Gamification

I have been hearing a lot about gamification lately. For those that don't know, gamification is using ideas from games in non-game context. The classic example is adding a typing speed display inside a word processing program. Then you can see how fast you are typing and it spurs you to get faster and be more accurate.

This last week I started the Global Corporate Challenge with a group of people from work.  When we signed up, they sent us a backpack, a pair of socks, and 2 pedometers. The idea is to walk 10,000 steps every day for 6 weeks. If you decide to swim or bike, you can enter those distances and it converts them to equivalent steps. The GCC takes a page from gamification in that you compete with other teams around the world. Every day you enter the number of steps along with any biking and swimming and you can see how you stack up against other groups. There is also a virtual trip from London all the way around the world and you can see your location every day, which is another gamification idea.

When I am in the office in California, it is easy to get the minimum number of steps. I have the 4 mile ride each way to work. Also any time I want to get food, I walk. I can hit the 10,000 step mark sometime after lunch. At home it is a whole different story. I only end up walking about 4,000 steps in a day. My office is only 30 steps from my bedroom. The kitchen is half-way between the two.

As I am working from home this week, I had a very difficult time getting my 10,000 steps yesterday. Thursday was easy as I did a 15-mile bike ride, which came close to the 10,000 step requirement all on its own. But yesterday it was raining and I didn't want to ride in the rain. At lunch I took the dog for a walk and cracked off 2,500 steps. Towards the end of the day, I was still another 2,500 miles short and so I started doing laps around the kitchen. My wife told me to take the dog for another walk and that is how I was able to get my minimum steps for the day: walking outside in the dark with the dog.

Once again it is raining and so I am not about to take a bike ride. I'm thinking about connecting the pedometer to a paint shaker to help me get the required steps. That is probably cheating though. Besides the whole point of of the program is to get some daily exercise and watching a paint shaker doesn't count.