Get Everything Done

Avrum,
you and I think alike on many things. I just downloaded this for kicks yesterday. I really like it.

I'm curious, what level are you at? I've noticed I'm more motivated to do work just to get some kind of reward. Even better when I don't know what it is. And for some reason I'm focused on working harder just so I don't piss her off. lol Im sure there is better software out there but for now this is pretty fun.

I've just got to level six. I can't help but really enjoy this app. I bought it thinking it was a gimmick but caved out of curiosity. I'm so glad I got it.

I like the insults she gives to remind you that your hard work isn't good enough and the compliments feel like rewards in itself. Very very weird app but I too am being cautious as to what I commit to and because its like a game, and I don't want to cheat myself I'm actually avoiding writing easy tasks. I actually had to earn the right to prioritize and (I think undo).

The app reminds me to be productive and take it easy. Lol, I burst out laughing on the train when she claimed my fortune was to be killed by an angry duck. Everything is motivating and fun about this app.

Mark:

That's a good question. It doesn't reduce your level as far as I know. But I do know she gets very angry and throws amusing insults). I say as far a I know because the app is so random and because you don't know all the details of the app in the first level anything can change.

Here's the help page describing some stuff about the app : http://support.meetcarrot.com/

avrum: "Crazy that a .99 app could be (it's only been 2 days) a solution to a chronic problem."

I suspect the "2 days" is the key here. All new systems feel motivating for a short while because you are able to construct them around your needs as they stand today. They fit perfectly. Remember the feeling of peace after getting your life into GTD. Or the calm of getting everything into an AF list. Or an FV list. Or finding an intuitive way to represent your life in Clear. Etc etc etc.

After a few weeks you will discover whether the brilliant latest method can cope with the multiple views and shifting tasks of your life. You'll find stale things that play on your mind and don't get done, complex ideas that just cannot be slotted into the system without remembering some hacks which add a drain on your thinking. Eventually it falls apart and you declare bust, find a new system and mould that around your life as it is then, and start over.

Once you realise this you can get on with simply doing stuff and enjoy living in the moment instead of killing yourself with an imaginative solution that ultimately falls short.

Avrum:
I got a similar greeting. Something about not contributing to society for 16 hours. Now at level 6. I'm trying to do significant tasks so that my levels/rewards reflect my achievements truthfully.

I was speaking generally on the back of your post, apologies if it appeared I was addressing it to you specifically.

To expand, I think the search for the 'right system' always falls short but the search allows someone a welcome diversion from getting on and addressing what they need to address. I do speak from my own experience, and I've no reason to believe that those exact same patterns being repeated day in, day out in here, on lifehacker and a million other sites are any different. The productivity app industry is very much like the diet industry in selling people visions and dreams and absolving them of responsibility.

It is fun to play with systems. However to address you specifically, if you feel that there's a "chronic problem" that's been ongoing for "years" that is now resolved after 2 days with an iphone app, I suspect you will go through the usual state of initial excitement followed by some days and weeks of uncovering shortcomings in the app's ability to meet your needs and an increasing amount of hacks needed to fit what you need into its framework.

At some point the hacks will become more of a distraction than you want and you will feel unhappy deep down with the app. Then you will go through a period of denial, having invested time in building around the app, then you will eventually find it has fallen apart and cannot keep track of your life. You will find a new system to replace it, one which you can mould around your exact life as it is then, and repeat the process.

You can also try SmartGTD app (www.smartgtd.com) based on GTD®. Looks really interesting, and I'm looking forward to check this one out. It's going to be launched in a couple of days.