I enjoy job simulator type games and really like the aspect of decorating and taking something and improving it. I’m a sucker for visual progress and I’m comfortable with physical labor in real life, so why can I only do it in games and structured activities?
Because a well designed game does not include drudgery. “Work-simulators” focus on results and progress and gloss over many of the hours of outright boredom or physical exertion to get there.
For example, truck driving simulator does not include the pain in the ass and boring part of loading or unloading the truck. Farming simulator does not include the painstaking process of removing rocks from the field.
While I grew up on a farm, my first proper career was something called OBC seismic. What it is isn’t as important as the fact that it involved placing a 6km long sensor cable on the seabed with a winch and position it properly. To do this right requires practice, and as the principle is farly easy I wrote a small simulator that our trainees could try out. At first they found it interesting, and even the seniors from other departments enjoyed toying with it. The biggest lack of realism was that it didn’t involve doing it for 12 hours straight, only stopping to unscrew 25 meter sections and replacing them. Barring drudgery and repetitive boredom could’ve probably made it an interesting game similar to other work simulators.
American Truck simulator’s world is a 1:20 scale replica of the real world. Any drive will take about 20 times longer to complete in reality than in game. Simulator games remove most of the drugery.
It feels great to deliver cargo after a 10 minute drive. Delivering cargo after 3 hours is the start of a shift.
Better remove Ship graveyard simulator from that category…
I don’t mind drudgery though. I’ve done real life construction work, I love legos, before I had internet I dug a hole in the backyard just to see how deep a hole I could dig. Progress being made is the goal sure but that doesn’t make me shy away from the boring and frustrating parts. It’s just that when it comes to decorating my apartment, cleaning my room, doing dishes, mowing lawns, whatever, I just can’t find myself getting started in the first place rather than giving up partway through.
Does it have to do with the difference between one-off tasks and recurring tasks? I’ve asked myself similar questions to yours and sometimes I wonder if tedium is harder to accept when you know that, even if you finish this task today, you’ll have to do it again tomorrow, next week, etc. So why not skip it this once? (We all know it’s never just once)
I don’t think so? Even when I’m not thinking about the temporary nature of things I struggle with doing stuff. I want to learn guitar and experiment with painting and sewing, apply to jobs, and all sorts of beans that aren’t temporary in terms of my lifespan. Starting just about anything I want to do is just plain difficult for me.
Ok those are really big things. For those really big intimidating things, I found Barbara Oakley’s book/lectures on procrastination quite helpful. I think they are on YT. They helped me get unstuck during my PhD. For the smaller recurring things, let me know if you find a good strategy :) When it’s non-life-changing fun stuff (e.g. music/drawing/crafts), I try to focus on the joy that I get out of even just dicking around instead of how I suck compared to Picasso.
I think a lot of the stimulus that comes from interacting with mobile devices is more insidious than most people realising.
Try changing your phone to grey scale in the usability settings for a day and you’ll see what I mean.
Basically, real life just doesn’t stimulate dopamine production in the same way, it’s not as satisfying.