All of us must have tried to cultivate a habit at least once in our life. And, we know the pain that goes behind it.
As per Charles Duhigg, author of the book “The Power of Habit”, it is a three-part psychological pattern. The first part is a trigger or cue that helps you choose a task. It is followed by ‘routine’ and ‘reward.’
The app Habitica, founded by Vicky Hsu, a University of California graduate, follows the same approach. It tries to gamify habit formation by issuing reminders and digital rewards to users. The app, which is available on Google Playstore and Apple App Store, now has more than 10 lakh downloads.
How does it work? Once you download Habitica, the app gives a three-side introduction about its offerings. Once you start, the background would change to a pixelated 90s gaming background with nostalgic avatars. If you are someone who grew up playing Nintendo’s Contra or Super Mario, you will surely be thrilled. Register with your email ID, username, and password, or with your Google account. After you sign up, an artificial intelligence-based bot named Justin appears as your guide. Justin is here to navigate you through the app.
Once you complete tasks, you get coins. You can use these coins to buy virtual tools. The app also encourages you to reward yourself by having a treat or watching television whenever you complete a task.
Using the ‘Dailies’ tab, you can even increase your productivity. Every habit is followed with a ‘+’ button to the left and the ‘-’ button to the right. Click the ‘+’ when you complete the activity and ‘-’ when you do not. The more activities you complete, your avatar’s health improves. If not, it worsens.
There is also an option to customise your habits. So, do you want to start a habit? Try this.
