Our very own staff member Sabe has written us a post explaining how he uses Habitica together with an awesome productivity tool called FocusMe. Because we are big fans of FocusMe (and their staff members are big fans of Habitica), we’ve decided to offer a joint promotion until Sunday June 19th, where anyone who purchases FocusMe will also be offered a 20% discount on a six-month Habitica subscription. Read on to learn about Sabe’s epic productivity strategy!
Anyone who’s tried to form a new good habit from scratch, or abruptly halt a bad one, knows that the task gets difficult before long. The first day or two, maybe even the first week, sees success on a wave of enthusiasm. But the initial rush wears off with time, and motivation doesn’t come quite so easily.
To mitigate the risk of failure as habit formation gets harder, experts in personal change like The Heath Brothers and Leo Babauta recommend smoothing the way: setting up your environment such that the right thing to do is also the easy thing to do. Set up incentives to follow through on your habit, and barriers to backsliding.
Residents of Habitica know all about incentives for following through! Success in habit change means leveling up, earning Gold for equipment, or picking up a cute new pet. On the flip side, losing Health to negative Habits or unfinished Dailies adds some sting to temptations that can lead us away from our goals.
Sometimes, though, even that’s not enough, and we need a little extra help in making the right choice easy.
For most of my adult life, I’ve struggled with a particular bad habit: digital distractions. Games, endless news feeds, and social media conversations all clamor for attention, draining away minutes and hours of productive time when indulged. These activities capture mental focus by design, making it particularly difficult to break free, even with the threat of injuring my Habitica avatar for giving in.
Enter FocusMe, a tool for Windows and Mac that lets me put up a digital wall between me and the things that might get in the way of my work! With it, I can say, “from the time I wake up until the end of the work day, don’t allow me to launch these distracting applications or visit these distracting Web sites.” If I stray, by accident or moment of weakness, I get a simple notification that the distraction is on my block list, and it closes or minimizes until such time as it’s appropriate for me to return to it.
By combining use of Habitica and FocusMe, I have a powerful set of tools to keep me on task! Some ways to synergize the two include:
- A positive Habit to reward myself for adding to my block list. If a new distraction emerges, I can collect some Gold and Experience for putting it away for this and future work days.
- Talking with others who struggle with similar problems in the Digital Addicts Anonymous guild, to stay accountable and share tips for using Focus Me effectively.
- Using temporary unlocks in FocusMe as custom rewards. If I pick up some Gold by staying on task and accomplishing some Dailies and To-Dos, I can purchase a few minutes of time for Focus Me to let me through and check a social media feed or forum.
If you also struggle with digital distractions, I encourage you to give FocusMe a look!
get organized. stay motivated. have fun. 