Household chores... they need to be done, but do they have to be so boring? No, chores can be fun with HeroMode!
When I was in elementary school, there was a memorable lesson called "Don't be Afraid to Sweat". The story goes like this:
Joe is quite envious of his friend, Sam.
Sam lives in a lovely house. The house is bright and tidy. When passing by Sam's house, Joe often sees Sam sitting on his front porch, enjoying a book and a cup of coffee, surrounded by lively plants.
So, when Sam asks Joe to house-sit for him for a couple of months, Joe excitedly jumps at the chance. It would be such a treat to live in this beautiful house, like a vacation!
At first, Joe loves spending his days lounging on the porch like Sam, sipping coffee and enjoying the vibrant garden. But things start to change. The flowers wilt, the leaves turn yellow, and weeds seemingly come out of nowhere.
Joe retreats into the house, but it's not much better. The sink is filled with dishes, the floor is somehow sticky, and there's a strange smell coming from the garbage bin.
By the time Sam returns, Joe has become frustrated. The relaxing vacation he had imagined has turned out to be no better than living in his own home.
Joe complains to Sam, "I lived just like you. But somehow, your house has turned into a mess."
Sam smiles and says, "Joe, before you go, let me show you how I really live."
Sam proceeds with his routine: watering the plants, pulling the weeds, mopping the floor, washing the dishes, and taking out the garbage. As Sam busies himself with these chores, sweat begins to build up on his forehead.
"See," Sam says, "there is no magic. I'm just not afraid to sweat a little bit."
Joe no longer sees Sam's house with envy. Because to enjoy something beautiful, you just need to be willing to sweat a little.
Indeed, household chores are somthing that we all have to do. But rarely are they the most exciting thing to look forward to. That's why transforming chores into a fun and rewarding experience is a great way to stay motivated and make them a regular part of our lives!
HeroMode is all about making tasks fun and engaging. And I've been using it to manage my household chores from day one. There are several functionalities that make it easy to manage chores.
Dedicated Adventure
HeroMode lets you organize your tasks by Adventures. You can easily create adventures for each of your projects, habits, and routines. We also make it easier to create common adventures with Adventure Templates. And "Household Chores" is one of the most popular adventure templates.
Above: Adventure templates make it easy to create common adventures, such as "Household Chores".
Repeat Quests
Repeat Quests are a great way to create routines and build good habits. You can set up chores to repeat daily, weekly, or monthly. For example, do dishes every day, water plants every week, and clean bed sheets every month.
The repeat quests functionality in HeroMode is also extremely flexible:
You can designate a quest to repeat on specific days of the week. For example, vaccum livingroom on Mondays and Fridays.
Similarly, you can set up repeat quests on specific days of the month. So that you can schedule chores twice a month. For example, wash humidifier on the first and 15th of each month.
You can even set up a quest to repeat on demand, a functionality we recently introduced. This provides additional flexibility for chores that need to be done, but don't have a specific schedule. For example, "Taking out the trash" is a good quest to repeat on demand - you might not need to do it regularly, but if you see the trash bin overflowing, you can repeat this quest on demand.
Above: Using repeat quests to manage household chores.
Getting Rewarded with Piggy
Creating an adventure for household chores, and creating repeat quests, are both about organizing and managing these tasks.
But what makes it fun and motivating is the Piggy Reward System. When you complete each quest, you earn points and Piggy coins. You can use the Piggy coins to redeem any reward that you have defined, for example, "watch TV", "have dessert", or "play video games". It's a great way to convert a chore into, literally, a rewarding experience!
Above: Completing chores in HeroMode earns you Piggy Coins, and you can redeem rewards in the Piggy Reward System!
Leveling Up!
Another way to feel motivated is to level up! Isn't it great to know that all your little efforts add up to something big? After doing dishes nearly every day for years, isn't it nice to be able to say, "Hey I'm a level 11 hero of the household chores!"
Ok, maybe this is not a motivation mechanism that works for everyone, or for every type of adventures. But it's important to feel recognized for every small effort you make. In the long run, it makes persistence much easier to maintain.
Above: In HeroMode, you can "level up" in each adventure!
Friendly Competition with Adventure Buddies
They say "sharing is caring," and that certainly applies to household chores! If you live with roommates, friends, or family, then keeping your living environment clean and tidy is a collaborative effort.
In HeroMode, you can add buddies to an adventure. This is perfect for household chores, as you can share the chores with your friends and family. And when you share the household chores adventure together, you can see each other's progress and stats. For example, how many points each of you has earned each week!
Above: Using Adventure Buddies to share household chores with your friends and family. Looks like Alexis is the real hero this month!
Persistence is Easier When it's Fun
Keeping your living environment clean and tidy takes a lot of effort. Like the story says, you need to be willing to sweat a little bit. But it doesn't have to be such an agony every time.
With HeroMode, you can organize and manage your chores. You can create an adventure using our Household Chores template, and create repeat quests to design schedules for specific tasks. And for motivation, there is the Piggy Reward System to turn your hard work into a rewarding experience. You can also invite buddies to join you and share the work load.
Above: I have been using HeroMode to manage my household chores. Two years and more than 1,000 quests later, I'm a level 11 hero of the household chores! More importantly, HeroMode makes me actually look forward to folding laundry!