User blog:SatchelDragon/Getting Started

Today is my first day as a wiki contributor. I've never made a blog post before so this will be my first as well.

My focus here is on Habitica. I am interested in contributing to the wiki and helping others to understand how to use the game to better their life.

Personally, I use Habitica daily and have done so for over a year now. I use it to keep track of daily tasks (especially ones that occur with skipped days or weeks). The functionality has changed a lot since I started so I'm in the process of revising my habits and to-dos in advance of the new semester.

I teach at a local univeristy so keeping track of things than need to be done is critical. Plus there is little motivation to respond to crap emails such as "how many absences do I have" or "can you tell me my current grade" without something like Habitica to provide some small motivation. I think that's pretty much what Habitica is for. Providing motivation where mundane tasks need to be completed but confer little to no tangible benefits. Habitica turns negative reinforcement (e.g., when you are encouraged to do something to remove a bad consequence) into positive reinforcement (e.g., when you are encouraged to do something because you get something you like). The psychological difference is subtle but nontrivial.

Anyway, I've been a gamer all my life and love math so I take a lot of pleasure in the mechanics of the system. I teach research methods and statistics so I find making hypotheses and crunching the numbers entertaining.

Speaking of which, my syllabi, exams, and assignments for the fall won't write themselves!

Cheers