Habitica, ADD and Studying

More than a year since I first discovered Habitica (formerly HabitRPG) I'm still using it.  As I've discussed in previous posts, it's a gamification site.  You set yourself daily tasks or habits (to do, or not do, whenever) and tick them off.  Each tick gives your little character more experience, gold, and items for collecting pets.  If you're on a quest then your actions will also damage the enemy.

Since September I've been attending college, completing an access course with the goal of attending university from 2016.  I've found Habitica quite invaluable in managing my ADD and completing tasks.

Add is essentially a lack of executive memory; it's hard to organise information.  There's also an element of time-blindness; it's harder to evaluate longer tasks and to motivate oneself to complete them in good time.

In class, I add a sticky note to every paragraph or info-point in my notes. During class, I don't make a point of reflecting on the information; I just write it down.

Later, I write up my notes and remove the stickies, which is one of my positive habits - remove the stickies ('Revision Tabs').  I get a tick for every single one that I get rid of.  This is also when I reflect on the information; I rephrase, rewrite and tie things together.  The act of doing this also helps me to remember it.


One of my dailies is to study.  I would struggle with a more holistic approach, like studying more when I need it or less when I don't.  I work better with an all or nothing thing, so I try to do an hour per day; it's fine to miss a day as long as it adds up to seven hours by Sunday (note: 52 uninterrupted minutes is an hour as far as this is concerned).  I track those hours as a 'to do'.  Every week I start a 'study' goal.  I add each hour I complete as a line on the checklist - each check works as a multiplier on the rewards I get when I tick the item off on Sunday.  You'll notice from the large image above that I also have a '5 minute study' goal.  I get to tick that once for every five minutes each day that I study over my hour.

The 'extra study' goal is there for things like reading Essential Biology for Dummies (literally - it's pretty good) or working from another text book on something that's relevant but isn't strictly for class.  I've done it that way so I'll still get credit for the hours I put in but I won't use it to avoid actually working on the things I should do - another symptom of ADD is a fear of starting tasks.

Speaking of a fear of starting tasks sometimes I go a little bit easy on myself; I'll use the first few minutes of a study session to make piles of my notes and to write a quick list of what to get through.  I can do this without turning off my audiobook or netflix right away.  It splits up the tasks.  Instead of the big thing of sitting down to study I start my timer, get myself organised, then turn off my entertainment and focus.  Once I've done it the first time it's all ready for the next set and it's easier to start.

I also use to-dos to note down my assignments and what I want to complete in my study sessions.  This needs some work; I only have a vague idea of what I want to complete.  I should probably overhaul this a little more.

Finally, I also use to-dos to manage my attendance.  The first half of the autumn term was six weeks long.  With three class days per week that's 18 days.  I put each of those days on a checklist and ticked off the entire to-do at the start of half-term for a big reward.  I'm doing the same thing with the second half of the autumn term - nine more days to go.

HabitRPG, Part 2

An update to my earlier post.  For those who didn't read it, HabitRPG is a browser-based real life incentive game (with iOS and Android apps).  You set yourself various tasks to do in real life, and earn exp and gold when you do them.  Gold can be exchanged for various rewards, either self-imposed or set by the game itself.

I gave an overview of the game in my previous post, so this one will focus on my experiences with the game since starting.  I've managed to do a lot of things I'd normally put off, for instance, actually watching a DVD I bought months ago.  And I've avoided doing some things I normally would have, like buying new books.  I've also kept up with studying Python and finished a coursera course.  Right now, I'm in the process of another one, on guitar skills.

At level 10, you can choose a class for your character.  I went with a mage, which really isn't me.  Normally, I'd go for a red mage, because I love being a good all rounder.  Seriously; I can slog through piles of enemies with a decent strength and defence stat, just burn them all if I'm set upon by a crowd, and heal myself whenever I need to.  What's not to love about a red mage?  Unfortunately, it wasn't an option.

Classes

Class options are as follows;

Warrior - Deals high damage to tasks - so they get back to the good colours (blue, green) and away from bad ones (red) faster.  Moderate defence (takes less damage from undone dailies).  Can buff strength and constitution (more on those later).

Healer - High defence against undone tasks, can heal themselves and their party members.  So, useful if you or your team aren't always brilliant about getting your dailies done.  Can buff constitution.

Rogue - gets more random item drops and gold from completing tasks.  Higher chance of dealing critical hits, which result in more exp and gold.  Can use a stealth skill to avoid damage from undone dailies.

Mage - Moderate damage to tasks.  High experience, can buff intelligence, restore MP and freeze streaks.

My party - me as a mage and Bookety as a cleric.

My logic was...well, I don't miss dailies, so neither Healer nor Warrior gave me much of an advantage.  Plus, I hate the thought of being a healer.  I am not a frigging support character, I'm a one-woman party of a red mage.  Though, in fairness, HabitRPG healers are rather better at soloing than most RPG healers, my mind still rebels against classing myself as one.  So that left Rogue and Mage.  I like gold and random items, but, again, since I don't miss dailies, the special skill didn't offer much.  Plus, it seemed like an overdose of gold and items would make the game too easy, rather than just a boost in levelling, which would get me similar advantages anyway, once my stats went up.  Plus, since you can decide where your own stats go each level, I could boost strength as much as I wanted.  And there's nothing stopping my little mage from carrying a sword if she likes - you can't buy new ones, but you can have your staff equipped and show you avatar as carrying a sword if you like.  So Mage it was.

Attributes

Strength - increases damage done to tasks, restoring them to a healthy colour faster.  Also increases bonus when a critical is scored.

Constitution - decreases damage taken from not completing dailies, or bosses.

Intelligence - increases experience earned from tasks.  Also increases mp, which is used for casting spells.

Perception - increases gold and items gained.  Also increases the rewards for streak bonuses.

...so, for the way I play the game, intelligence and perception are important focuses for me, with strength as a secondary consideration.  I'm a squishy, glass cannon wizard.  Bookety up there is my tank.

Pets

Sometimes, when completing a task you'll gain items - generally, either food, eggs, or hatching potions.  You can use the hatching potions to hatch the various eggs into different types of animals.  There are nine different types of eggs and ten different kinds of hatching potions, for a total of ninety different pets, not counting gryphons.  Pets can appear in your avatar, and will grow into mounts when you feed them enough.  That one in my avatar is a red fox mount, while Bookety has a skeleton something-or-other pet.  Possibly dragon.

Pets are cute little collectibles, and a fun way to keep the game more interesting.  If you have the gems, you can buy eggs, potions, and food in the market. 

Subscribing

You are able to subscribe to HabitRPG.  Basically, you give them $5 a month, and they give you a couple of perks.  I decided to go for this yesterday, based on the following considerations.  Firstly, £3 a month?  I spent that on a starbucks hot chocolate.  Secondly, it's pretty much the only way to get gems, which unlocks a fair bit of extra gameplay.  Finally, they deserve it.

The big reward for me, as I said, was the gems.  Formerly, you'd automatically get a couple of gems each month, but after a recent upgrade, that system has changed.  Now, you can buy a gem for twenty gold pieces, so you do still have to earn them.  I do prefer that system, really.

You also get the ads disabled, retain the full history of your entries, and your daily drop caps are doubled.

Quests

You can purchase quest scroll for 4 gems each.  I've just started one, and I'm waiting for Bookety to join, so more on that once we've actually done it.

Real Life Incentive Games: HabitRPG

Another IRL incentive I've found recently is HabitRPG.  The premise is simple; you set goals for yourself, in a variety of categories.  When you complete those goals, you earn exp and coins with which to buy rewards.

Tasks - Habit, Daily, and To Do

Your goals can be anything.  You can set them as Habits, which means you get a reward whenever you repeat the activity, but with no time limit.  There are Daily Tasks, which are things you intend to repeat each day, and which will damage your hit points if you don't.  And, finally, there's a To Do list for longer term, one-off goals.

At the moment, my Daily Tasks include things I have to do every day, but which I don't enjoy, like washing out my hedgehog's wheel.  I've also listed feeding my hedgehog, which is probably the most important thing I do everyday, but which is so tiny and habitual that it's easy to forget (note: I have never failed to feed my hedgehog, but I have, at least once, gotten up at midnight to do it).  Then there are things I've been working on; practice Python, read something off my unread pile, make tomorrow's lunch, exercise (since I'm doing it for Pact anyway), etc etc.

My habits are things I intend to do more often, but not daily.  Things like making new recipes, or playing my guitar, or writing.  Incidentally, I started playing the guitar in November of 2012; I made it a rule to practice everyday, and guess what?  Now I can play the guitar.  Here's hoping Python will work the same way.

You can also set negative things in the Habits column.  In my case, if I go over budget, throw food away rather than using it before it goes off, or buy a new book, I'll lose hp and gold instead of gaining exp (I assume; I haven't done those things yet, and don't want to hurt my avatar just to test it).

Finally, the To Do list.  That's where my big ticket tasks go.  For instance, finishing Gone with the Wind.  It's good, I'm enjoying it, but it's 1010 pages long.  I need some kind of reward for that!  I've also got things like cooking with nettles, dandelions and acorns.  All three grow in our garden, and it'd be nice to try them at least once.  Not now obviously, but in summer and autumn.  Other things, like getting out of debt, and reading more than 324 books this year (that's how many I read last year) are on there too.  Along with some silly things, like making corn on the cob, which I've never tried before.  The difficulty adjusts itself based on how long the items go undone, so you get more rewards for one that you do infrequently.

Rewards

You can also set your own rewards, to be purchased with the gold and silver coins you're getting for all these tasks.  At first, I thought the rewards were far too easy to get, until I realised I could change how much they cost.  For instance, I've decided I can get an audiobook for 250 coins.  I have a subscription to Audible, for two books a month, but I normally finish them faster, and I'd like to top up occasionally.  I just can't seem to justify buying an audiobook for £15 when my credits will be coming in in a week or two, even when I want to.  So setting it as a reward is like giving me permission to buy it for myself.  I've also put in a few things I've been thinking of getting, like a new bed and a new TV (500gold coins and 1000 gold coins), and some cheaper things, like renting a movie off Blinkbox (100 gold coins if it's over £2.  If it's one of their 99p Monday movies, I'm not going to make myself wait, not least because the discount only lasts 24 hours).

HabitRPG also provides you with a couple of rewards to buy.  Mostly, it's equipment to make life easier, like armour that reduces how much missed dailies hurt you, or swords which increase exp and gold.

Tavern, Holidays, and Quests

Another feature is the tavern, where you can put your character for a few days while you completely ignore all your tasks.  It's a chance to take a holiday.  Also in the Tavern you can find people posting quests.  The two I'm taking part in are "to read a tome of compelling significance" and one about completing all your daily tasks.

The tome quests adds a few things to your list; firstly, it adds choose, obtain, and finish a "tome of compelling significance" to your to-do list.  In this case, a 'tome of compelling significance' is defined as one you've personally been putting off, or one that otherwise seems worthy to you.  I pick Gone With the Wind, since it's been sitting on my unread pile for the past ten years.  It also adds "finish another tome of compelling significance" to your habits list, in case you feel like reading another one.  I'm tempted to read Don Quixote.  I can read it at work, since it's on wikisource.  Also, it inspired that episode of Quantum Leap that I enjoyed.

The other quest adds "slay all monsters in dungeon" to your daily task list, ie, tick off all the other tasks.  It also adds 7, 14, 21 and 28 "clean dungeons", ie, streaks of perfect days, to your to do list.

These sorts of quests are user designed, and there are quite a few interesting ones.  Lots of them reward you with a couple of gems, which you can also get as a reward for donating to the project.  Gems can unlock some special features like different outfits for your avatar.

How is this Tracked?

HabitRPG works entirely on the loyalty system.  Why not?  As far as I can tell, you're the only one who can see your tasks.  You're also the only one who can set and claim your rewards.  Go ahead, promise yourself a whole chocolate cake for 1 silver coin, spam-click a habit and then gorge yourself silly, see how much fun you have.

I Wanna Play!

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