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Habitica – A gamified habit-building and productivity app

habitica.com

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Re: Habitica – A gamified habit-building and productivity app

#71

Post by pbhjpbhj »

xmprt wrote: post #42
zhdc1 wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How is this any different from written daily routines, to do lists, and journals, all of which have been around for centuries/millennia?

I'm still not sure if it's a bad thing but it's definitely different. When I use a journal/list/daily routine, I feel like I'm in control but when I use an app I feel like I'm giving that up to someone/something else. When I miss a goal that I wrote in a journal then I'm only letting myself down but when I'm using an app I feel worse about messing up. I don't know how justified those feelings are but at a certain poi…

Does that make the app better or worse, extrinsic motivation seems better. That's one reason to use an app, I thought; some pseudo-accountability.

Re: Habitica – A gamified habit-building and productivity app

#72

Post by kirubakaran »

rapnie wrote: post #68
kirubakaran wrote: post #65

If you're interested in this, have a look at my https://crushentropy.com/ It is markdown for planning and visualizing your day. I've been using it consistently for several years now and I can say it has made me a lot more productive, as I'm more mindful of where my time goes, how fragmented my day is, etc.

I am sure this is cool and all, but why would one put their daily planning in an anonymous online service by Insstant LLC that do not even bother to place a Privacy Policy link in the footer? Some slight improvements and more people might try it out.

Thanks for the feedback. Will do.

Re: Habitica – A gamified habit-building and productivity app

#73

Post by cdiamand »

I've started building a browser plugin to help me increase productivity while on the internet.

The plan is to have it play music, overlay a score, or give me some other positive feedback when I'm looking at productive tabs. Conversely it will reduce stimulation or give me some kind of negative feedback when I'm looking at non productive pages.

I'd be interested to hear if this is something others would use..

Re: Habitica – A gamified habit-building and productivity app

#74

Post by catchmeifyoucan »

bschne wrote: post #49
esperent wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's cool, I haven't seen this idea summed up so well. Do you have any examples of this? One thing I do is put sites I want to spend less time on into my hosts file. That way I have to edit a file, which means leaving the context of my web browser, before I can access the site. Another habit I want to build is quick journaling first thing in the morning, so I made my browser start page a Google docs, and I automati…

> Do you have any examples of this? Personally I've been surprised how well setting up contexts for intended outcomes ahead of time works - e.g. if I want to study X, I close everything else on my computer the night before and only open the textbook and my reading notes; If I want to get up on time and go for a run I put my running gear in one place all ready to put on, etc. More generally I try to prepare a daily no…

You can do this with Amna fairly consistently and plan ahead. It’s a task management app to collect your context.

(https://getamna.com)

Re: Habitica – A gamified habit-building and productivity app

#75

Post by ycombinete »

httpsterio wrote: post #61

Personal anecdotes about habits and promises. I've tried many different things to motivate myself to either abstain from behavior like smoking or to keep up healthy streaks. An example would be a promise I made last Christmas to my fiancée. I've had a hard time quitting smoking because it's my go-to solution when life is stressful and feels like the walls are coming down. I gave her 500€ and told her that money is fo…

Unfortunately with smoking you have to want to stop smoking. Most of the time you either know you should want to, or you want to want to; but you don’t actually want to stop.

Ultimately I became disgusted by the hold it had over me. That I was dependent on it. That it changed my mood, and my personality. I really resented that. The health effects were never a strong enough motivator.

I started using snus, while still smoking, then stopped smoking for the most part. Just using the snus. Then I went cold turkey on the snus.

Re: Habitica – A gamified habit-building and productivity app

#76

Post by Cyphase »

esperent wrote: post #44
bschne wrote: post #36

See also Ben Kuhn's "Make your habits zero-effort" - https://www.benkuhn.net/zero/ "Life hacks abound: Tell your friends about your plan so you’ll be embarrassed if you fail! Make sure you keep an unbroken streak! Charge yourself money if you don’t stick to it! Donate the money to your least favorite charity! Forget donations, how about electric shocks? The escalating absurdity should tell you that this problem is un…

That's cool, I haven't seen this idea summed up so well. Do you have any examples of this? One thing I do is put sites I want to spend less time on into my hosts file. That way I have to edit a file, which means leaving the context of my web browser, before I can access the site. Another habit I want to build is quick journaling first thing in the morning, so I made my browser start page a Google docs, and I automati…

> One thing I do is put sites I want to spend less time on into my hosts file. That way I have to edit a file, which means leaving the context of my web browser, before I can access the site.

I use the LeeckBlock extension in Firefox. I have it set to block a bunch of sites 24/7. It has an override option; I have it set to override the block for 2 minutes when I activate it. As I'm typing these words, I have ~20 seconds left before HN is blocked again, so I'll probably have to override again before I submit this comment.

It adds enough friction that I don't spend as much time as I otherwise might on the blocked sites. I think the fact that it auto-blocks again helps over having to manually re-enable the block in a hosts file. Of course that could be automated.

It also has a bunch of related features that I don't use much, in case anyone is interested.

(Override, OK, reply)

Re: Habitica – A gamified habit-building and productivity app

#77

Post by Cyphase »

bschne wrote: post #49
esperent wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's cool, I haven't seen this idea summed up so well. Do you have any examples of this? One thing I do is put sites I want to spend less time on into my hosts file. That way I have to edit a file, which means leaving the context of my web browser, before I can access the site. Another habit I want to build is quick journaling first thing in the morning, so I made my browser start page a Google docs, and I automati…

> Do you have any examples of this? Personally I've been surprised how well setting up contexts for intended outcomes ahead of time works - e.g. if I want to study X, I close everything else on my computer the night before and only open the textbook and my reading notes; If I want to get up on time and go for a run I put my running gear in one place all ready to put on, etc. More generally I try to prepare a daily no…

Try the LeeckBlock browser extension (Firefox and Chrome). It might work better for you than the hosts file. I just commented about it in a sibling to your comment.

Re: Habitica – A gamified habit-building and productivity app

#78

Post by PaulStatezny »

52-6F-62 wrote: post #58
cardenasrjl wrote: post #11

I've tried many apps to track my actions and in long term it doesn't work.

Yeah these never work for me either. I’ve tried again and again-even thinking I’ll keep something like Notion as a user friendly database for tracking what I’ve done. But no. Even if I like interacting with it I just fall off because of the overhead. I’m better off with a sticky note (even virtual ones on my desktop) and a note pad I can tear a page out of than anything else But I’ve always found—since high school—th…

> But I've always found...that just the act of writing something down physically cements things in my mind.

Same here! This is why I use a simplified Getting Things Done system, but at the beginning of the day translate it into a "to do" list for the day on paper. It lets me focus on one piece of paper through the day instead of getting overwhelmed with the GTD system.

Re: Habitica – A gamified habit-building and productivity app

#79

Post by Gaelan »

avree wrote: post #10

How come HabitRPG gets posted to HN every month? (Albeit under a new name for the past few years?)

habitica.com and habitrpg.com have been posted 12 times since 2012, so much closer to every year (also, most of them were in 2012-2014; only three since).
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