Nowadays, it’s hard to focus on the important things. You’re constantly distracted by social media notifications, advertising, video games. There’s just too much that craves for your attention. But you have certain obligations in your job and in your private life that you want to fulfil. Why is it so easy to get distracted? The short satisfaction is simply faster to achieve with social media, Netflix or gaming. Here, you simply experience a faster and more fun dopamine release than when you’re ironing your laundry or putting together a product presentation for a management meeting. It’s just more fun.
There are many reasons why video games are so popular. Among other things, there is always an immediate reward after work is done. These short-term rewards are often missing in real life. Progress is also clearly visible in games. There are progress bars, an experience bar, awards, leaderboards, rating and achievement systems.
What are some ways to implement these reward systems in your personal life to increase your productivity?
The first approach is to divide big goals into small goals. For example, if you wish to read more, but the 500-page tomes just blow you away. Then you can simply set yourself the goal of reading only 10 pages every day in the evening before you go to bed. 10 pages is a small goal that is much easier to grasp and achieve.
The same applies to sports, if you set yourself tiny goals, such as 5 push-ups per day, then it is much easier to overcome.
To turn these activities into habits, I can definitely recommend the book by James Clear Atomic Habits. James Clear describes perfectly how to learn new habits and unlearn old unwanted ones with certain methods.
Have a great day!
Mario