The Points System for Productivity
How to Catch a Squirrel
My brain doesn’t work.
Trying to live my day-to-day life kind of feels like trying to catch a squirrel with your bare hands. The squirrel might even be friendly, but it is fast and it does not want to be caught.
Therefore, I am always looking for ways to outsmart my own brain, or add a net to the squirrel-catching equation.
For me, the most successful example of squirrel-catching innovation is the Points System, which is my daily method for making sure my life doesn’t crash and burn.
What is the Points System?
The Points System takes some of what is addicting about video games (racking up points and getting rewards) and combines it with daily life and real productivity.
Basically, I get points over the course of the day for doing anything “productive.” When I reach a certain threshold of points, I get a reward.
It’s simple, but extremely effective.
What is the reward?
I don’t do food rewards OR rest rewards, because people should be able to have those things (yes, even treats!) freely.
Instead, my reward is the ability to play video games. I am not allowed to play video games until I reach my points quota for the day.
This is motivating enough to make me want to do my points without being something that could harm me if it is withheld.
What counts as “productive”?
This is a tricky question. For me, productivity is anything that keeps me from decomposing in bed. I count everything from sending an email, to taking a shower, to doing witchcraft as productive.
Things that are harder, or that I want to motivate myself to do more often, are worth more points.
What are the other rules?
Except for Pomodoros of schoolwork, I am only allowed to get points for doing something twice in a day. For example, I could brush my teeth six times, but I only get points for the first two.
Also, working at my job and doing tasks connected to that are not counted towards my daily points. Making a personal phone call to the pharmacy would count for points, but answering the phone at work does not.
Though I am of course allowed to be as productive as I want, if I reach my quota, I am off the hook for doing more. I can do whatever I want for the rest of the day without worrying about what I “should” be doing, which is a line of thinking I struggle with a lot. I always feel like I have to be doing more, and with the Points System, I can turn that thought off.
How do you keep track of your points?
I am not the first person to think up gamifying your life, and there are apps like Level Up Life or Habitica that will do similar things.
However, I do it with two apps on my (Android) phone: my notes app (to keep track of how many points each activity is worth, in a big list) and Grid Diary (to keep track of an individual day’s points, along with other symptom and mood tracking).
I have also tried analog options like the Bullet Journal, but they proved to be less convenient than doing it on my phone, which I always have with me.
How has the Points System changed and developed over time?
If there is one thing I love, it is iterative improvement. Therefore, the Points System has gone through several improvements.
For one thing, it has gotten harder. My daily quotas have gone up (from the original 5 to 15) and the awarded number of points for activities has gone down, meaning it’s much more challenging than when I started— because I have improved so much!
I occassionally experiment in other ways to see what sticks, but that is the main development.
How can I modify the Points System for my own use?
If you think that the points system would help you, you have my blessing to take it!
Here are the steps for developing your own points system:
Decide what counts as “productive” for you. If you have a definition, that’s great. If it’s more of a list, that’s cool too.
Decide on a reward. I don’t recommend making things like rest or food (of any type) a reward, but what you choose is up to you.
Make a list of your most common activities, if you haven’t in the first step. Don’t forget things that you need to do every day!
Pick a quota number that feels do-able. This is primarily psychological, so don’t sweat it too much. For me, 5 was what felt possible at first because I had such little confidence in my abilities. Smaller numbers feel easier, but getting large numbers of points can feel more fun! Your initial number might be 2, 5, 10, or more!
With your quota in mind, assign point values to each activity in your list.
Put your Points System into play and keep tweaking it to make it work for you!
Let me know how it goes!