HabitRPG: Changing Lives

So I spoke about this a couple of times in passing, but I wanted to devote a post specifically to HabitRPG because it has done a lot to transform my life these last couple months.

Here’s where I was a few months ago:

Lots of things I want to get done and never feeling like I quite have the time. Plenty of projects I mean to start but don’t ever get around to. I wanted to be practicing my Hindi consistently. I wanted to be practicing dance every day. I wanted to go to the gym more. I wanted to keep a tidier house (I suck at doing housework! I could be writing blog posts instead, after all). I wanted to keep up with laundry so my Project 333 closet wouldn’t run out of clothes all the time. And most of all I wanted to be doing daily pujas.

I’d get these things done sometimes, but not with any regularity. Life always seemed to be too much to do. And I worried, since I’m trying to have a baby, that I needed to learn to keep house better, to fulfill my responsibilities, to prove to myself that I can be an adult.

Feeling unproductive and overwhelmed is a yucky feeling.

Enter HabitRPG.

A friend at work brought news of this website back from a vacation. It gamifies your life. As in, turns your real life into a game. A role-playing game, which is what RPG stands for.

I have tried things like this before, most notably ChoreWars. But that one didn’t grab me for some reason.

I don’t know why HabitRPG really has. Maybe because I love checking things off of checklists. Maybe because I love collecting things and there is a set of pets and mounts that you can win as you do your tasks. Maybe because I’m teamed up in a party with my husband and best friend and I love trying to stay ahead of them in level. Maybe because there’s new things to unlock as I get better.

Here’s how it works:

You’ve got a character, a little pixel art person. As you complete daily tasks (all that you set up for yourself), habits, and to-dos you get experience points and can gain levels. At Level Two you have access to a store where you can spend the gold you get for checking off your tasks on pixel items for your little person. The items give you stat bonuses, like making it more likely for you to find eggs and potions when you complete your tasks.

I think it’s level four where you start getting eggs that you can hatch into different pets and then grow those into mounts. Your little character gets more and more personalized.

At level 10 you can pick a class and get mana to cast spells on your party or on your tasks. My spells increase drops because I love collecting stuff!

There are challenges and guilds to join to help get your competitive spirit going. There are even quests you can buy that allow you to fight boss monsters by getting your dailies and to-dos done!

The Results:

I apologize if this post sounds all advertisey, but I have fallen in love with this site and I want everyone to know how awesome it is!

So where am I at now?

These are the things I do every single day. I’ve missed only once or twice in the last two months…

• Practice Hindi
• Practice Dance
• Morning Puja
• Evening Puja
• Tidy 15 minutes
• A particular house chore (different ones on different days)
• Work on fiction writing
• Eat at least four fruits or vegetables
• Drink at least four glasses of water
• Take my prenatal vitamin
• Check my basal body temperature

I have work tasks on there that are making me more efficient at my job. I have a habit that rewards me when I make it to the gym. Our home is tidy and clean. Our laundry is done frequently and even put away. Our home is vacuumed once a week and the sheets on the bed get changed. Coupons get processed once a week and my thumb drive full of my writing work gets backed up.

I feel productive every day and I’m getting done all those little things that I “should” do or want to do but don’t make time for. It feels so good to be on top of things. So, so good. It’s a relief to live in a cleaner home and to feel like I really am capable of taking care of it.

The best part is the twice daily pujas. I’ve always wanted to be someone who has regular formal worship and now I am. It’s bringing a lot of peace and satisfaction into my life.

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So I think this wouldn’t work for everyone, but it’s worth a try. Particularly if you have regular access to the Internet (there is a phone app that can help you check things off if you’re not in front of the computer) and particularly if you love video or computer games (as I do!)

I use it at work a lot because I have work tasks on there and it has improved my ability to do my job so much that I’m sure my bosses can’t object!

Video games use all kinds of tricks to keep you hooked on their game and HabitRPG uses those techniques for a much higher purpose.

That’s me riding the pink lion with the cotton candy panda pet! My husband is the one riding a black dragon.  Note how close he is to catching up with me! That’s because he took a class that lets him level faster so I have to work extra hard to stay ahead and he has been closing the gap. Grrr. I might have to do some extra house cleaning to give myself an experience boost.