Gamify Your Work. Motivating Power Of Visualizing Your Progress.
After analyzing hundreds of employees in corporations, Harvard professor Teresa Amabile concluded that a sense of progress is the most important factor in maintaining motivation.
Dopamine and serotonin, hormones, which many talk about, are our psychic energy. To boost their production in your brain, you need to see results of your efforts - here is "before" and here is "after". You see progress - you get a new portion of energy.
It is noteworthy that record breaking and huge victories are not needed for this mechanism to work. Small steps can serve as a fuel for future achievements, therefore it is important to be able to notice them.
You probably know a sense of satisfaction when you tick off a task in your to-do list. It arises from our unconscious tendency to complete what we started. Our brains are designed so that we enjoy getting things done.
There are several methods to use this feature to your advantage. All of them are associated with the mechanism for authorizing the result. One of them is called...
Paperclip Method.
This simple method is great for visually tracking your progress if you have a big, monotonous task ahead of you.
The paperclip method was invented by Canadian Trent Dearsmead in 1993.
Dearsmead, a young stockbroker, had to call 120 clients every day. To track his progress, he put two cans on the table: one filled with paper clips (120 pieces), and the other empty. After each call, Dearsmead moved one paperclip from the first can to the second. When the paper clips ran out, he went home.
Using this method, you can track your progress in writing a book (one paper clip = 100 words), reading (1 paper clip = 1 page), and so on.
For other diverse tasks, you may try to visualize them in similar manner. For example, if you are using a time-management technique called "POMODORO", you may try to visualize completed “tomatoes”. Buy a handful of glass pebbles. Put them in a cup. After each completed task, transfer the stone from one cup to another.
Try it. Result authorization helps to gamify (translate into a game format) work on the most boring tasks. You will be really addicted to it, and work will become an exciting game!
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