“CARROTS don’t work. Nor do sticks. Nor, even, do carrot sticks.” With these words starts the article in the Economist arguing about the good use of the mobile apps in raising children. It states, for example, that the children learn to associate vegetables as something useful in their health and learn to eat more carefully.
I couldn’t disagree more by saying that “CARROTS” DO work pretty well. Well… digital carrots of course. 😀 I am using for some time the Carrot Alarm app, available on the App Store, and it changed the way I wake up! In fact I was so excited that I made a review about it on Saxolist, the new project of our team. Today I realized how useful it was in forming a new habit. The habit of waking up on the time I’ve set the alarm!!
I always used to hit snooze button in the mornings to get a few more minutes of sleep, which is really a dilution. But as soon as the app got updated and with each snooze-hit I now lose points, I never hit it again. It was really irritating by that point with the PSTN modems I heard connecting and the “name callings” with every snooze-hit but that new feature did it! Read the review if you want to understand what I am talking about.
There are apps out there that can help us track our patterns in each area of our life. From our fitness, our sleep, our eating habits to the way we complete things and the way we work. There are also apps destined for our things, from our thermostat, our light bulbs to our cars or taxi rides. Also tracking our patterns. The day that your fridge refuses to open at 3 am is not very far! The list is getting longer and the apps are becoming better by finding new ways to motivate you or discourage you, like becoming more fun to use or having a great portion of gamification in them. 10 points for eating that apple sitting alone for days in your fridge, minus 100 for eating that apple pie!
Rewards and punishments got new means of teaching not just kids but everyone of us useful habits. As long as the Internet of Things gets more implemented in our devices and in our body, a new way of living is gonna be formed. Again, exciting times ahead!