User blog:LadyAzur/The Devil Is In The Dailies

This title was inspired by a Challenge and because there is no english expression for "Und täglich grüßt das Murmeltier" (the german title of the movie "Groundhog Day"). We are talking about Dailies!

One day, the devil stepped in front of me and asked, if I want to have a magic To-Do list which will help me to get things done. Oh yes, I answered, but wait - you are the devil, so what's the catch? - There is no catch, replied the devil and smirked: Except the minor possibility of a sudden death. - Ok, where do I have to sign?

So here I am - with my magical tasklist instead of a simple To-Do List! It seems to be a simple list with tasks, some of them with a sub-checklist... But where is the magic?

Ok, let's talk about the plain and simple To-Dos. A To-Do is a task you have to complete and don't want to forget, so you put it on a list. For me, To-Do lists are like an external brain. I don't have to worry about the unfinished tasks anymore, because they are safe on their list, waiting to get done. But usually after a few weeks, I forget to look at the list. Or I simply don't want to do those old To-Dos. And I don't feel good by looking at them, because they seem to rot and start to smell. So I skipped looking at the To-Do list. Problem solved - tasks... still not.

And here comes the magic list of Habitica Dailies! On my first day I had no clue what Dailies are, so I started with small tasks like "Brush Teeth" and "Floss Teeth". I put "Make the Bad" into the habits list, because I wanted it to be a positive habit. After checking off my first tasks, I got some XP and gold. Woohoo! I bought my first equipment from the market and felt like a real adventurer!

After a few days, I recognized that I either did not click my "Make the Bed" habit or did not even make the bed. But I flossed my teeth every day, even if I wanted to skip it - but I wanted the XP and the "Perfect Day Feeling" (ok, and the Habitica Perfect Day Bonus) to go to sleep with a completely checked off list.

My first learned lesson was: If you want to train a new habit, put it into the Dailies, not into the Habits! Dailies help you to train a new habit! A Habit does not force you to click it. A Daily will hurt your avatar if you don't check it off.

Then I reached level 3 and I needed more Dailies! With level 3, you'll get eggs and hatching potions to hatch a pet, and food to feed it into a mount! I was so excited and eager to check off my tasks to get new Drops! And to get more drops, you have to check off a lot of tasks! So I added more Dailies until I felt overwhelmed.

My second learned lesson was: There is a limit of tasks you can complete on one day. If you go to bed and see a long list of undone tasks, knowing that you have to do them all or you will receive a large amount of damage... better reduce your daily tasks to a lower level or you will end with the same bad feelings about To-Dos as before. (And your Avatar will experience death from undone Dailies, and that's another bad feeling.)

So I started to add irregular Dailies for special weekdays only. Repeatable To-Dos. They are easy to setup and you'll never have to think about it. "Water your Plants", "Change Sheets" or "Clean up your Desk". Now I only need to look at my tasklist (before going to bed ^^) and complete my Dailies. They appear magically on my list if they are due - and they stay fresh! No more "Oh, I have a Change Sheets To-Do on my list. When was the last time I did it...? And how old is this To-Do???"

I think, To-Dos did not work for me because I could put them on a list - and then I forgot them. Putting things on a list felt like "I have done something. Check." Although I never checked off the To-Do. Habitica and it's Dailies require a check-off. Every day. Or every second day. Or once a year. But you cannot skip them without consequences for your Avatar. Sometimes it's this little detail-devil that helps us with completing our tasks.

For me, it works.

(And if I cannout outrun the devil, I'll hide in the Tavern - but *psssst*!)