Habitica and Duolingo: How Gamification Keeps You From Giving Up

The internet is full of famous personalities with famous quotes:

"Screw motivation, stay comfortable in your misery" (G. Carlin)

Or those who say external motivation systems are complete BS. If someone wants to do something — they'll do it. If they don't — they won't.

There's some truth to these words. But there's also a condescending attitude toward others from the heights of one's own abilities and ambitions.

We're all different. We all have different resources and life circumstances. So there's also a conscious or unconscious fallacy in these statements.

I'm suggesting you try using external systems — at least give them a shot. Just don't turn it into a cult where any unexpected hiccup sends you scrambling anxiously to fill out your daily tracker.

What are external systems? They're various tools that help you track progress, maintain motivation, and keep your rhythm going.

The internet is flooded with aesthetic planner videos and gorgeous habit tracker spreads. But in reality, these can shift from being helpful to becoming time sinks that eat up the hours you spend filling them out. Like everything else, moderation and a rational approach are key.

Some overachiever — you know, that friend's kid who has their life together — can do it all on their own, while others need extra tools.

And that's completely normal. What matters is that it works for you and with you. But it shouldn't get in the way of actual practice or become an end in itself. Think of these tools like water wings when you're learning to swim, or training wheels on a bike.

I believe that anything helping you reach your goals and simplifying your life should be used — it's normal and nothing to be ashamed of. Besides, once everything becomes habit — even self-improvement becomes habit — you won't need these systems anymore. And there's no point in burning through willpower unnecessarily. You'll need it for maintaining a healthy nervous system, achieving big things, and staying calm with your loved ones and kids in those moments when they're driving you crazy and you're running on empty.

I use Notion and a wall with big notes to track my habits. Plus, you can turn building new habits into a game. Since we all love games, this really helps us keep pushing forward. Take Duolingo, for example — when learning a language, it seriously motivates you because the longer your streak of consecutive days, the bigger your bonuses and the higher your status. I kept up over six months of daily Duolingo practice purely because I had ALREADY been at it for six months straight. You can do the same — maintain an unbroken streak and play this game with yourself. Or use more sophisticated gamification apps.

One habit gamification app is Habitica. It has its own life, rules, and everything else. Like a real game, except instead of grinding for XP, you're grinding for habits.

In Habitica, you don't just track your habits — you also get a little character who earns experience points, gold, and gear, plus you can complete quests with party members. I love this because you can team up with other people and tackle quests together, and if you don't stick to your habits, you'll actually hurt the other people in your group.

Imagine your friends could "suffer" because of your actions. And that they're just as invested in your success as you are. You get extra motivation, and your friends support and push you toward reaching your goals.

Another thing I like about Habitica is that you can add negative habits, and every time you give in to one, it affects your character in the app.

Going back to famous personalities with famous quotes — one of them also said that a professional doesn't need inspiration. A professional needs to master their craft so well that they can just sit down and tackle whatever task is in front of them.

So, I want to wrap things up like this.

Mastery isn't about inspiration — mastery is about practice. That's why you simply need to keep doing the same things over and over to become the best at what you do.

Assignment: "Test Drive"

Try out different tools that caught your eye.

Before testing a new tool, document your current situation: what stage are you at now? How many times did you complete your habit action over the past week? Did anything get in the way, or did everything go smoothly?

Then introduce tools one at a time. One tool per week.

Pick a tool — use it for a week — analyze the results.

If your metrics improved and it felt easy — great, the tool works for you.

If metrics stayed the same or dropped, and the time required increased because of the added tool — try a different one.

Using a supporting tool can itself become a habit that chains with your main one(s). You can integrate multiple different tools into your system. The key rule: the tool should help and provide value. The moment it costs you more resources than the benefit you're getting — ditch it without a second thought.