SuperBetter

Today I successfully completed the following quests: Serve A Neighbor, Write Sprint, and 10 Minute Cleaning Spree. This earned me 3 physical points, 5 mental points, and 2 social points. While doing those quests, I successfully fought the Guilt Monster, avoided the Procrastination Station, and the Sticky Chair. However, the Sleepy Face monster totally got me this morning, and I slept in again (after getting the kids off to school.)

I know I posted about playing the game of Domestic Goddess … like, what, a year ago? Well, someone actually made it a game. It’s called SuperBetter, and for a gaming addict like me, it’s totally awesome. I get points and skill-ups for things I do all the time. My goals are small and reachable, and my friends (allies) can send me personalized quests and awards. It’s pretty awesome. It’s not a time sucker; I don’t spend all day on the web site, I just log in once every couple hours when I’m checking facebook and twitter and update quests and bad guys.

If you’re not a gamer, this may not be for you. (And by gamer, I mean someone who loves to play games of all kinds, no matter how silly.) If you think rewarding yourself for chugging a glass of water instead of a Coke is silly, then this is not for you. But if you don’t think you ever do anything productive with your day and tend to beat yourself up about everything, this might be something worth checking out.

Personally, I look forward to clicking on the power-up because I took a ten-minute dance break and recharged my brain. I love that I can set my own quests for writing sprints that meet my writing and editing goals. I like that it makes me feel recharged. Will the newness and excitement wear off? Possibly, but I tend to stick with games I love even when everyone else loses interest. (I’d still have an active WoW account if I had the budget for it.)

So don’t wait for someone to come up and tell you what an awesome job you’re doing. Tell yourself! Whip out that metaphorical sword and vanquish those bad guys of self-doubt and criticism.