Gamifying prioritization?

November 15, 2023 1:33 PM

Does anyone have suggestions for apps that help gamify prioritization and completion of to-do lists that *aren't* Habitica? Snowflakes under the fold.

I've always struggled with some executive dysfunction and only recently started attempting to treat the ADHD I've obviously had since I was a teen. Talking to my therapist this week, one of the things we dug into is my lack of success with motivation to finish tasks and compared that to things like my almost year-long Duolingo streak. I've tried Habitica and it doesn't really provide the dopamine hit that seems to be the thing that's most helpful for me, so I'd love to find another app, in the same vein, that does.

posted by hanov3r to Grab Bag (14 answers total)

Best answer: Finch could be an option. I feel like I've tried sooo many and haven't been able to get one to stick yet. Todoist was my farthest.

I just discovered this website that if you type in a task, it will recommend a list of apps for that task to gamify your life: https://gamifylist.com/

Good luck!
posted by socky bottoms at 1:40 PM on November 15, 2023 [4 favorites]

I rolled my own by making a to-do bingo “app” in Google Sheets. I made a video tour of it and would be happy to share the link.

Benefits:
- accessible on any device
- forces me to put fun activities/breaks on the list to get to 24 items per day
- encouraged listing sub-tasks (same reason)
- many paths to success

Drawbacks:
- no fun animations
- no notification infrastructure
- doesn’t track streaks (or judge you for breaking them)
- daily set-up is difficult on mobile

I’ve determined in my own 20 years with adhd that it will never be one answer that will last for all time (in my personal life. Work-based solutions are easier to maintain). One system will work for 2 days, 2 weeks, 2 months, then I fall off and have to find a new one, or return to an old one.
posted by itesser at 2:09 PM on November 15, 2023 [7 favorites]

Todoist gives your Karma points when you complete tasks - it never hooked me but I could see how it could. The nice thing about gamification as a concept is that it's pretty broad. Here are some other things I've heard about but not tried:

• the Forest and Flora apps both gamify putting your phone down so you don't kill your virtual trees.
• Dani Donovan's Anti-Planner has a number of strategies to gamify getting going, like roll dice to pick a random task when you're stuck choosing which one to do.
• Intend is an online service that gamifies sort of gamifies by flipping the task list on its head - all tasks must be in the service of a goal. And like a paper bullet journal, each day you manually decide if you're going to pull tasks forward or just let them drop.

posted by troyer at 2:59 PM on November 15, 2023 [7 favorites]

Best answer: I use and like Finch.
posted by kathrynm at 3:07 PM on November 15, 2023

It's not a game, per se, but there's a site called Focusmate that lets you schedule sessions with another person (25, 50, 75 minute options). In your session, you're supposed to declare what you need to get done, spend the time doing it, and report at the end of the session how you did. You can have three free sessions a week or pay $5 a month for unlimited ones. Not a complete solution, but if body doubling is a strategy that helps you, it might be a useful resource. The "game" is trying to complete your stated tasks or see how many things you can do during your allotted time.
posted by foxfirefey at 3:59 PM on November 15, 2023 [8 favorites]

Here to (strongly) second Focusmate- it’s unbelievable how much it’s changed my life. The accountability it provides is a phenomenal motivator for the executively impaired.
posted by BuddhaInABucket at 4:38 PM on November 15, 2023 [1 favorite]

itesser, yes, PLEASE share the video tour. I LOVE that you made this and want to learn from it and you!

(I'm glad I flagged your comment as fantastic, but I would like to say for the record that the little flag icon jumped out at me and I clicked it because I didn't know what it was. If I've seen it thousands of times before, well, today is a new day.)
posted by amtho at 4:45 PM on November 15, 2023

I like Streaks.

It's not a general-purpose to-do app, it's specifically for keeping you on track with your repeating tasks/good habits. I find it useful as an adjunct to my main to-do list.
posted by riddley at 5:16 PM on November 15, 2023

"I’ve determined in my own 20 years with adhd that it will never be one answer that will last for all time (in my personal life. Work-based solutions are easier to maintain). One system will work for 2 days, 2 weeks, 2 months, then I fall off and have to find a new one, or return to an old one."

itesser's statement has been GOLD for me for ADHD - I move between different systems now without feeling shame/guilt over not sticking to the One True Answer. Try a bunch of gameifying systems and when the buzz wears off, try another.
posted by dorothyisunderwood at 6:27 PM on November 15, 2023 [8 favorites]

Echoing some others, abandoning the idea that a system either works forever or was the "wrong fit" for me is very helpful. My life, needs, and level of overwhelm vary. One thing that this has meant is that I do well with systems that, when I stopped using them for 2 months by mistake, have very little re-start cost. Un-dated bullet journaling (on paper) and my Obsidian notes both have this quality - they are more useful the more regularly I use them, but aren't broken if I fail to maintain them for a bit.

I don't go in for gamifying as much, but suspect I would do well with games that 'unfold' on the scale of a single day or while using the tool, versus ones that record a streak one day at a time. Duolingo has the advantage of getting a bunch of reward from individual right answers, in addition to the streaks, for instance. New systems are also a bit of a gamification exercise for me because I get the reward of figuring out the system, getting it set up how I want, and generally fiddling with things. It took me a while to realize that the joy I got out of setting up a complex system was not the same thing as the system being a good fit for me once established! But I do occasionally change up how I approach things or test out shifts in how I use an ongoing tool, and that can yield some of the same reward.

Pay attention to aesthetics, which includes paying attention to how much aesthetics do or don't inspire you! I hate clunky tools and things that look too messy (physical or digital), but aesthetic perfection can de-motivate me, so I do poorly with things like Forest once my pretty trees are inevitably not perfect.

Writing this made me realize I actually do have a game element for physical note taking - after lots of experimenting I've landed on the kind of A5 size notebooks that have around 30 sheets/60 sides of paper in them, with soft cardboard/poster board weight covers. They are small enough to keep nice enough while I fill them while also being satisfyingly scuffed up at the end. However long that takes me, each time I use it I get to make what feels like concrete progress toward using up the notebook. Then I have a natural reason to review the whole thing for notes I want to carry forward and the chance to put a few stickers on the cover of a new one!
posted by itsatextfile at 8:03 AM on November 16, 2023 [2 favorites]

Holy cow, thanks for asking this - focusmate is exactly what I needed. I love body doubling and working from home has been very hard for me. Thank you!
posted by samthemander at 12:14 PM on November 16, 2023

I also have a home-grown method for chores and tasks that allows flexibility and keeps the dopamine flowing a bit. I've often thought about writing an app for it, but the tactile hands-on aspect of it helps feed my own dopamine dump and convinces my brain that this is a truly random selection, so YMMV. (Plus I doubt there would be a huge market for it.)

I have 6 playing cards and an oversize rubber d6 so it'll bounce around the kitchen floor a lot, which reinforces the randomness to me. I assign one of 6 tasks to each card. Shuffle, them lay them out in a line face down. Roll the d6 and place on the corresponding card (numbered 1-6 left to right). Flip over via your method of choice. I personally flip over 4 of the non-selected cards as there's a tiny dopamine hit when I turn over a card matching a task I'm really not looking forward to, then mentally prepare yourself to do either of the remaining tasks. Do the task revealed, then take a break and do something fun / distracting. For me I'll watch a YT video, play a set number of logic games, etc. Then rinse and repeat, replacing the completed chore with a new one. You get a nice mix of getting stuff done while still feeling like you enjoyed your day and did stuff that you WANT to do, which fulfills the 'reward' aspect for me. (Why use playing cards and not pieces of paper with the task written right on it? I suppose it's because I'm a gambler / casino head, so the mere activity of identifying the next chore is also fun for me in and of itself.)

Seems silly but it was actually an interesting topic that came up with a former mentor and originally identified by my SO. It does take come commitment to perform the chosen task of course, but it's far more effective for me than just promising myself I'm going to do things a and b today when I'd really rather be doing something else.
posted by SquidLips at 9:45 PM on November 16, 2023 [2 favorites]

hanov3r, thank you for asking!

::eagerly enjoying and awaiting more answers::
posted by esoteric things at 12:27 PM on November 21, 2023

Response by poster: Based on the recommendations here, I've started playing around with Finch. It's cute and gamified enough that it's been keeping my attention for more than two weeks, which is more than Habitica ever did. Thanks, folks!
posted by hanov3r at 11:53 AM on December 4, 2023