How To Get Addicted To Hard Work (By Abusing Addictive Video Game Design)

Imagine if you could work as hard, and as long as a World Of Warcraft player on a free weekend…

They can easily play 10+ hours per day with laser focus.

And it’s not just World of Warcraft players….

Gamers can put 1000’s of hours into leveling up their in-game skills, without any willpower and discipline required.

How do they do that?

Well, they don’t have a choice…. They fall for well-crafted in-game designs. They become addicted.

We can apply these same addictive designs to our work, and increase our productivity, and our enjoyment.

To do that, first, we need to understand:

What makes video games so addictive?

There are a couple of reasons:

1. They have a clear end goal (e.g.: beating the game, winning the battle).
2. There are always clear, step-by-step directions. You always know exactly what to do.
3. You always receive rewards after completing a challenge. Also, you receive random rewards throughout playing. (e.g: chests, loot)
4. The difficulty of the challenges is a little above your current skill level, so it makes learning fun (not so easy that it’s boring, and not so hard to be frustrating).
5. Energy invested is tiny in contrast with real effort, in real life.
6. You can fail without any real consequence.
7. You compete with other players, and the more you play, the more status you earn.

Now, we know what makes games addictive. We just need to apply them in real life.

Framework for Gamifying Work:

1. Set a Big & Clear End Goal (with a long time horizon)
2. Make a Progression System
   • Break the end goal down into ‘Objectives’ (Progressively challenging smaller goals that ultimately bring you toward your big goal)
   • Break the ‘Objectives’ down into ‘Quests’ (daily actions to reach the small goals).
3. Deploy Positive Reinforcement
   • After completing an ‘objective’ (small goal) reward yourself with something you love (but don’t usually do)
   • After completing your daily ‘quests’ (daily actions), flip a coin, and make a reward random (e.g.: You can drink coffee after, or not)
4. Design a Smooth Learning Curve
   • Get into the flow state, by making your work 4% harder than your current skill level. Slowly overload the difficulty of your work.
5. Decrease Risk and Punishment
   • Change your perspective on risk and punishment. See them as skills you level up that will make your character stronger.
6. Exploit ‘Fake’ Competition
   • Imagine others wanting the same thing as you and working 2x times more than you. Try to catch up and beat them.
7. Beat Your High-Score
   • Track your weekly output (or working hours), and try to beat the previous week's ‘high score’.

That’s it for this week! Hope you found some value…

Grateful for you reading this,
Beni

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