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Can You Gamify Your Work In Real-Time Using Sensory Stimulation?

Anything related to matters of the mind

Andreas

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A lot of people talk about setting up rewards upon the completion of certain tasks or goals and for the most part those are physical rewards like food, some kind of digital form of entertainment and then you have all kinds of expensive items for those who made it further in their journey of success.

I don't mean that kind of reward in my title.

I'm not sure how many of you have experience with this, but when playing video games I get instant rewards and negative reinforcement for every action I successfully execute or not complete as well as I should.

Best example I can think of is the game called Red Dead Redemption 2. It's like Grand Theft Auto, but as a wild west version. When I successfully shoot someone and it's instant kill my controller vibrates for less than a second, I get a tiny red circle with an 'X' in the middle, a reassuring sound of the dead victim, sometimes a cinematic shot of the victim take down and a short flash on the whole T.V screen and periodically some kind of level up like greater health, more accuracy, etc. A real world example would be switching gears with a manual gearbox. If you don't get it right, you get this weird vibration on the whole car, but if you do it correctly, everything goes smoothly. Some people say that the little 'click' sound they hear on older super cars is very satisfying, but I can't relate to that since the only manual gear box car I drove is a Toyota. Maybe I should buy a manual F360 when I have the money some day.

There is instant feedback on almost all of my senses. The only way taste and smell is triggered through a T.V is by a vivid memory, but that kind of synesthesia is not something I experience often. I know it sounds weird, but sometimes I 'remember' smells when I think of some people, but that's a story for another thread.

The point is, there is instant reward to every little action I take. There is always a sound, a vibration on my hand controller, a flash on the screen and a periodic level up. The game developers either know me better than myself or there is something more to rewards that we don't understand and then try to implement a broken reward system.

My argument here is that small and instant rewards can make an experience more addictive than providing a surge of stimulation.

Here is my question in regards to that. Is it possible to get immediate feedback to every little action I take when I do work on my computer? Can I make my computer so that it produces certain pleasant sounds when I click on the 'productive' folders and programs and make a not so pleasant noise with regards to applications that are not useful? Is it possible for a visual cue to pop up somewhere on my screen when I reach certain milestones?

I have no clue if this is just a farfetched dream or if it's desirable for that matter, but I am extremely curious anyway.

Right now, I almost play no video games and try to keep away from as much stimulation as possible because I kind of fried my reward system with junk food and digital entertainment. Plus my ADHD is calmer when I engage in simple things like self hypnosis. Nonetheless, I want to know what you guys think of this.
 
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Kid

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Work ≠ game

And btw, if you want something really "addictive" try heroin.

P.S. Due to probable "first grader" like confusion, clarification is that taking
any drug is bad. Don't do it. This suggestion is a sarcasm.
Definition of sarcasm can be found in dictionary (academia acclaimed way)
or online like here :Sarcasm - Wikipedia but its not
academical so don't quote it as a source.
 

mdot

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A while ago I tried using Habitica (literally gamifying your to-do list). It did what you said, you got a bit of gold and it made a nice sound when you checked off your daily to-dos . If you missed your to-dos it would make a sad sound and deal damage to your character. I found that after a while it became more distracting than it was helpful.

IMO, in games those sensations (the controller rumbling, the hitmarkers, the birthday confetti that flies out of the grunt's heads) add to the satisfaction of playing the game, but games are fun (and to some, addicting) to begin with.

It really comes down to developing the ability to work without needing instant feedback, or even short-term feedback. Looking back on all the most impactful work I've finished, it was mostly a grind, with tiny accomplishments peppered throughout. But there was BIG payout of satisfaction at the end, be it a week, month, or year+ down the line.
 

Noel Black

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This is actually very interesting because I was looking into this a while ago aswell.

I found some people are doing this successfully and even taking it to the next level by, for example, buying stuff they like and then packaging it into "loot boxes" which they get to open when they complete a task succesfully. Gotta commend them for taking advantage of their gacha brain.

I tried Habitica too, aswell as some other more customizable apps, but found it ultimatly too time consuming.
I spent so much of my brain juices coming up with rewards and tasks, it was essentially action faking. So I quit doing that.

It is a cute idea, but nothing beats the ability to do difficult or needed tasks without having to rely on some sort of crutch. In my opinion, spent all your time on fostering that ability.
 
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MoneyHacker

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This is an interesting topic, i'm following this. Hopefully there is a system to gamify work.

Recently i've tried a method similar to the movie "In Time". You let yourself 24 hours left to live, and after completing each task, you get a bonus time.

The faster you complete your tasks. The more time you have to entertain (for example). If you have no time left, your die. You must do 100 pushups or punch yourself in the face 10 times.
 

Andreas

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Just to make a clarification. By 'gamify', I don't necessarily mean enjoying or feeling entertained with work. I am fully aware that 9/10 things are mediocre to boring in terms of interest level.

I tried Habitica as others mentioned and I personally found it too simplistic in terms of organizing tasks and at some point it just wasn't rewarding for me.

@MoneyHacker You have an interesting point here. Can you expand on that?
 
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OverByte

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Try to reframe accomplishing your goals like you're levelling up in real life.
 

terrordread

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This is an interesting topic, i'm following this. Hopefully there is a system to gamify work.

Recently i've tried a method similar to the movie "In Time". You let yourself 24 hours left to live, and after completing each task, you get a bonus time.

The faster you complete your tasks. The more time you have to entertain (for example). If you have no time left, your die. You must do 100 pushups or punch yourself in the face 10 times.
This is an interesting topic, i'm following this. Hopefully there is a system to gamify work.

Recently i've tried a method similar to the movie "In Time". You let yourself 24 hours left to live, and after completing each task, you get a bonus time.

The faster you complete your tasks. The more time you have to entertain (for example). If you have no time left, your die. You must do 100 pushups or punch yourself in the face 10 times.
Love this as an idea to work on and develop.

I think the negative consequence is just as important if not more so than the positive reward.

I saw a Ted talk where the speaker touches on 'lock-in theory' that he and his brother engaged in together. Basically making a contract with one another whereby if the terms were broken, I.e one of them didn't do something by a certain date, the other literally beat the shit out him.

Pretty extreme, but hey- he swears by it.
 

spreng

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if you need to gamify your work then you don't really want it.
 
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Hadrian

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This is a fantastic idea! Anything that can wire responses into your neurology is useful, whether its a ritual or a tool or an app. Have you done any research into any competitors doing what you're proposing?

The web based products I use most is Freedom for blocking websites and Focusmate for timeblocking/Accountability partners but neither are gamified in any way...

I'm more into apps myself and am currently engaged making an MVP of a gamified productivity app as we speak with most of my progress on the INSIDERS part of the forum.

I believe ANY tool that works is a gift and I have nearly every productivity app on the app store currently on my iphone. With the insights of the major books like Atomic Habits/Deep Work/5am Club etc... its clear Willpower and Motivation are finite resources that deplete as the day goes by. The official term is "Ego Depletion". It's also why every major author recommends getting up early to work on your hardest and most important task(s) before the rest of the worlds wakes up to distract you...

For me the most fun apps are the gamified ones. I agree Habitica is cool but too busy with too much going on. I think a strip downed version is the way to go that focusses more on your tasks than the game.

The most effective tools I find are the punishment based ones. The Stickk app works really well and I trained myself to get up at 5.00am over 6 months with a $100 punishment if I failed.. I failed twice in 6 months.

Everyone is different so no one size fits all approach works for everyone and even with all the tools and apps I use my interest waxes and wanes, but anything that can give you an >80% success rate is a success.

Your idea is sound! How to make money off it is another question!

Keep us posted! :peace:
 

Andreas

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Everyone is different so no one size fits all approach works for everyone and even with all the tools and apps I use my interest waxes and wanes, but anything that can give you an >80% success rate is a success.

Your idea is sound! How to make money off it is another question!

Keep us posted! :peace:
Actually, I was asking if someone had already developed such app. I don't think I will ever develop an app like this, because I am focusing on something else right now. I was just curious if it exists in the first place and kind of surprised that it has not been done to the extent I mentioned.

And for those who insist that I am trying to avoid work and use games to make my tasks entertaining, read my previous posts carefully. This is not about pleasure or entertainment. It rarely has to do with that.
 

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