7 Simple Ways to Gamify Your Goals

This article is a guest post from community member and Sage, Wordigirl!

Goals can be more daunting than dragons. To-do lists can grow taller than a magic beanstalk. Time can fly faster than an enterprise spaceship in warp speed. And, while we know that standing there staring at our ever-expanding backlog of tasks is (probably) not going to make it get any shorter, motivation can be more difficult to find than the lost city of Atlantis.

Never fear! Gamification is here.

What is Gamification?

Though ‘gamification’ is a relatively new term that was first known to have been used in the mid-2000s, the process itself has likely existed ever since competitions and incentives were conceptualized. When you ‘gamify’ something, you make it into a ‘game’ by adding some competitive element or reward to encourage participation. If this sounds super simple, that’s because it is. And it really works! Below are seven examples you can try that may help motivate you to complete tasks of your own in a fun and exciting way.

1. Communal Challenges

World Anvil often hosts communal challenges, so you’re likely already aware of this method! Many worldbuilders who have been meaning to get around to publishing certain articles in their settings often end up finding a reason to right when the whole community is prompted to work on their worlds at once. Even unofficial community challenges have proven to be mass-motivators. Camaraderie, encouragement, and unified momentum help trigger a mental response that the task is now something important and fun—not to mention the shinies that are typically awarded to participants. Badges may just be a couple of pixels on a screen, but they are precious and treasured tokens to many.

Witnessing others race to complete their own work may also serve as a nudge into action. While not everyone is competitive in an “I must win and everyone else must lose” kind of way, seeing others accomplish something can reaffirm its doability to skeptical brains and inspire those with a lack of ideas to adopt some elements observed in fellow challengers. A community filled with people who all have different approaches and thought processes can be a treasure trove to anyone stuck in a creative block. Exploring such a large pool of content, you’re almost guaranteed to find something you hadn’t thought of before. You may even come across an inspiring art piece or a single sentence that unlocks a brand new idea in your mind!

To find out which challenges World Anvil hosts, check out the event page here: https://www.worldanvil.com/community/challenges

If no challenge is currently happening on World Anvil, you can always find others elsewhere or even make your own! Challenges can be started or found absolutely anywhere in real life or online. Anyone who wishes to share an unofficial challenge with the World Anvil community should remember to observe the new guidelines. https://www.worldanvil.com/unofficial-community-projects

2. Sprinting, Co-Working, and Body Doubling

Technically, this section covers three methods that are all similar in nature. Sprinting, as defined by the writing community, is setting a timer and attempting to type as many words as possible within the designated period. Co-Working, in this sense, refers to more than one person actively performing similar tasks in close proximity (be that virtual or in person). Body Doubling can be the same as Co-Working, but it can also simply mean another person (or body) is there with you, even if they are not also working. While each is unique, this trio often overlaps enough to be grouped together.

Most times, all three of these methods involve the presence and interaction of other people, but they usually don’t require the same level of prior planning that most communal challenges do. Of course, minimal coordination with your creative co-workers is necessary, but productivity sessions can happen on a whim. Participants aren’t typically super focused on winning, earning badges, or competing with each other. Word count and other productivity totals are sometimes reported, but primarily serve to reflect collective efforts, collaboration, and encouragement.

If you aren’t sure where to find people to body double with, the Writing & Reading and Co-working & Studying categories on Twitch are great places to hang out. Many streamers run lobbies with timers that stay on the screen so you can monitor your progress during each session. Discord is worth a check, as well. A lot of creative servers, especially ones for writers, have sprinting channels with bots set up to time you, calculate word count, and congratulate you on your accomplishments.

Also, if you are here on WorldAnvil, that means there are thousands of creatives right outside your door! You can peek at the WorldAnvil main site community tab to see if any Anvilites are streaming or working. The Discord server is always bustling, too, since it’s home to people from every time zone all around the world.

If big, busy places are a bit intimidating, official chapters exist that foster smaller buddy groups. You can learn more about them at this link: https://www.worldanvil.com/w/WorldAnvilCodex/a/chapters Plus, unofficially, many Anvilites (including myself) host offshoot communities that are a little more homey and less overwhelming.

Last but not least, you can even check the comments under blog posts like this! Who knows? You might be able to connect with new writer friends there.

3. Beat the Timer

This method is similar to sprinting, but requires even less planning and preparation. It can work with others, but you can also do it on your own. You don’t even have to be watching any livestreams or chatting in any Discord servers. Simply look at a clock or set a timer and devote yourself to making progress or accomplishing a task before the time is up. When using this method, it’s a good idea to gauge approximately how long it will take you to complete a task.

You should also break up your goals into sections so that you don’t feel overwhelmed by thinking about too many things at once. For example, if you were using this method to publish an article on World Anvil, you could set one timer for fifteen minutes and establish that you are only trying to name the article and fill out the key sections that bring it up to a certain word count. Then, when that session has concluded, you could set another timer to focus on finding or making and placing art within the article. After you have taken care of those things, you can set yet another timer to run over the article for any necessary edits or tweaks, and so on. There is no rule for how long or how short the timers must be, nor is there a rule for how much or how little you can attempt in each go.

4. Reward Yourself

Kids are often offered treats for following instructions and doing the right thing. Who says we grown-ups can’t still benefit from this method? Is there a little snack, sticker, or other treat you think would give you a good dopamine hit? Place it behind the task you are supposed to be accomplishing by telling yourself that you can only get to it once that goal has been achieved.

Full disclosure: this one does take some serious willpower. As adults, we usually have the means to get whatever we want whenever we want. Well, not everything (obviously), but the things we CAN get that we treat ourselves to. What’s really stopping us from still getting those things if we don’t actually accomplish the goal we’re supposed to complete first? Nothing but our own determination to follow the guidelines and rules we set for ourselves.

Though this method can be enacted alone, it’s helpful to have accountability buddies to report to, so you won’t have to rely solely on your own willpower. Sometimes, just telling another person that you are going to try to (or try not to) do something provides another layer of responsibility to the oath. You must remember to update these helpers on your progress and let them know when you have successfully earned the treat. Please bear in mind that it is equally important to follow through with the reward once your goal has been accomplished as it is to deny yourself the reward if the task is left incomplete.

5. Best Record

Sometimes, your own self can be the best competition. This method of gamification involves striving to match or overtake your past accomplishments. Since the company of others is not needed, this is a good challenge to choose when you are on your own. If you ever did anything in the past, try to do it again. Maybe better. Maybe faster. Let’s say you’re publishing another set of articles. If the highest number of articles you ever published in one day was ten, you can try to do the same today. Or up it to fifteen.

6. Apps and Websites

If you prefer something more structured and official while still being casual and on-demand, this method is for you! Productivity apps are everywhere you look these days. Some require payment or subscription, while others don’t.

Habitica is a website and app that allows you to work towards your goals to get in-game rewards. You can start an account for free, but be warned that there are in-app purchases. https://habitica.com/

4TheWords is another website that encourages writers by presenting tasks as monsters to be vanquished. You can create a free account and join a virtual space that dubs itself “like a gym, but for writers” to accomplish your goals in an epic way. Paid members can unlock additional features. https://4thewords.com/

Then, there are other things, such as The Most Dangerous Writing App, that are standalone tools built with a singular purpose in mind. There is no in-site community for The Most Dangerous Writing App. You simply log in and try to write. If you stop writing for too long, all of your work is deleted forever. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Most_Dangerous_Writing_App

7. Creative Retreats

This final method is, basically, getting away. So many of us have a slew of duties, problems, and responsibilities that often end up pulling us in every direction away from our creative works. When it all seems like a bit too much, clearing out our schedules and setting aside some designated time to work on our projects can sound like an excellent idea.

While this is less of the traditional kind of game, attending a writing retreat or other creative program can help you to lock in on what you need to accomplish. You begin with a goal in mind and devote all your time and attention to achieving the next level. Everything done in that designated weekend, fortnight, month, or however long the retreat lasts, will contribute to your project and goals.

Often, a plethora of like-minded people who feel the same way will attend a scheduled retreat (held in person or online), but that’s not the only option. You can make an impromptu retreat for yourself. Some authors are known to go on vacation to a different town, take a long train ride, or rent a hotel room for a night or two. Others create a temporal haven in their own homes, locking themselves in their office and telling people to leave them alone for a set period of time.

No matter which type of retreat you choose, you must be willing to invest something if you are serious about buckling down, locking in, and getting things done. What you invest could be time, money, or both. It can be a sacrifice to put other obligations on hold, take off work, forgo attending events, and unplug from social media, but all focus must be on your project in order for this method to work.

Conclusion

Gamification can be fun and super productive, but it’s important to take care of yourself as well. Make sure you are setting healthy, realistic, and achievable goals. Allow yourself meals, snacks, hydration, rest, sleep, and bio breaks. It isn’t good to deny yourself basic care for an incentive. Some people refuse to eat meals, go to sleep, or even visit the restroom until some goal of theirs is complete. This is a bad idea. Your body works better when it is well cared for. A sleepy, hungry, or uncomfortable brain will have more trouble thinking than one that is properly nourished, rested, and at ease. You may find that things work easier and smoother after you refresh and reenergize yourself.

Have you ever used gamification in your own tasks? Let us know your favorite methods in the comments below!