Burnout

This article is about lack of motivation. For the world boss, see Burnout and the Exhaust Spirits.

Players experience Burnout when they no longer care about completing tasks, and the rewards and penalties in Habitica are no longer motivating. Burnout can occur when the game becomes too easy or too hard, when tasks become tedious, or when changes occur in the player's life. In the worst case Burnout results in a player leaving Habitica.

When the Game Is Too Hard

Setting high goals can encourage you to push yourself, but they still need to be attainable. If you frequently miss your Dailies, the game can become more punishing than rewarding. For example, you may start with a requirement that you exercise for half an hour a day. If this turns out to be too much for you, there's a risk that you'll avoid it and get no exercise at all. Here are some things you can do to avoid this:

Reducing Difficulty

Consider making your Dailies easier until they're within your reach. For example:

• Reduce the number of days per week for some tasks.
• Make a task easier (e.g., exercise for 20 minutes instead of 40 minutes).
• Think about your priorities in life, and cut out Dailies that are less valuable to you.
• Convert some Dailies into positive Habits, so you still have an incentive to do them, but don't need to do them every day.
• Combine the above by making a Daily easier but keeping the more challenging version as a Habit.

You can set a weekly item to assess your tasks and adjust the difficulty up or down. Or, if you remove a task, you can create a To-Do reminding you to consider re-adding it in a few weeks. Additionally, instead of removing a task, you can reduce its frequency, or set it to begin on a future date when you will be more free.

Planning for Difficult Times

If you know that you have an unusually busy or stressful period coming, you can adjust the difficulty downward ahead of time. Set goals that make sense for you and let you concentrate on what you think really matters. You could also switch out some of your Dailies for ones related to your upcoming responsibilities.

Rest Periods

It is possible to boost your expectations beyond sustainable levels, particularly when participating in a quest or other demanding challenge. Athletes plan for recovery time after a major challenge, and you might need the same thing following a mental or social exertion. Recovery time may include a rest day (check into the Inn), temporarily disabling some Dailies, or taking time between quests or challenges. Challenges focused on meditation or other ways of relaxing and replenishing energy may also be helpful.

Staying Involved

Every time you visit Habitica, you're practicing a very important habit: making commitments and tracking them.

If you're tempted to rest at the Inn (or give up Habitica entirely!), you should consider dropping down to a very minimal set of Dailies instead. That way you'll stay in the practice of remembering and tracking your daily commitments, and it will be easier to start back up when you're ready. The In Case of Emergency/ I.C.E. Challenge offers a script to help you cut back and recuperate at your own speed, while still maintaining basics.

Built-in Tools for Staying Involved

You can set a Daily to encourage you to log in every day.

• Incentivizing this aspect of self-improvement is seen as so important that Habitica has implemented Daily Check-In Incentives to further encourage users to remain regularly involved.
• On the app, you may also set a daily push notification reminding you to check into Habitica under Settings > Daily Reminder.

Example: Exercise Routine

If your exercise routine is proving unfeasible, you can try to think of ways to make it more appealing or more flexible. For example, you could temporarily change to an every other day schedule, learn a light and short workout for busy days, or plan a fun challenge twice a week. You could also commit to a lighter schedule during parts of the year when you know that your full routine won't be realistic.

The key is to remain flexible and make adjustments that work for you as an individual. As your tasks become more realistic, you will be more successful and reap the rewards of your hard work!

When the Game Is Too Easy

The challenges page.

It's easy to get bored if you've mastered all your Habits, or if you do the same tasks day after day. You can try adding new Habits and Dailies, or making existing Habits and Dailies more challenging.

Increasing Difficulty

For example, you could change "get out of bed" to "get out of bed the first time my alarm goes off" or change "leave for work" to "get to work 5-10 minutes early".

Other ways of adding difficulty to Habitica:

• Join Challenges
• Try self-imposed challenges that change the game mechanics or increase difficulty.
• Participate in a quest.
• Attempt a Perfect Day, or to maintain a streak of Perfect Days.

Dealing with Tedium

Any of the techniques for making the game more difficult can also shake things up and help get you interested again. You might also enjoy switching classes, or starting the game again. After reaching level 50, the Orb of Rebirth becomes available for gem purchase (or for free after level 100).

Unsatisfying Rewards

Example of Custom Rewards

Do you have Reward costs set so high you rarely buy them, or so low you don't have to make an effort? Are you making sure to have real life Rewards that make you genuinely happy, such as a meal out with a friend? Are you only buying in-game Rewards? Set up Custom Rewards that really motivate you! Some examples might be, "lunch with friends", "movie night", "long hot soaking bath", "buy a new tool/gadget/thing-you've-been-wanting". See Sample Custom Rewards for more ideas. If you only find yourself motivated by in-game Rewards, make them harder to earn, for example, with an Equipment Tax Custom Reward. Alternatively, make customs related to Habitica, such as Reset a Daily to Yellow, or Double XP Day (lets you double + Habits for a day). The possibilities are limitless.

Social Engagement

Friendship and advice can be really helpful in fighting burnout. An interesting conversation can keep you hooked, and other players have probably fought similar obstacles.

Joining a party can be fun and help with accountability. Guilds are larger than parties, and have like-minded people with good advice for achieving certain tasks. For example, the Habitica Help: Ask a Question guild helps new players to advance in the game and feel welcomed. The Tavern is a great place to stop by for some general banter. There are plenty of ways to engage with others, which can usually help prevent burnout. Another option is to find a challenge that speaks to you and join in the fun.

If you can, contribute to Habitica in a way that suits you. You could code, update the wiki, answer questions in the Tavern, create challenges, and more). The more you've invested, the more you will feel connected to the Habitica experience.