How I'm Gamifying Daily Life
Who doesn't love a little whimsy in their life? Nobody, that's who. That's why I'm working on making the most boring things fun, it's a win win situation. I know a lot of people gamify with apps like Finch or Habitica, but that isn't really enough for me. I need something in the real world that will prompt me to start, not just a point system that I can put out of sight and out of mind.
I'm still in the process of enacting these, so the system may change, but I'm having a lot of fun with it and I wanted to write about it in case someone else gets some ideas from it.
XP and reward system
Since I don't play TTRPGs or anything like them, I really have no reason to do this other than I saw it and it seemed fun. But basically I have 'skills' (daily life task categories) that I'm earning points towards, and when I reach certain levels I get myself a little, or big, reward. Rewards are relevant to the topic and go from things like having a bath to things like buying something from a French clothing brand I like. I keep track of it in a notebook, which doesn't seem like it would work but so far it's been fine.
Skills
self care --> Character Maintenance
fitness --> Strength
socialising --> Charisma
going out on my own --> Wayfinding
studying --> Arcane Mastery
writing my book --> Lore Crafting
learning French --> Foreign Tongue
discipline/doing things I don't want to do --> Resolve
problem solving, especially technical --> Tinkering
chores --> Castle Restoration
practicing Judaism --> Divine Alignment
personal finance --> Prosperity
Whenever I hit milestones in these (for example, going somewhere outside the city on my own), I'm going to get myself a little award of some kind. I haven't decided yet if it'll be coin-like tokens, merit badges to put on an item of clothing or a blanket, or stickers to put in a special book. But definitely something like that.
Decisions --> minigames
Decision fatigue is real, and I'm easily tired, so I've made some fun ways to reduce that mental load, while also giving me a little dopamine hit to get me through the execution of the task.
Spinning a wheel in the morning to determine what kind of shower I'm going to have (quick, normal, everything).
Workout dreidels. I've assigned the letters on the dreidels to body parts (core, upper body, legs, full body) and types of workout (mobility, flexibility, strength, balance). I was gonna use D4 dice for this, but I have a bajillion dreidels so yeah.
A dartboard for where I go on my walks to. There are 12 options on 2 rings, the outer ring being free (or almost free) stuff and the inner ring being paid. I'm not very good at darts so it works out.
A dress up game to pick outfits. It's literally so fun and all I had to do was draw all my clothes on separate layers in an art program. It's not super polished or anything but it does the job and saves me having to put all my clothes back in the closet.
My adventure box
My "weekly" (though it hasn't really worked out that way) adventures are things like going rock climbing, birdspotting, or clubbing with my sibling. I put them on slips of paper, and whenever I feel like I need some adventure in my life I draw one out. It then goes on the wall facing the foot of my bed until I've finished it.
My housework sticks
A bonus to having teachers as parents is that they can bring home stuff from their jobs, like, say, a bunch of popsicle sticks that I can write all my housework tasks on and track my Castle Restoration points with. I've outsourced the decision making to my dad, who has more spare time and is a lot more vocal about the house being tidy than my mum, so all I have to do is do the things and get the points.
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And those are all my ideas so far!! I might update with some more once things have settled in, but I think this is a good start.
