I'm Gamifying my To-Do List

I am always on the lookout for a good to-do list app. Every one that I've tried is too complicated or too needy. I download new ones from time to time and try them out, but always abandon them for paper and pencil. My fave so far has been Google Keep. Simple, shareable, easy. But yesterday I saw another one that looked so funny that I downloaded it to try it out.

Quest is an iOS app for iPad or iPhone that you can use for to-dos or reminders or other similar task management. When you start using it, you get a pixelated 8-bit character. As you complete tasks and check things off your list (your Quests), you can level up your life and earn things for the avatar. It caught my eye because of the gaming quality. When my son was younger and didn't want to write his spelling words, I would sometimes draw him a scene where a truck would advance a certain amount with each word or a train advanced on a track toward the station. He is starting middle school tomorrow, so right after I installed Quest on my iPad, I installed it on his iPod.

It's easy to create tasks and lists of tasks with a swipe. As you complete tasks, you also swipe. The task turns into a jewel. Tap the jewel and you can see your level edge toward completion. My son was instantly drawn into the app and wanted to create tasks. Hopefully he will want to complete them as much as create them.

I like the simplicity of the app with ability to easily customize. The gamifying quality is a new twist on task management that will make keeping track of my to-dos more fun. Maybe grading lab reports will seem like a great accomplishment when I get a new outfit or weapon when I finish! Quest has many 5-star reviews in the app store. Reviewers suggest that it needs a way to add recurring tasks (that would be great) and a female avatar (I concur). Quest was free yesterday (and might still be free today). It requires iOS 7 or later. There is an Apple Watch app too. If you are ready to gamify your to-do list, check out Quest.