The Gamification of Writing

So… it was the exact time for writing the next post. Suddenly, here came The Procrastinators: email, Facebook, the news, YouTube, and that game with the bubbles. (The Procrastinators take many forms, these were just today’s temptations.)

09-30 Purpose

Up until this point in the day I was doing great with getting things done.

But unscheduled disappearance into the Wonders of the Internet… no, no, no, no, no. Not part of the plan.

How to avoid hanging out with The Procrastinators too long?

Sometimes it helps to think about other people who are doing amazing things for a purpose.

For example, Team Red, White and Blue (RWB) is (at the time I’m writing this) running a relay across the country, from San Francisco to Washington, D.C. They send a message to participants every day telling how many miles everyone is collectively logging: with photos, mile counts, and locations so you can follow along.

They encourage people use the Charity Miles app to participate… and they’ve added prizes as an incentive.

So, because I want to get outside and log some miles myself, I’ve gamified my blog post today. In the world of motivation, we’d say that I’m giving myself a reward for writing.

My prize is that I get to go for a walk late this afternoon… and maybe have dessert later.

The thing is, the day goes by whether we schedule our time and spend it productively—or not. Remembering this, and having something you want to do right after the work is done, that’s a huge help.

How do you encourage yourself to stay motivated? I always imagine there are people who wake up motivated and stay that way all day… but I’m guessing most of us have to work at it, at least some of the time.