with habits
The Habits page organizes active definitions into what is due now, scheduled for later, and completed. Its daily summary, consistency history, streaks, and completion-rate chart help you notice patterns without treating one missed day as the entire story.
Create and edit habits
- Open Habits and select +. To change an existing habit, press and hold it, or open its completion sheet and select the pencil. Settings → Definitions → Habits still lists every definition and opens the same editor.
- Name the behavior concretely. The example chips (measure blood pressure, 6,000 steps, functional strength training, take medication) fill in a name and pre-select the matching signal.
- Select Continue, decide how Lotti knows the habit is done (below), and set its category and times.
- Select Create habit.
Let recorded data check a habit off
The How do we know it's done? card lists the habit's signals. I'll tick it myself is always on — you can record any habit by hand. Add a signal offers three kinds:
- a measurable you record in Lotti (any entry, or a daily total at least / at most a value, in the measurable's unit);
- health data imported from Apple Health or Health Connect (any reading, or a daily value at least / at most a threshold — steps default to at least 6,000);
- a workout type that has appeared in your imports (any session, or a duration, distance, or energy at least / at most a value).
With two or more signals, How this habit counts as done chooses whether any signal, all signals, or at least N of them complete it. Once the day's data satisfies the rule, the habit is checked off for you, marked auto on the Habits page with the signal and time, and announced with a notification — habits completed within a few seconds of each other are grouped into one, each habit is announced at most once a day, and Notify on auto-completion switches it off per habit. Anything you record yourself, including a skip, always wins over the automatic check-off.
The editor's settings
- Category for filtering and visual context.
- Start date, and for a daily habit the time it is shown from and when Lotti should show an alert. The data model also understands weekly and monthly schedules; the editor exposes these time controls for daily habits.
- Notify on auto-completion (on by default).
- When editing: Favorite for higher prominence, Private to hide it unless private entries are shown, Active to control whether it appears on the Habits page without deleting its history, and Delete.
Record what actually happened
Open a due habit or use its quick action. The completion sheet shows the habit's own signals first — each with its rule status and a two-week sparkline, and for a measurable one-tap chips with the values you log most (health data and workouts come from imports, so they have no chips). Tapping a chip records the measurement immediately; if that completes the habit, Success is pre-selected and you can still add a comment before Record. Below the signals, the form supports three outcomes:
- Success — the behavior happened.
- Missed — it was expected and possible, but did not happen.
- Skip — it did not reasonably apply that day.
Use the state that preserves reality. A candid history is more useful than a perfect-looking chart. Completion records are journal entries, so later views can reconstruct the effective result for each habit and day.
Work with measurables
A measurable definition describes the number before you record it: its name, unit, privacy, and how multiple observations combine on charts.
Create a measurable data type
- Open Settings → Definitions → Measurables.
- Select the add action.
- Add a name, optional description, and concise unit abbreviation.
- Choose the default aggregation used by charts.
- Decide whether it should be favorite or private, then save.
Choose aggregation based on what repeated readings mean:
| Aggregation | Use it when |
|---|---|
| No aggregation | Every individual observation matters |
| Daily sum | Readings accumulate, such as sardines consumed |
| Daily maximum | The day's peak is the important signal |
| Daily average | Readings sample a changing value, such as habitat pressure |
| Hourly sum | Accumulation needs finer hourly buckets |
The unit is display context, not a converter. If you define habitat pressure as
kPa, record values in kPa consistently. Create a separate measurable if a
different unit represents a genuinely different series.
Record a measurement
Open a dashboard that contains the measurable and select the add action on its chart. Enter the observed value; Lotti keeps the unit beside the number so it is clear what will be saved. Recent distinct values appear as Quick log actions when repeating one of them is useful.
Use Observed at for the time the reading was actually taken, rather than the time you happen to enter it. The first page selects the calendar date. Today returns directly to the current date.
Scroll to the time section to set the hour and minute. Now restores the current time. Select Done to return to the still-filled measurement draft, then Save to create the journal entry.
The comment is optional, but it is useful when a number needs operational context—for example, a delivery, an unusual shift, or a changed measurement method. Saving a measurement does not alter the measurable definition or its aggregation rule.
Connect the two without confusing them
A roll call can be completed successfully even if only 36 penguins were counted—the habit records whether the procedure happened, while the measurable records the result. Put both on a dashboard when their relationship answers a recurring operational question.