Lily Chen had a hard time motivating herself during weekends and college breaks. Implementing a point system in her daily life helped her create new healthy habits. Activities.
This exact essay is based on a conversation with Lily Cheng, 21, a game design student and YouTuber living in New York. The following has been edited for length and clarity.
For the past year, I’ve been using a points system to motivate me to get things done. It helped me stick to healthy habits and give myself a break without feeling guilty.
I have a busy schedule and there are many things I want to fit into. I’m a college student interning and working part-time. I also create fan art to sell at conventions, design indie video games, and create lifestyle content on YouTube and Instagram.
My routines are very different and I find that I am more productive when I have a structure to my work shifts and classes. But during school breaks and weekends, I find it difficult to do anything.
During the winter break of 2023, I was feeling really unmotivated. It was hard to do even the simplest things like cooking or getting out of bed. I was stuck in a negative cycle. It wasn’t rewarding there because I felt guilty about not being able to properly relax or be treated as superior or being unproductive.
Lily Chen bases how many points she gets for something on how motivated she feels at that moment. lily chen
I could do things to myself if it led to a reward
One day, as I was scrolling through social media, I came across a video with a title like “How to Make Your Life Like a Video Game.” I didn’t even look at it, but it sparked an idea: I could motivate myself to do simple things I was struggling with, like getting out of bed.
I designed and implemented a system for everyday life to earn points for doing things I don’t want to do. Then I can use those points to do things that I enjoy for that cost money. For example, the first time I was really unmotivated, I gave 50 points to take a shower and clean the room. You could then “spend” those points on going to a cafe, which could cost 30 points or 100.
My recording system only updates the number in the document. It’s simple, so maintenance is easy.
Cheng used a points system to motivate him to exercise more. lily chen
The system motivated me to create new habits
The point system has helped me create and stick to healthy habits.
It gave me the motivation to change my lifestyle, which led to new habits over time. After a while, I stopped needing points as an incentive to cook instead of eating out.
The points are based on my willingness to do something for now. If you feel like cleaning your apartment one day, you don’t get points for doing it. But if I lay in bed all day on my phone, I might give 30 points to get up and take a shower.
One habit I really wanted to create was going to the gym regularly. There was a time in my life when I went twice a day, but by January 2023 I had stopped going. I didn’t have much time or energy to hit the muscles, so I was having a hard time getting back up. – building and weight goals, and it discouraged me.
The points system rewarded me for simply showing up to the gym. It helped me see that doing something active is worth it, regardless of the outcome.
The point system helped Chen understand that she gets more done in a day than she previously thought. lily chen
Tracking what I do in a day has helped me achieve a better work-life balance
Using the points system has helped me improve my work-life balance. I’ve noticed that when I track sometimes mundane tasks, I tend to get more done than I thought I would.
In the past, I often unknowingly overworked, not being able to enjoy moments of rest and reward like eating out with friends or going shopping. I didn’t feel like I earned them.
Now that I’ve tracked my work more closely, I feel less guilty about spending money or time on activities that aren’t work-related.
