Have you ever stopped to think about the gamification of your life? What if you could take all the ordinary daily chores you do and make them more fun? You’d constantly be earning badges, learning things about yourself, and competing–maybe against others, but maybe against yourself. What would that look like? Stick around, and hear my thoughts. And I’d love if you would add your thoughts, too. By the way, I’ve written about gamification before: the Gamification of Social Media. (Yes, that was back in the day, so to speak!)

Definition of Gamification

We do need some stinkin’ badges!

Remember when Clint Eastwood said he didn’t need no stinkin’ badges? Obviously he wasn’t thinking about gamification or he never would’ve said that. These days, Clint would earn badges for shooting people, and he’d get extra bonus points for saying that he got that quote from Mickey Dolenz of the Monkees! You can read about the history of that line and its misquotes here: This Day in Quotes: We Don’t Need No Stinkin’ Badges.

Points count in the gamification of your life

What kinds of activities earn you points? How about eating the right foods? Losing weight? Breathing and staying alive? lol Seriously, are there areas of your life that are so boring that maybe gamification would help you keep your interest? Maybe the gamification of your life would help you stay on track, especially for people who have difficulties with focus. Or maybe gamification would help you remember if you fed the cat or took out the garbage.

The Gamification of Your Life| Image by Alexas_Fotos from Pixabay

The Gamification of your life on #DigiBlogChat

This week on #digiblogchat, we discussed gamification, with Larry Mount (@lazblazter) contributing half the questions. By the way, if you’ve never participated in our chat, here’s how: How to Join#Digiblogchat. Here’s a poll, below, on people’s favorite ways to gamify their lives (Exercise was winning 4 hours before the poll was over).

Gamification of Your Life on #Digiblogchat

People use gamification in simple ways to the more complex. John W. Lewis (@JohnWLewis) said “Ironing is something that I did gamify, for a while some years ago. I used to hate, and put off, ironing the 5 shirts per week that I needed. I realised that it was because I didn’t know how long it would take. So I timed myself and then did it against the clock.”

Benefits of Gamification

Thiam (@ThiamMeka2Gogue) mentioned that “Any good gamification process can be a source of emotions for players: a sense of belonging, satisfaction, optimism, desire to improve and/or confidence.”

What activities would you like to gamify?

There are so many activities that could help me, and maybe you, too. One that I’d like to gamify is brushing my teeth. My dentist would also be very interested in this idea. As of right now, I keep track on an Excel spreadsheet, and then bring the sheet into my dentist whenever I get my routine cleanings done. Then we nerd out together over what’s worked and what hasn’t. She particularly likes all the stickers I use!

How do you blog when you don’t feel like it? Summer’s almost here and all the kids are getting out of school. Everything is slowing down and the weather’s warming up. So how do you get yourself motivated when you just don’t wanna? Here are some ideas for you.

Put the seat of your pants in the seat of your chair

This is my best advice. Many times I don’t want to write anything, but sitting down and writing gets me in the mood to write more. Getting started is often the best idea. Set a small goal, like 15 minutes (or 10 or 5!) to get started. Then give yourself a reward. I like Halo Top ice cream. You might like it, too.

Revisit an old idea to blog when you don’t feel like it

Was there an idea you had that never really gelled? Maybe now you can go back and see where it leads. That article you wrote about Albert Einstein? Try it out now! You could even take two old ideas and combine them. Albert Einstein + SEO? Yes, please!

Finish something you started

Did you have a half-baked idea, but you got interrupted and forgot all about it? Now could be a good time to start that article or blog post. Of course, brainstorming topics is always helpful and can give you tons of topic ideas. Here’s an article you might like about brainstorming: Best Ways to Better Brainstorming.

Blogging When You Don’t Feel Like it: Ten Ideas | Image by StartupStockPhotos from Pixabay

Do a compilation or “best of” post

Many YouTube channels do a monthly or yearly roundup. Sometimes the compilations are better than wading through all the actual videos. You could do the same with your articles. Of course, put links into your compilation post so people can go and read the longer versions. This is a really easy way to blog when you don’t feel like it. By the way, here are some more ideas about blogging in case these aren’t enough: How to Find Ten Blog Post Ideas in One Hour That Will Make You Feel Relaxed. Feeling more relaxed yet?

Get back to basics when you don’t feel like blogging

What are the things you enjoy writing about? What did you tell yourself you’d write about when you started blogging? Go back to those. Go back to the very first articles you wrote and your favorites. Write more about those topics. Maybe you’ve strayed from your original concepts.

Find inspiration with a friend’s writing

For my last blog post, I wrote about my reaction to someone else’s post. You could do the same. Write a response to this post, or to a friend’s article (and be sure to link to their article, too!).

Do some automatic writing

And by automatic writing, I don’t mean that you enter a trance or anything like that. More that you turn off the conscious part of your brain and write without judging yourself. So definitely no editing when you’re writing that new post.

Choose something lighter than usual

Not every blog post or article has to be amazing! Why not write something out of the ordinary for you? After all, it’s the end of the school year and people are having parties and getting ready for summer. Maybe a roundup of your favorite recipes or something similar. Sometimes off-topic ideas get more traction than your regular fare.

Rewrite a post that didn’t get traction

Sometimes a post just doesn’t land correctly. Why not rewrite it? You could add a couple more links and also some images to make it more interesting.

Interview someone you admire

An interview helps you and the person you’re interviewing, too. Your readers might want to hear about someone they don’t know. Who do you think your readers would like to know more about? Putting the focus on someone else is a great way to blog when you don’t feel like it. And if you want to hear some good interviews, may I suggest Rod & Inci Jones’ excellent Thought Row Podcast? They interview people about their creative endeavors.

Why write about some completely unsolicited financial advice? I was just reading friend Mitch Mitchell’s blog post 20 Personal Finance Ideas. And, although it’s off-topic from the usual topics that I write about (ROI, social media, and some blah blah blah), I thought I’d give everyone my two cents. Actually, that’s more like 25 cents now because of inflation and the Pandemic. That’s a joke. But seriously, people don’t talk about money very often. And they should! So here are some simple ideas that have helped me. By the way, I’m not a financial expert, and a lot of this stuff is advice that your friends, parents, or grandparents might tell you.

Save as much as possible

When I was just starting out as a lowly tech writer about one million years ago, a friend of mine told me to “max out my 401K.” For me that was usually 18% or 20%, which went right into the company 401K. Of course, you need to have enough to live on, so paying the rent and buying food have to be your first priorities. But in general, that advice is something I’ve lived by. If you can do this, you’ll be happy you did later when you need it. Start by getting that proverbial three months of living expenses in the bank. Work your way up to six months of living expenses, and so on.

Take classes or read

If you’re lucky, your company will offer classes or workshops on investing and finances. Take every class you can. Read all you can. Figure out how you learn (for me, learning in person is best), and do that. Some people need one on one instruction. Others like video. I’m an in-person person. So workshops or mentors have been best for me. To find out what kind of learning style you have, you could try a class. But I’ll bet you already know.

Completely Unsolicited Financial Advice| Image by 0fjd125gk87 from Pixabay

Hang out with smart people

One of my friends had a goal to make $50,000 in the stock market besides what he was making at his job. That was fascinating to watch and to learn about. He reached that goal fairly quickly and became very well off at a young age. Most people will give you advice if you ask. And it costs nothing to ask. The point is to hang out with smart people. And you might not know who they are, because often they won’t tell you! So watch and listen carefully.

Ready for more unsolicited financial advice? Learn to budget!

All you need to budget is a spreadsheet. You can use Excel or a Google sheet, and you’re set. At least once, you need to see where your money is going. Is most of it going to groceries? Fuel? Rent? Where can you cut those expenses? Most of the people I know (who are struggling) have never created a budget. It might sound boring to live within your means, but it’s a basic survival skill.

Cook your own food

Learn to make a few dishes. Now that there’s YouTube, you can learn just about anything. Unless you make enough money to either buy ready-made meals or go out to eat all the time, you’ll be happy to be able to cook. Yes, sandwiches count. And also–guess what? Cooking is one of the easiest ways to save money (there’s that budget word again). Seriously, look at your budget and see where you can cut back. Cooking at home is one of the best ways.

Get a financial advisor

You might think you can manage your own portfolio, but can you really? I thought I could, but I was wrong! It’s not something I want to check every day–I’d rather be doing something else. So ask friends who their financial advisor is. Interview a few. Do they talk to you in a way that you understand? Do they offer education? Those are both important.

You’re welcome!

I’m kinda joking, but did I miss anything? Let me know!