"Treat yourself" is easy advice and hard to use. When you finish a tough week of workouts, you are tired, and "a treat" turns into whatever is closest: scrolling, a snack, an online order you half regret.

A reward works better when you pick it in advance and make it concrete. "A paperback from the shop on the corner" gives your brain something to look forward to on day three, when the habit feels like a chore. "Something nice" does not. Choosing it ahead of time also means you decide while you are calm, not while you are worn out.

Below are 100 specific ideas, grouped by cost and type, followed by a simple way to price them so the small ones come often and the big ones feel earned. Steal the ones that fit, skip the rest, and rewrite any of them in your own words.

Full disclosure: I'm Travis, and I make Rewardly, a habit tracker built around rewards you set yourself. Every idea here works just as well with a notebook or a jar of coins.
In this article
  1. Free rewards
  2. Rewards under $10
  3. Experiences
  4. Bigger goals worth saving for
  5. Rewards that support the habit
  6. Social rewards
  7. Rest and slow rewards
  8. Rewards for families and couples
  9. Choosing rewards that don't undo the habit
  10. How to price your rewards in points
  11. Frequently asked questions

Free rewards

Free rewards are the ones you can hand yourself often. Most of them are really about permission: time you would normally feel guilty about.

Rewards under $10

These are the everyday rewards: cheap enough to come around every week or so, specific enough to look forward to.

Experiences

Experiences make good monthly rewards. They give you a date to circle and something to remember afterwards.

Bigger goals worth saving for

One big goal gives the small rewards a direction. Pick something you want enough to keep going for a few months, not just a few days.

Rewards that support the habit

These are some of the best rewards, because the reward makes the habit easier or more pleasant next time.

Social rewards

Time with people is easy to postpone, which makes it a good thing to put on the reward list on purpose.

Rest and slow rewards

If your habits already fill your days, a slower pace can be the reward itself.

Rewards for families and couples

Shared rewards work well when you are building habits together, like cooking at home more, saving money or keeping the house tidy.

Choosing rewards that don't undo the habit

A reward should not pull against the habit you are rewarding. A huge dessert for a week of healthy eating, or "a week off" for a month of workouts, sends a mixed message and can make the next week harder. Good rewards either support the habit (the running socks) or have nothing to do with it (the cinema ticket).

A few other things that help:

If you want more on the thinking behind this, how to reward yourself for good habits covers it in more depth.

How to price your rewards in points

The trickiest part of a reward system is deciding how much effort each reward is worth. Points make that easy: each check-in earns some, and each reward has a price. Here is how it works with Rewardly's real numbers.

Every check-in in Rewardly gives a random point drop. At base odds, the drops are:

That works out to an average of 1.7 points per check-in at base odds (0.7 × 1 + 0.2 × 2 + 0.08 × 5 + 0.02 × 10 = 1.7). Harder habits and longer streaks raise the odds of the rarer drops, so in practice your average will run a little higher.

Now say you check in on 3 habits a day. That is roughly 5 points a day, or about 35 points a week, at base odds. From there you can price rewards by how long you want to work for them:

RewardPriceRoughly how long (3 habits a day, base odds)
Café coffee30 pointsAbout a week (6 days)
Dinner out120 pointsAbout a month (3 to 4 weeks)
Concert ticket450 pointsAbout a season (3 months)
Weekend away900 pointsAbout six months

A simple rule: price a reward at your weekly points times the number of weeks you want it to take. If a reward keeps feeling too far away, lower the price. If you keep earning it without trying, raise it. And because longer streaks and harder habits push your average up, these timings are a floor, not a promise.

For a real setup, how I use Rewardly to stay motivated walks through the rewards and prices I use day to day.

Where Rewardly fits

Rewardly is a free habit tracker for iPhone and Android built around exactly this idea. You create your own rewards with a title, a photo and a point price. You can make a reward repeatable (that weekly coffee) or one-off (the weekend away), and link it to specific habits, so the running socks only come from running. The surprise is in the points you earn, never in the rewards: those are always the ones you picked.

There is no account to create and no ads. If you are curious about why the random drops help, gamification and habit building explains the idea, and the best gamified habit tracker apps compares Rewardly with other options fairly.

Frequently asked questions

What are good ways to reward yourself as an adult?
Pick rewards that are specific and that you actually want: a library afternoon, a new paperback, a cinema ticket, a day trip, or gear that supports the habit, like new running socks. Decide on the reward before you start, so you know exactly what you are working toward.
How do I reward myself without spending money?
Many of the best rewards are free: an hour with no plans, a long bath, a guilt-free nap, a favourite film rewatch, a walk somewhere new, or saying no to one optional commitment. Time and permission are rewards too.
Should rewards be big or small?
Both. Small rewards you can reach every few days keep you going week to week, and one or two bigger goals give the weeks a direction. A mix of a cheap treat, a monthly experience and a seasonal goal works well for most people.
How many points should a reward cost?
In Rewardly, a check-in earns about 1.7 points on average at base odds. If you do 3 habits a day, that is roughly 5 points a day or 35 a week. So a 30-point reward takes about a week, a 120-point reward about a month, and a 450-point reward about a season. Harder habits and longer streaks raise the odds of bigger drops, so real averages run a bit higher.
Can a reward undo the habit it is meant to reward?
It can. A big dessert as a reward for a healthy eating habit, or a day off running as a reward for running, can pull against the goal. Rewards that support the habit, or that have nothing to do with it, tend to work better.