Getting Shit Done

I have lots of to-do lists. I have a Moleskine Piccadilly notebook full of itemized tasks I want to do sooner or later. I have an archived version of my old Palm Desktop with leftover to-do items. I have text files where I tried to consolidate some of my old scraps of paper full of lists, and I still have said scraps of paper full of lists from years ago.

I haven’t found a satisfactory way to organize all these maybe-somedays and to-do-this-weeks. Maybe Epic Win will save me.

From the Epic Win website:

Our lives are full of quests. Remember that birthday card, send that email, or drag ourselves to the gym on a regular basis.

Trouble is, sometimes we’re having too much fun doing other virtual stuff like hunting down rare items in World of Warcraft or leveling-up in Facebook games to remember the stuff we’re supposed to be doing.

EpicWin is an iPhone app that puts the adventure back into your life. It’s a streamlined to-do list, to note down all your everyday tasks, but with a role-playing spin.

Rather than just mentally ticking off your chores, completing each one improves and develops your character in an ongoing quest to level-up, gain riches, and develop skills.

By getting points for your chores it’s easier to actually get things done. We all have good intentions but we need a bit of encouragement here and there. Doing the laundry is an epic feat of stamina so why not get stamina points for it?!

Watch as your avatars stats develop in ways to represent your own life. Will you be a Maiden of Juggled Priorities, or a King of Win? The lifestyle you lead will decide.

This app will either be Epic Win or Epic Fail. I’m not sure which yet. I can see me either finding it amusing for a week, then deciding it’s dumb; or getting WAY more into it than I should, and breaking down my tasks into stupid little sub-tasks, just to level up my guy.

Until Epic Win is released, though, I think I’ll stick with the Piccadilly-to-Google-Tasks method I’m using now. As long as I can get one little thing done a night (e.g. cleaning off the dining room table or changing the bed linens), I feel pretty good about myself.