Habitica Motivates You Do Anything

Habitica

At least that’s what they claim on Habitica’s home page “Motivate Yourself To Do Anything” behind that statement are some 8 bit graphics of dragons being tossed out of a computer screen and also a few of the pets that are available to you in the “game”.  Actually the pets they choose for the home page are the dragon and the cactus; which are total faves of mine.

Where Others Failed Habitica Has Succeeded

Basi-List

My poor husband has tried for years to get me to remember to take my medication everyday.  He has bought me multiple styles of pill organizers but I never used them or misplaced them.

So then I tried setting a calendar reminder on my phone; this alone was a big step for me. Except that I still couldn’t entirely get it stick as a habit. See if I was in the middle of doing something when the reminder came up I didn’t necessarily end up taking my pills.

This was bad enough to begin with because these are my mood medications that we are talking about.  Also after suffering from chronic pain for the better part of a year I got the unfortunate diagnosis of Trigeminal Neuralgia and Fibromyalgia.  Not life ending in anyway but I need to remember to take even more medication everyday. The effects of missing medication are not pleasant.

So Ashley Writes A Post Mentioning Habitica

Dread Drag’on of Dilatory

You can read about here (I do seriously recommend reading it if you haven’t, she has some great time management tips and tricks).

In this magical article she mentioned an app called Habitica, I had never heard of it, but in true geek style once I did I had to give it a spin, to get my own impression.

Clearly I loved it or I would not be saying that it is my new BFF.

Fybro Fog It’s Real I Swear

Laundromancer

Along with the chronic pain of Fibromyalgia there is a very real forgetfulness that sets in.

That is where Habitica has been my saviour.

I keep some very simple tasks in my dailies so when I need that pick me up of checking off an item I have something in there that should only take a few minutes to complete.

Obviously I have take morning medication as a daily activity and another for evenings. This is where the big difference comes into play, I don’t get it check it off until I’ve actually done it; instead of dismissing a reminder and then totally forgetting about it moments later.

Has Habitica Found The Magic Formula

Daily Tasks Page

Different people respond to different rewards or punishments.

By providing immediate gratification for completing task (e.g., to level up for game purposes and obtaining gold to buy swag for your character) you are more inclined to complete simple tasks right away instead of procrastinating.

There are punishments for indulging in bad habits or not completing your daily tasks; loss of health and then if your health falls low enough you will lose progress that you have made in the game.

For me, it’s the gamble that motivates me: a system called “stochastic rewards.” So with each completed task there is a chance to collect a special prize such as a pet egg, hatching potion or some food for your pets.  The pets are my favourite part of the game and the biggest reason that I try so hard to check items off my to do list.

So, Yes for me they have found the magic formula.

I also want to note that I was not endorsed in anyway to write about or review Habitica, it’s just so awesome that I needed to share.

Geeks Out,

Mimi