Setting Your Defaults in Trendwell

Trendwell uses defaults to make tracking effortless. Instead of logging every detail every day, you set what "normal" looks like—then only log when something is different.

This is exception-based tracking, and it makes sustainable long-term tracking possible.

What Are Defaults?

Defaults represent your typical day:

• Your usual bedtime
• Your normal eating window
• Whether you usually exercise
• Your typical sodium intake

When your day matches defaults, logging takes seconds. You only add detail when something is different from normal.

Key Insight: Most days are similar. Capture the exceptions, not the routine.

Setting Good Defaults

Be Honest, Not Aspirational

Wrong: Setting 10pm bedtime when you actually go to bed at 11:30pm

Right: Setting 11:30pm bedtime (your actual typical time)

Defaults should reflect reality, not goals. You want to capture when you deviate from YOUR normal, not from ideal.

Use Your Current Baseline

Before setting defaults, observe yourself for a few days:

• When do you actually go to bed?
• When do you typically eat?
• How often do you exercise?
• What's your usual sodium level?

Establish your baseline first if you're unsure.

Default Examples

Sleep inputs:

• Bedtime: 11:00pm (your typical time)
• Sleep quality: 3/5 (your typical night)

Eating inputs:

• First meal: 8:00am
• Last meal: 7:00pm

Movement:

• Exercise: No (if you don't exercise most days)
• Or: Yes (if you exercise most days)

Sodium:

• Normal (your typical eating pattern)

Stress:

• 2/5 (your typical day)

How Defaults Work Daily

Normal Day

Everything matches defaults → One-tap confirmation

"Yesterday was normal" → Done in 5 seconds

Exception Day

Something different → Note the exception

"Bedtime was 1am (late night out)" → Takes 15 seconds

Why This Works

• Normal days are frictionless
• Exceptions get the detail they deserve
• You won't burn out on logging
• Data still captures what matters

When to Update Defaults

Your Routine Changes

If you start exercising regularly:

• Exercise default changes from No → Yes
• Now you log exceptions when you SKIP, not when you do it

Life Circumstances Change

New job, new home, new schedule:

• Update defaults to match new normal
• What was exception becomes routine

Season Changes

Sleep timing, activity levels, and eating patterns may shift:

• Review defaults quarterly
• Adjust if your "normal" has changed

Default-Setting Tips

Start Conservative

If unsure, set defaults to your less-healthy typical:

• Actual bedtime, not ideal bedtime
• Actual exercise frequency, not goal frequency

This way you capture improvements as positive exceptions.

Make Defaults Easy to Update

As you learn more about your patterns, adjust:

• Trendwell makes this simple
• Your tracking should reflect your life, not the other way around

Don't Overthink

Defaults are just starting points:

• They're not commitments
• They're not judgments
• They're just "what's typical for me"

Next Steps

With defaults set:

1. Start your first week
2. Log daily (mostly confirmations)
3. Note exceptions when they happen
4. Review and adjust defaults as needed

Good defaults make tracking invisible on normal days and insightful on unusual ones.

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Last updated: January 2026