As I did further research it became clear to me that the effort of task management was more than a game and I wondered if this was a futile effort as I knew that people played games however that always seemed to trend towards an escape and more rarely would I meet people that would use games as training. A quote from Francis Wade’s article points out that task management is,
“Unlike board or computer games, task management apps serve a higher purpose than mere entertainment. They exist in a context where the stakes are high. Poor task management is a precursor to failure in all practical aspects of life, bar none, acting as a powerful antidote to life’s randomness. Pay attention to this skill and the door swings open to a fulfilling job, well-being, beneficial relationships, and career.”
So the title seemed appropriate in the understanding that the games we play have different effects on outcomes in our lives, some arbitrary, others for mental training, and some critical to survival. When we make that which maintains the most tangible outcomes in our life a game or gamify it we see similar stresses and rewards as a job. Wade goes on to further mirror this point that, “task management is a job and a game at the same time. People who use them are users and players.” Were the people who said that work isn’t a game and that it shouldn’t be fun right? An interesting thought ;D.
I’ve often talked about my past as someone that played World of Warcraft at a world competitive level running with some of the most demanding and committed organizations at the time. It was quite the thing to work so much for achieving the first clearing of dungeons or killing of bosses in the world. As a player on many of the teams where I played, I also managed scheduling, recruited new players on forums and in-game, managed public raids for the community, worked with sponsors, and planned our raid strategy. I did all of this with zero task management, zero. So, what was happening there that drove, world-class results without any task technology to manage the constant flow?
When an archer is shooting for fun
He has all his skill.
If he shoots for a brass buckle
He is already nervous.
If he shoots for a prize of gold
He goes blind
Or sees two targets –
He is out of his mind.
His skill has not changed,
But the prize divides him.
He cares
He thinks more of winning
Than of shooting –
And the need to win
Drains him of power.
Chuang Tzu
If we break this down it means that when you shoot for fun you have a sense of ease, when there is a competition you may become a nervous wreck, and with even more you maybe just become a puddle of anxiety strewn across the floor. Even more simple fun is easy, competition is increasingly hard on that sense of ease, like when you play games. Again, most people play this to escape and fewer still play this to train some skill intentionally.
Looking back over those years with the lens of a bit more experience and wisdom, it’s obvious to me what was happening. I was shooting like an archer for fun, the activity was not attached to my survival or at least I didn’t see it that way. It was “for the love of the game”, for the love of an escape where I could train my skills and be valuable. On the other side, I can see that I was bored and all of that activity still didn’t push my mental capacity or management ability past what it could handle therefore the need for task technology wasn’t warranted. Only if I hit that limit and had the intention to scale further would there be a need for me to implement a technology that helped me with further efficiency.
So, there is a nice takeaway here that only when we run out of mental and management bandwidth should we consider taking on an efficiency technology like task management when working by ourselves. Now, its granted that when you work on teams things like accountability and transparency of effort are game changers, to have some fun with the language here, for achieving the outcomes your organization has set, yet like the archer make sure you know where the fun is, and you might say that is where life is like a game that can be played with balance.
