3517: 10 Ways to Gamify Your Life Today by Steve Kamb of Nerd Fitness on Active Living

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[00:00:30] Hey friends, Olivia from OLLI. Between new routines and the ultimate group project known as parenting, you need science-backed solutions that work with your life. That's where OLLI comes in. Start your mornings off right with Maltese made to support nutrition and immune health. Choose from our lineup of gut-supporting probiotics, and we've got occasional sleep support to help the whole fam chase their big dreams. Head back to class with the number one gummy supplement brand. Stock up on OLLI.com today. These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

[00:01:00] This is Optimal Health Daily. 10 ways to gamify your life today. By Steve Kambb of Nerd Fitness. And I'm Dr. Neil, your host and narrator. Hey there, happy Saturday! I hope your weekend is off to a great start. And welcome back to Optimal Health Daily, or OHD, where I act as your narrator of popular health and fitness blogs and provide my commentary at the end. And we have a bunch of shows covering a bunch of different topics.

[00:01:27] Just search for Optimal Living Daily in your podcast app to find them. Alright, and with that, let's get right to it and start optimizing your life. 10 ways to gamify your life today. By Steve Kam of Nerd Fitness. You may not be aware, but life is a giant game. It's meant to be enjoyed. It's supposed to be challenging but not impossible, even though it can feel that way.

[00:01:56] You get to be any character you want. You have a chance to level up in whatever style you see fit. School, business, sports, gymnastics, and so on. And it has a built-in social network. Life is a game is a platform on which nerd fitness has been built. Looking at life like a giant video game, and using the addicting and enjoyable aspects of video games to better yourself in the real world.

[00:02:22] Although I've already covered leveling up in the game of life, in a TEDx talk, and in an actual game, today I want to have some fun. Today, I want to teach you how to gamify even the smallest tasks and activities, and make them, and your life, more enjoyable. Life is a game. Take a few minutes and watch the video, Games We Play. And I bet you'll find yourself saying, Man, I remember when I used to do stuff like that.

[00:02:49] I then stumbled across Never Leave the Playground from my buddy Vic. It's about this awesome old guy who stays limber and quick-witted and completely crazy by turning everything into a game. Think about it. As kids, we create games to make the most mundane tasks seem exciting. Sure, we're not born heroes, but it doesn't mean we can't create epically fun adventures even with normal tasks, right? When we're 10 years old or younger, these are the things we do naturally.

[00:03:19] Unfortunately, as we grow up, the concept of playing and making up games doesn't keep up with cubicles, couches, and eventually, cardiac issues. Damn public opinion. Who wants to fit in with the majority anyways? Here are some fun ways to gamify your life today, helping you become more healthier, happier, and more productive. The games I play. 1. The tree game.

[00:03:44] If you enjoy going for a run and find yourself growing tired or bored, turn it into a game. Pick a tree 100 yards ahead and do whatever you can to get there as quickly as possible. After all, that's the tree you need to run past. Once you've run past the tree, you can slow down and recover until you notice another tree or other marker further ahead. And you have to make it to that tree by hopping.

[00:04:11] The next tree, maybe you have to do it in as few steps as possible. 2. The music game. I love trying to accomplish boring tasks as quickly as possible. I also happen to love music. So I use music to my advantage and help me complete tasks more quickly.

[00:04:37] Every morning when I take a shower, I put on a song right as I'm getting in the shower. Generally something from my epic playlist. And I have to complete my shower by the time the song is done. If I'm trying to clean up my apartment, whenever I actually have a home, I'll put on a song and tell myself that I only have to clean for that one song, but I have to get as much done during that song as possible. Most of the time, I end up cleaning for more than one song,

[00:05:04] but we all know it's the getting started part that slows us down. 3. The waiting for the game to load game. If you're a gamer, you probably spend a good chunk of your time on your couch waiting for the next death match or zone to finally load. Rather than sitting on your butt and staring at the screen, try this. Every loading screen, complete as many reps of one of these exercises. Push-ups, squats, pull-ups, or planks.

[00:05:33] After four loading screens, congrats, you've just completed a full workout. 4. The email game. I recently taught you all about productivity and how I've completely revolutionized my email inbox by simply applying a few key rules. I've turned it into a game by only giving myself a certain amount of time to spend in my inbox, and the inbox must be at zero by the end of the countdown. It turns out I'm not the only person that thinks

[00:06:01] this type of gamification is necessary for emails. There's actually an email game that you can play that awards you points for getting in and out of your inbox as quickly as possible. 5. The ground is lava game. The next time you're on a playground, pretend like you have to get from one side of it to the other. Obviously, don't go disturbing the children that are playing, but it doesn't mean you can't have fun with it too. You might need to jump from bench to bench, swing to swing,

[00:06:31] use the monkey bars, climb on top of things and under others. Think of it like a combination of Ninja Warrior and Assassin's Creed. 6. The supermarket game. I'm going to expand on this in a future article, but every time I'm in a supermarket, I think of myself as a contestant on Supermarket Sweep. I'm awarded points for buying healthy things like vegetables and fruits, and negative points for buying unhealthy foods. On top of that, I have a time limit.

[00:07:00] I must get in and out of the store as quickly as possible. The less time I spend in the store, the more points I get. You should see me in a self-check outline. I put everybody else to shame with my efficiency. Is it weird that I seriously take pride in that? 7. The hunting game. Credit goes to Mark's Daily Apple for this game. If you're out running in a park, pretend like you're hunting prey by picking a target way ahead of you

[00:07:26] and trying to secretly but quickly sneak up on them as if you were a hunter. Once they've been hunted, move on to your next target. Obviously, you're not going to get really close to them, freak anybody out, or get arrested. So please make sure you have pants on when running through the park. 8. The airport game. I think of my time in the airport line as if I'm on a NASCAR pit crew. To start, I scan each line when I get to the airport to find the one with the most optimal chance for speed.

[00:07:56] No little kids, no strollers, no wheelchairs, and so on. I then have to remove all necessary articles of clothing, items in my pockets, shoes, belt, laptop, toiletries, and have them in the security line bins as quickly as possible. Yeah, it's pretty ridiculous to think of this as a game and you'd probably be embarrassed to be flying with me when we go through the line. But for how much I travel, I manage to find fun in this. And 9. The zombies are chasing me game.

[00:08:26] There's a reason apps like Zombies Run and races like Run For Your Lives are so dang popular. Feeling like you're getting chased by zombies is one heck of a motivator. So imagine you're being chased. Pay your friends to chase you. Kidding. Kind of. Regardless of who or what is after you, imagine that you need to get from point A to point B as quickly and efficiently as possible. Scale stairs, vault over benches, jump over ditches, roll down hills. Do whatever you need to.

[00:08:57] What games do you play? But Steve, that's only 9 games. That's because I want you to come up with the 10th. You just listened to the post titled 10 Ways to Gamify Your Life Today by Steve Kamb of Nerd Fitness and I'll be right back with my commentary. From athletic stuff like a full court pickup game, swish, to athletic stuff like a half mile stroll. Get those steps in.

[00:09:26] Head to Sierra or Sierra.com for the brands you want at the prices that let you do it all. From athletic to athletic-ish, Sierra's got it. Hey friends, OLLIvia from OLLI. Between new routines and the ultimate group project known as parenting, you need science-backed solutions that work with your life. That's where Oli comes in. Start your mornings off right with Maltese made to support nutrition and immune health. Choose from our lineup of gut-supporting probiotics, and we've got occasional sleep support to help the whole fam chase their big dreams. Head back to class with the number one gummy supplement brand.

[00:09:56] Stock up on OLLI.com today. These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Dr. Neal here with my commentary. Based on today's article, I wondered if any researchers had tried studying this idea of gamifying physical activity or exercise, and whether it helped to motivate people to get moving. It turns out that a meta-analysis was recently published looking at this very thing. Remember, a meta-analysis is basically a study of other published studies.

[00:10:26] It evaluates and summarizes information from these other studies. And it's really helpful to look at meta-analyses when there's a lot of conflicting research on a topic. Anywho, I found a meta-analysis that looked at whether gamifying physical activity helped motivate people. And sure enough, it does. The authors of this meta-analysis said that gamifying physical activity and exercise can enhance motivation, positive attitude, and enjoyment of these activities.

[00:10:55] Not only that, but they found gamifying was efficient in changing behavior, making it a powerful technique for behavior change. They also found that those that gamified their activity tended to stick to their new habits for longer. So, as Steve encouraged us to do at the end of today's post, think of at least one game you will play to help you become healthier, happier, and more productive. All right, that'll do it for today. Thank you so much for listening. I hope you have a great weekend.

[00:11:26] And I'll see you back here tomorrow as usual, where your optimal life awaits.