5 Apps to “Gamify” Your Habits and Turn Boring Tasks Into Exciting Ones

Work. Is. Boring.

Am I right? Just the thought of of sitting down… opening a text page… getting your work notes out… and doing the work…

Bleh, not fun at all.

And not just at work either; Is doing laundry fun? Or the dishes? Or vacuuming?

Nope, no way.

Is there a way to make those boring activities a little more… interesting? Is it possible to find a way to be more motivated to do these things?

There sure is, and it’s actually pretty fun to do.

You find work boring

Yeah, we all do sometimes. Even if we love our work, it can get old real quick when we do it day in and day out.

You don’t know how to make work interesting

Since we inevitably get tired of the daily grind, we need methods to mix it up. We need ways to make the common task feel more… interesting.

Question is – how?

Gamify your habits

Do you love video games? What about games in general? Then this is right up your alley.

“Gamification,” as it’s called, is a method of adding game-related elements to your habits and work. This might include:

1. Adding theme elements to your tasks (e.g. Fantasy)
2. Earning experience and leveling up
3. Receiving rewards such as gold and treasure

I’m certain this is appealing to you gamers out there (myself included). But adding those traits by hand would be too much work, right? So what’s the best solution for this?

5 tools to get gamified

Below are 5 tools and apps that you can use for your gamification purposes. Each has its own merits, so take a look and see which one is best for you.

1. Chains.cc (iPhone, Web-App)

Do you want the easiest form of gamification to start with? Then this is for you.

Chains.cc is different from the rest of the list because there’s no theme, no leveling, and no treasure involved. It’s just a basic habit tracker with emphasis on daily consistency. This is a very no-nonsense, get to work habit tracker.

So do you have habits you need done daily? Don’t need extra bells and whistles? Is simplicity your main desire? Then make sure and give this app a shot.

2. HabitRPG (Android, Web-App)

Do you like 8-bit graphics? Do you like playing as different classes like warriors and mages? Do you like fighting bosses with real life people across the globe?

Then definitely try this out.

This tool breathes life into boring tasks by giving you treasure and experience for your avatar to use. You can earn gold to buy gear, pets, mounts, and also become stronger as you complete your tasks.

And the feature that really elevates this tool above the rest is the social aspect. You can join guilds and make parties with like minded people to motivate each other, and take down bosses as well.

This tool also has my stamp of approval as I’ve been using it rather successfully for the past few weeks.

3. TaskHammer (Android)

Want an app that emphasizes balance in your daily habits? One that uses old-school RPG art styling? And has an alarm indicating when to do your tasks?

Then you might like this one.

When you create tasks in this app, you have to assign each one an attribute. So each task gets a kind of “physical, mental, spiritual” type (those aren’t the actual stats, it’s just to make it more clear). As you do each task, you level the specific attributes it has as well.

Over time as you level up, you get an accurate overview on the types of activities you spend the most time on. This lets you easily assess whether or not you’re using your time the way you’d like.

(e.g. too many mental tasks and not enough physical tasks, etc.)

So for those of you who want to keep a good life balance or just want to see how you use your time, this app is worth a try.

4. Life RPG (Android)

In many ways, Life RPG is like HabitRPG; 8-bit sprites, buying of equipment, earning of gold, leveling up…

But the one place it stands out is in the mobile department. The mobile-app is far more polished than HabitRPG’s, which is slower and looks less impressive as well. This makes LifeRPG the winner if you rely on your smartphone and don’t have easy access to a computer.

5. Epic Win (iphone)

When it comes to the Epic Win app, its the small things that make this one stand out.

You’ve got your basic class system in place (e.g. warrior, dwarf) and can level up and such, but unlike the other apps this one actually animates stuff.

You’d think it isn’t a big deal, but seeing your avatar sway around and each task being obliterated when you complete it helps the experience feel more authentically game like. This really helps with the longevity of the game.

Another thing that stands out is the sense of adventure the game has. Each task you complete not only gives you gold and experience, but it also progresses you forward on a map as well, which makes it feel more like an adventure.

Definitely try this one out if you want a more immersive gamification experience.