Step Turn your to-do's into (game) goals
Posted: Tue Dec 17, 2024 3:20 am
Tackle
We've been working from home for months now and although it's slowly starting to get used to it, chances are you're sometimes having to pull your motivation out of your toes. (Or that you don't feel like getting dressed (fully) at all.) But, be gentle with yourself! Because the cause is not your mentality, but the fact that your brain is missing a number of stimuli.
Simple actions such as getting dressed for work and getting on your bike are signals to our brain that normally automatically put you in work mode ( see also this article by psychologist Charlotte Post ). These triggers are hard to find at the kitchen table. Until now! Because if you are open to an experiment with yourself, you can change your own behavior and achieve all your goals.
It is a small, mainly mental intervention, but free yourself from the term 'to do'. Because things that you have to do are by definition not fun. If you are going to experiment with gamifying your workday, make a list of (game) goals from your to-do list. Challenge yourself to achieve those goals today. Just like in a game, the goals should not brazil telegram data 30 million be too easy, otherwise you will quickly lose your attention and achieving your goals will not be satisfying.
Don't make your goals too difficult, that's frustrating and you'll drop out faster. In a good game, the game goals keep you sharp, you'll be on the edge of your seat every now and then, but the finish is still achievable. That brings you into a good concentration and especially into a nice flow.
Step 2. Divide your day into levels
Your work is not a well-designed game. And your employer or clients have not spent tons of money to keep you focused from minute to minute. Loss of concentration is your biggest enemy in this 'game'. Therefore, spread your (game) goals over levels. You do this as follows:
For each (game) goal, estimate the time it will take you to achieve it.
Write down the goal and the time it takes and draw a circle around it: this is a level.
Do this with all your goals.
Depending on your ability to concentrate, choose levels from one to a maximum of one and a half hours. Some goals may therefore take two levels, sometimes a cluster of goals fits into one level.
We've been working from home for months now and although it's slowly starting to get used to it, chances are you're sometimes having to pull your motivation out of your toes. (Or that you don't feel like getting dressed (fully) at all.) But, be gentle with yourself! Because the cause is not your mentality, but the fact that your brain is missing a number of stimuli.
Simple actions such as getting dressed for work and getting on your bike are signals to our brain that normally automatically put you in work mode ( see also this article by psychologist Charlotte Post ). These triggers are hard to find at the kitchen table. Until now! Because if you are open to an experiment with yourself, you can change your own behavior and achieve all your goals.
It is a small, mainly mental intervention, but free yourself from the term 'to do'. Because things that you have to do are by definition not fun. If you are going to experiment with gamifying your workday, make a list of (game) goals from your to-do list. Challenge yourself to achieve those goals today. Just like in a game, the goals should not brazil telegram data 30 million be too easy, otherwise you will quickly lose your attention and achieving your goals will not be satisfying.
Don't make your goals too difficult, that's frustrating and you'll drop out faster. In a good game, the game goals keep you sharp, you'll be on the edge of your seat every now and then, but the finish is still achievable. That brings you into a good concentration and especially into a nice flow.
Step 2. Divide your day into levels
Your work is not a well-designed game. And your employer or clients have not spent tons of money to keep you focused from minute to minute. Loss of concentration is your biggest enemy in this 'game'. Therefore, spread your (game) goals over levels. You do this as follows:
For each (game) goal, estimate the time it will take you to achieve it.
Write down the goal and the time it takes and draw a circle around it: this is a level.
Do this with all your goals.
Depending on your ability to concentrate, choose levels from one to a maximum of one and a half hours. Some goals may therefore take two levels, sometimes a cluster of goals fits into one level.