Gamify Your Life in 3 Easy Steps

Shakespeare is famous for saying that all the world is a stage, but in today’s world, it has evolved from a stage where the people are merely players, to a game.

Gamifying your life is a buzzword that refers to turning the mundane aspects of your life into a game to make them more fun and enable you to complete your tasks.

Turning life into a game can make things like cleaning, building habits or even working out more fun — and if you’re having fun, you’re more likely to complete your tasks.

If this sounds like something that might appeal to you, you’re in the right place. Follow this simple three-step process to help you gamify your life.

Step One: Figure Out Your Tasks

How many to-do lists to do you have hanging on your bathroom mirror or taking up valuable storage space in your smartphone? While these lists can be useful tools, they’re also not very effective because they don’t have an incentive to make you complete the tasks.

Sure, you know you need to wash your socks or scrub the toilet, but who wants to clean when there are more entertaining things to do?

Step one of gamifying your life is to figure out which mundane tasks to gamify to make your life a little bit easier. This could be chores, homework or even work-related tasks you have trouble completing because you get bored.

Step Two: Find an App

Plenty of programs and apps exist to help you gamify your life — the trick is finding the right one.

Need a to-do list that keeps you motivated? Habitica has got you covered. You roll up a character, much like you would in a video game, and input your to-do list. Instead of fighting monsters to earn experience and gold, you earn these things by completing your tasks.

Need something to keep you motivated on your morning runs? Why not run from zombies?

Zombies, Run! is a running app that keeps you motivated with compelling stories — you are Runner 5 of Abel Township, and it’s your job to collect supplies, rescue survivors and deliver messages, all while moving fast enough to stay ahead of the zombies. These tales are so well-written that you might find yourself shedding a tear or two as you run.

Need to start keeping track of your energy levels or mental health? Check out the MindBloom apps — Life Game helps you stick to your tasks by allowing you to water and grow a tree by completing your to-dos. Juice tracks your energy levels and mood based on the information you input, too.

These are just a few examples of the diverse types of apps available to help you gamify your life, and they might not all work for you. Take some time and investigate the apps available — you might be surprised at what you find.

Step Three: Keep up With It!

This is probably the most crucial step. Keeping up with your goals through these apps and programs is essential because there are consequences if you don’t.

For example, if you choose Habitica to help you with your to-do list, your character will start losing health and stats if you miss too many goals. With the MindBloom life app, your tree will wither and die if you don’t tend to it by keeping up with your goals.

The goal here is to teach you to form habits — something that takes a minimum of 21 days and a maximum of 254 days before these behaviors start to stick. Gamifying your life helps to make it a little bit more fun.

And there you have it — three simple steps to help you gamify your life, meet all your goals and enjoy even the most mundane tasks a little bit more.