Journaling for Gamers Pt.3: Achieve your Main Quest by Breaking Them Into Daily Quests.
Daily Quests have been a staple in the Mobile Game genre, and there's no mechanic I hate the most. Despite the presence of overpriced items and loot boxes I believe the Daily Quest is the biggest culprit in gaming addiction because it basically hijacks your life. It sucks up your time and keeps you on the hook.
Daily Quests, as applied to video games can come in the form of daily-log in rewards or Drip-fed energy that has to be used within the day.
Daily-log-in rewards are rewards of increasing value that you have to claim before the day ends, otherwise they're gone forever. Usually, the best reward is on the latter days of the month, meaning players will have to log in daily to get the most out of the system.
The Drip-fed energy method is when all meaningful progression uses up energy. That pool of energy increases over time but is capped by an upper limit, meaning you'll have to use up them up quickly before it goes full or you'll miss out. Failed to log in? Too bad, you just lost an opportunity to level up. Want to buy some energy instead? That'll be $19.99.
All of these are Habit-Forming tactics intended to keep you playing the game for as long as possible. The more you play the more you get enticed to spend your money, the more you are a part of the community, the more you are affected by FOMO and sunk cost. For the Game Companies, that's a win-win.
For you, it may lead to addiction. How many times have you played a game and continued to do so even when you're not having fun anymore?
Remember when I said that not having a quest will lead to you being assigned one? This is one of those times. You logged in not because you wanted to, but because the Game told you you'll miss out if you don't.
Now let's flip the script.
Daily Quests work because they harness the Power of Habit.
When you do the same thing, at the same time, in the same place, and get rewarded after, you have a habit
Habits are powerful because you don't need to think before acting on them, it simply comes to you naturally, like moving on autopilot. Habits defeat procrastination like rock beats scissors. They are your strongest tool in improving your life. They're simple to set up but challenging to keep up with at the start, yet once you get going you'll be unstoppable.
You are what you repeatedly do. Excellence is an act, not a habit.
When I was in my late 20s, I always identified as a musician. That's until I checked the time I spent daily and realized I was gaming for 3-4 hours after work and only played music for 0-1 hours daily.
I never once identified as a 'gamer', but looking back at my actions, I absolutely was. I had to face the truth and make changes.
Look within yourself, who do you identify as? Look at the things you do daily, do they coincide?
Core Idea: Your Habits Will Define Who You Are.
Start cutting off your bad habits and start doing good ones, the ones tied to your Main Quest. That's your Daily Quest.
Setting up a habit is simple:
Block a time of day
Do the task without distractions
Show up consistently. Don't break the chain
Do the opposite for bad habits
Not all tasks have to be done daily, only the most important ones. Add breaks and recovery into your schedule. You are not a robot. (I'll have another post on this)
Habits are best done on the same time at the same place to trigger automatic action (think brushing teeth), but if you can't manage that then adjust accordingly. My writing still doesn't have a set schedule but I still show up daily when I have a free time.
Here's one of my habits:
Every Morning I'll do my workout routine to improve and maintain my body to a healthy state.
This Daily Quest is relevant to my Main Quest because working out means I'll feel good, my joints won't creak when doing simple chores and I'll have more energy during the day. This is a support quest that helps me perform my other quests better.
My job is also a Daily Quest. It is relevant to my Main Quest because it gives me money to pay the bills. It also gives me precious Skills and Experience that will help me advance to more challenging and rewarding quests.
Notice that the reason for doing these goals is clear because it's something tied to our Main Quest, which we already defined for ourselves earlier. You won't waver and question why you're working so hard, because you already know the answer. The Past version of yourself made sure that it was worth it.
Notice also that there's an inherent reward for these activities as it increases your personal stats (Health up, Career up), not to mention the experience. Real life experience is how we literally level up in life.
Try it out
Now try this method out. Write some Daily Quests down in the morning. They will consume your Time and Energy, so budget accordingly.
Log them in your Character sheet.
In the evening, look at the progress you've made throughout the day. Add a mark for each Daily Quest you've accomplished. How does that make you feel? How would it make you feel if you completed your dailies for 31 days without fail?
Do this daily, if you fail, show up again tomorrow and adjust your strategy.
Rinse and Repeat.
In the next post, we'll make Dailies feel more like a game. How? By re-framing them as Dungeons.